I have the wonderful opportunity to assist Rudloph Smend in presenting a beautiful collection of museum quality batik sarongs and kain panjang in the San Francisco Arts of Pacific Asia Exhibition. He is a very gracious and knowledgeable man who is as passionate as I am about batik. He has been collecting for 38 yerars. Here are [...]
Annual December “Pop-up” Shop, San Francisco
November 16, 2011 – 8:23 am
(Click on the photo below to see a preview of some of the collection offered this year:)
Kue Batik! (batik cake)
November 15, 2011 – 9:10 am
Often cloth printed with batik images is mistakenly called “batik”. In the west, most people don’t realize that batik is not a printed cloth at all, but something much more specific and complex. Batik is a process in which designs are applied to cloth by hand with melted wax, then immersed in a dye bath, [...]
A New Appreciation of Batik
August 13, 2011 – 9:52 pm
The Batik Trunk Show at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum was a great success. Many people came and learned about the incredible skill and craftsmanship that goes in to creating each piece. It was very gratifying for me to have the support and expertise in presenting my collection at the museum for the first [...]
Batik at the Trunk Show and Sale
July 10, 2011 – 9:14 am
The San Francisco Asian Art Museum http://www.asianart.org/storeevents.htm is presenting a Trunk Show and Sale of my batik collection on Friday and Saturday, July 15th and 16th from 10 to 5. There are many new designs from all over Java. It’s free and you don’t need admission to the museum to come. It’s a wonderful opportunity [...]
Just returned from a batik odyssey
June 30, 2011 – 11:44 am
Detail:New scarf design mid-century modern ” , Bentuk Bebas Series, #1
Detail waxed cloth before coloring. Bentuk Bebas #1, batik tulis, hand-drawn on hand-woven jepara silk.
Finished scarves hanging to dry after finakl coloring at Batik Asif Workshop, Pekalongan, Java.
Batik Asif Workshop, Pekalongan, Java
Pak Amin, master colorist at Batik Asif Workshop, taking wax out.
Hanging to dry after [...]
Beautiful silk from Cambodia
December 27, 2010 – 10:06 am
Sea kelp scarf, hand-drawn batik on hand woven Cambodian raw silk
(click on photo above to see more designs on Cambodian silk)
This is some of the most beautiful silk we have ever used for batik. It is very soft and keeps its lovely hand through the batik process while taking the color beautifully. It is difficult [...]
Batik tulis scarves and shawls based on French Art Nouveau designs
July 21, 2010 – 1:27 pm
The Language of Cloth presents a collection of batik scarves, shawls, and large cloths based on French Art Nouveau designs from the turn of the century. Please click on the photo above to see the batik currently on exhibition.
Mega mendung with factory smokestacks
February 6, 2010 – 11:45 am
Mega mendung is the name of a batik pattern which originates in Cirebon on the north coast of Java. The name refers to clouds. The origin is Chinese, probably influenced by cloud decoration on 7th century Chinese bronze vessels. It is characterized by a gradation of color from light to dark. The effect is achieved [...]
Carbon Emissions Batik
December 23, 2009 – 4:09 pm
This batik is in the Kain panjang format and is a statement about the carbon dioxide emitted by our use of fossil fuels for transportation. It is based on a traditional mega mendung or cloud/rock pattern which originated in Cirebon on the north coast of Java. It is in the tradition of the batik dongeng, [...]
