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For student art awards, see Student Art Committee. Darwin Jirles, Chairman Award of Senator John Glenn and his wife Annie Glenn "Grandma's Pie" Batik means "wax writing." It is an ancient, traditional process identified with the fabrics of Indonesia , India , Japan , Africa , and the west. In Indonesia the "best" batik is reserved for royalty, men do the designing, and women do the dying. It is created from traditional patterns which have meaning and may be spiritual. Batik is only created on "good days" with "blessed" tools in Indonesia. In contemporary cultures like ours, it allows the artist to experiment with traditional materials in any format. That is what I have done with "Grandma's Pie," using paper and contemporary tools. This piece was drawn directly onto handmade cotton rag paper. The white lines were the first lines I drew using a tjanting tool. A tjanting tool is a little spout on the end of a stick handle which holds molten wax. If a "mistake" is made, it cannot be removed; it has to become part of the image, a "happy accident." The wax acts as a resist, or "fence." I applied pale tints of dye within the waxed lines. When the paper dried, I re-waxed. I decided where I wanted the color to stay; I protected it with more wax. As I created I worked from lighter colors to darker shades. This rotation of wax and dye was repeated in many layers, wherever there was a color change needed. When I determined I was pleased with the colors and design, I scraped the surface of the paper to remove all the extra layers of wax residue. That was difficult, as the paper was fragile. Then I used the heel of a wooden spoon and polished the surface of the image. I rubbed it in a circular motion to spread the excess was all over the surface so it looked glossy. The piece was matted and framed. I grew up on a farm in Eastern Iowa . The image for the batik is one which is part of my heritage. Farm women had strong and capable hands. They were thrifty and resourceful. My grandmother, my mother, and my aunts all were gardeners. They canned food from the gardens and the orchards rather than buy "store bought goods" All winter we had produce stored on shelves in the basement. My grandmother had a cherry tree by her house. Grandpa tied netting over it to keep the birds from gorging on all of the ripe cherries. Grandma rewarded him by making a favorite cherry pie. I remember her lattice pie crust as it cooled in the kitchen window. The kitchen was always hot in the summer because she was canning fruits and vegetables. The kitchen felt steamy and stifling all day long. Canning jars had to be cleaned, filled with produce, processed in hot water on the stove, and then cooled back to room temperature before being stored on shelves in the cellar. Each jar had a recipe inside which a relative had discovered; we named it for that relative. So that is why the pickles I drew in the batik were called"Aunt Cora's pickles!" |
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