This morning I awoke to the setting moon. The harvest moon was so spectacular and has been rising strong and bright for days. It has been building inspiration for more of my batik artwork and I have been enjoying working outside in the beautiful September air. Here is the progression of some of my artwork that I began in August and have been bleaching and re-dyeing and will be going through many more stages after this.

The first four batik images below are from “Caught in the Thunderstorm.” This was wax painted on black fabric. The wax appears white in the photograph because of the way the light reflects on it. The next photograph of it shows the batik after it went through the first light bleaching stage, which produced a brown on the fabric that I used. The effect of bleach on a fabric is different for every type of fabric and all the different colors of dyes and is very unpredictable. Bleach should never be used on silk. The third image of “Caught in the Thunderstorm” was done after the batik had dried. This time a bleach solution was sprayed onto the fabric, which gives a different effect of lightness gradating out into the background. Finally, strong dye was painted on the wet fabric as if it were a watercolor and is being allowed to dry. The dye will then go into a dye set and be rinsed, dried and ready for several more stages before it is completed.