“The Koi Pond”
Batik

Pat Smart

Watercolor, Batik & Printmaking

Celebrate-Purple, Batik by Pat Smart

Celebrate Purple

Pat is from the Albany, New York area. A former elementary school teacher, she retired early to pursue an Art career. After extensive coursework at local colleges, where printmaking was a focus, she continued to study painting, particularly watercolor. She was a member of several art organizations in the Albany area where she had solo shows and taught after school art enrichment workshops for children and batik and monotype workshops for adults.

Pat and her husband spent winters on Sanibel Island Florida for many years where she was a member of BIG Arts and Sanibel Captiva Art League. She held several positions on SCAL and served as President for two years. She also facilitated batik, painting and printmaking classes for friends and neighbors on Sanibel.

Being a devoted grandmother prompted a recent move from New York and Florida to San Diego. Nature and travel provide inspiration for her many artistic endeavors, which include batik, monotype, collage and painting in oil, acrylic, and watercolor. Her work hangs in many private collections and she has received numerous awards in both upstate New York and on Sanibel.

Batik

Batik is an ancient Indonesian method of decorating fabric using hot wax as a resist for successive dye baths.  I begin with white 100% rayon or cotton and wax whatever I want to remain white.  The fabric is then dyed using a light color cold water procion dye.  The fabric is waxed again to preserve that color.  The process is repeated until the darkest color is achieved.  Sometimes areas are painted with dye and waxed to keep colors from impacting each other.  For example, green dye over red will give a neutral, brown or grey.  Wax is ironed out using absorbent paper and the fabric is washed and dry cleaned to remove the remaining wax.  This is a labor intensive, fun process with exciting results!     

“California Trees”
Batik

“Night Branches “
Aquatint Etching

“Bottles”
Woodblock Print

“White Tulips”
Batik

“Welcome In Greece “
Lithograph

“Flounders One and Two”
Linoleum Reduction Print