batik cirebon

This is a pattern called Wayang. The detail of wax work is amazing. I borrowed a book on Indonesian Wayang Kulit Puppert Theatre to study the detail motif.

Batik Phytocrene

I am designing my own batik shirt. I am starting with the back panel. It is more of a visual style than an overall pattern. The panel depicts a Javanese Prince in Surakarta royal costume sitting on a Phytocrene macrophylla vine (with male flowers) surrounded by beautiful clouds. The colour scheme was tested and 1st wax is to outline and preserve white area. Then light green and pink should be spot-painted, followed by more waxing and then dipped in aqua and where the area of pink that was not protected by the wax will be turned gray. Then more wax and then another dip of peacock blue and then followed by more wax and then jade green. One last wax and then dipped in purple to finish the colour scheme. Overall colour scheme is light and vibrant showing the influence of Cirebonian batik.
The front panel is in the planning stage. It should feature a Cirebonian Prince with green costume and royal dodot sitting on a Phytocrene macrophylla vine (with fruits and female flowers) with a sea dragon twining on. There will be the leaves of the vine drapping down from the canopy.
The overall shirt will be aqua blue.

Aristolochia is blooming

This is Aristolochia gigantea. It s beautiful.

javanese assessories

Here I am wearing a belt I bought in Yogyakarta. The metal depicts the emblem of Sultan of Yogyakarta. The belt is in velvet with gold beats. The hat I am wearing is called blangkon.

Batik Bogor

This is the pattern of Deer (from Istana Bogor where there are lots of deers on the lawn) and Bunga Bunkai (Amorphophallus titanum). Batik Bogor is all tulis (hand drawn) but the work is more simple and rustic, but the colour is charming. There are other patterns such as taro plants, agricultural tools and cloud rain thunderstorm, rafflesia, waterlily and others.
Batik Bogor is quite different from other West Java Batik and certainly very different from the post Independence Batik Indonesia.

Batik Komar

The shirt is from Batik Komar of Bandung. The batik is done from both Tulis (hand drawn) and Cap (from a metal stamp) Combinasi. I observed both processes and they are equally time consumming and fascinating. Cotton fabric top grade has a special weave, and both front and back of cotton need to be waxed before dipping in dye. That is why it takes at least a few weeks to months to work on a single fabric. The more colours the more complex the work and more time is needed.
Good works are generally hard to find nowadays as cheap printing (which is not batik at all) competes in the market. If this and the next generations of Indonesians do not know how to appreciate or do not care about batik, then the good work and art form will gradually disappear. Batik already started the decline since 1930s and thru the 1970s and only in recent years with the status of UNESCO heritage for Indonesia starting to see the light...

Javanese Clothings and Batik

I bought all these batik cloth, shirts and traditional items from Java. All of the clothes are of exceptional quality. The colourful ones from West Java, with Batik Bogor featuring the motif of deer and Amorphophallus. The more serious ones from Yogyakarta and has the court motif of Garuda.