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Keith Smith
Auburn, CA
(530) 823-0203

Keith Smith

I became enthralled with the use of wax and the Indonesian batik copper printing blocks known as 'tjaps' at the World Batik Conference held at the Massachusetts College of Art in 2005. The cauldron of wax reminds me of the foul smelling concoctions I used to cook up in my past life as an organic chemist. Since then I have avidly collected tjaps, had more custom made in indonesia, and have gradually improved my skills in the use of wax, tjaps and dye to create bold, colorful designs. My wife, silk painter Merridee, and I love to use the traditional techniques and tools of Indonesian Batik to create modern and almost abstract effects. I sell my work through galleries in Auburn, Roseville and Winters, California.

Styles: Batik, Textile Arts, Wearable Art

Images
Recent Work

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camera icon At work

At work

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Description

At work in the studio painting a background layer on silk stretched on a specially designed wooden frame. A number of batik stamps (tjaps) are nearby.

camera icon Fish batik stamp -(tjap)

Fish batik stamp -(tjap)

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Description

Tool of the trade. An antique Indonesian batik stamp made of copper strips and wire, used by dipping in a hot wax mix to outline the design. See it used in picture #4.

camera icon Seaweed tjap

Seaweed tjap

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Seaweed tjap

Description

Seaweed tjap used in image #4.

camera icon Subaqueous Homesick Blues #1

Subaqueous Homesick Blues #1

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Description

Using a rather foul and complex hot wax mixture, the first layer of stamps (all the areas that show the white background) was laid down. The bubbles (white dots) were both part of the fish tjap and added using a small brush and hot wax. After sealing any gaps in the wax with gutta, the blank areas within the tjaps were painted. A light blue background was then added. The second layer of stamps (the light blue background) was then laid down and the sealing and painting process repeated. The second and subsequent layers of stamps add the perspective and depth to the work. The final dark blue background layer was then painted. The scarf was hot ironed between sheets of clean newspaper to remove most of the wax, then rolled in clean newspaper and steamed for 3-4 hours to set the dye. Finally the scarf was dry cleaned to remove the small amount of residual wax. Quite a process!

camera icon Subaqueous Homesick Blues #2

Subaqueous Homesick Blues #2

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Description

This one is both more complex, as it uses six tjaps and three layers of stamping, and a little easier as there is no painting within the boundaries of the tjap. You can follow the sequence; the first layer of wax protects the original white color of the scarf, the second stamping protects the added light blue background and the third protects the purple/gray second background. The final background layer was created using both darker blue and purple dyes in a random pattern over the entire scarf.

camera icon Vesuvius

Vesuvius

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Description

This was created after I read the book "Pompeii" by Robert Harris. Usually the top layer of a batik is the lightest color. Here I wanted to show the fiery explosions of the volcano, vesuvius, in red as the top layer. I dyed two broad bands of red and stamped on top to preserve the red of the lava explosion and followed up with the three white bands in the undyed areas. Three background painted layers and two further layers of stamping provided the background detail of the "stones" and "rocks" of the explosion.

camera icon Patterns of Flight

Patterns of Flight

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Description

An early work building several layers of butterflies, leaves, flowers and "rocks" (actually a stamp made from round headed nails hammered into a piece of wood) to create a complex environment.

camera icon Koi Pond #1