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Project based on pottery

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Abigail mhlope
2016-2017

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 Intensions
To study and highlight on the history of pottery.
To explore and examine the different types of
clay.
To highlight on the effects of different mediums
on producing clay.
To create a final design that fits the basic
qualities of a pottery design.

Problem
identification
Ceramics is one of the most valuable unchallenging
method of yielding alluring pottery artworks but the
puzzling circumstances is that nowadays it seems to
be foot stepped upon by the society together with
the developing civilization. It is now being
considered of inconsequential means, in a manner
that those who had satisfying reasonable
knowledge about carrying out pottery activities are
now extinct and no replacers are willing to occupy
that gap or take over to uphold the traces of pottery
.

Design brief
To produce two pottery artworks in which one
would be used for utilitarian and the other for
decorative purpose . As a researcher, I am
positive that with this I can fully entice the eyes
of the community and dig aback the stigma
towards pottery that once existed. Henceforth
pottery is one part of many that my search
seeks to focus on in belief that pottery artworks
will show out the arrangement of visual
elements in a way that sends a message to an
audience . I intend to produce the pottery
artworks in a traditional way using hands with
much assurance that this will encourage most
individuals to rise up and make a living through
pottery. It will also foster the belief that pottery
and culture goes hand and glove.

Contents
I. Intensions
II. Introduction
III. History & evolution
IV. Developments
V. Final piece
VI. Conclusion
VII. bibliography
 product
specification
The following listed materials are going to be used
in the manufacturing of the two pottery artworks ;
1.SEIVE
It is necessary for sieving clay so as to remove
impurities such as rocks , twigs ,etc in order to
produce the finest clay soil particles.
2.WEDGING TABLE
It is a table on which clay is kneaded however I had
no wedging table as the researcher to knead on the
floor/ground .
2.CLAY SOIL
It is a good choice of material to create these
artworks because:
It is very pure.
It matures at 2419 degrees F.
It is very hard .
It is very fine.
Fewer impurities.
Needs to be fired at a very high temperature
(vitrification).
High plasticity.
porosity.
3.BRUSH
For decoration and painting.
4.CANGO CUP
To collect the clay from the dish to the sieve.
5.FIREWOOD
To make fire used to strengthen the clay used for
pottery.
6.PAINTS
Are to be applied evenly onto the materials to make
them more appeasing to look at.
7.WATER
Is used for mixing clay soil
8.BUCKETS OR OIL DRUMS
Can be useful for keeping clay in . Alternatively clay
can be kept in a pit lined with plastic sheeting or
banana leaves.
9.THIN WIRE
Is used to cut kneaded clay.

Introduction
Batik is one of the "resist" processes for
making designs on fabric, like Tie Dye,
Shibori , technique, etc., using wax on fabric
to prevent dye from penetrating the cloth.
Wax is applied to fabric, followed by dye,
perhaps in many successive layers in
complex Batiks.
Batik is especially unique because the wax
will crackle during handling, either
intentionally or not. On subsequent dye
baths, the crackles in the wax fill in with
darker colors.
Batik can be done with many types of dye
or fabric paints & waxes on cottons, silks
and other natural fabrics, particularly the
finer weaves for detail work.
"Faux" batik employs types of water
soluble resists that are easier to remove
than wax (and safer to work with for
children), but never quite achieve that
beautiful crackling.
Batik masters employ a process of repeated
waxing and tub dyeing to achieve the final
result. This method requires mastery of
color mixing and over dyeing, as each layer
of dye is applied over the last, producing a
mixed color. After many different
applications, the background usually comes
out dark brown, black, or gray.
The waxed areas remain the lighthades
produced by each individual applicaton and
combinations thereof.
I prefer this method because it employs
other types of resists instead of hot wax.
Not only are the resists easy and safe to
work with, but they wash out
with plain water. Because of that, they may
not be submersed in a dye bath. Instead,
dye or thin Fabric Paints can be applied with
brushes, or sprayed on, etc., fixed according
to their directions, and the whole thing
washed out. If paints are used, they are
totally nontoxic, and there are no
associated chemicals.
When choosing a Dye or Fabric Paint, the
first and most important piece of
information I must know is what type of
fabric or surface I will be working on.
The second question, is what kind of
technique I want to do? This is because
some techniques need only to use dyes,
some paints, but on certain fabrics I can use
dyes or paints for a technique.

History & Evolution

The beauty of batik lies in its simplicity and the fact
that one need not be an artist to achieve results.
Some of the best effects in batik are often achieved
by chance. The history of Indian batik can be traced
as far back as 2000 years. Indians were conversant
with the resist method of printing designs on cotton
fabrics long before any other nation had even tried
it. Rice starch and wax were initially used for
printing on fabrics. It is believed that after initial
popularity of batik in the past, the tedious process
of dyeing and waxing caused the decline of batik in
India till recent times.
Batik is very often considered a craft like ceramics,
pottery or even needlework. Although it is a
household word all over the world, it is still
overlooked by art critics who do not consider it an
art form. There are several countries known for
their batik creations, starting with India where it
originated. After that it moved to Indonesia,
Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the West.
Batik in Java
(http://www.batikguild.org.uk/histroy.asp).
There is nowhere in the world where the art of
batik has been developed to the highest standard as
in the island of Java in Indonesia. All the raw
materials for the processes are readily available –
cotton and beeswax and many plants from which
the dyes are made.
It is not known when the batik was first made but
the traditional skills were particularly well
developed over the patronage of the Sultan and his
court. Designs were copies and in some cases the
clothes could only be used but certain people or on
certain occasions. The royal families had their own
proscribed designs. On the coast the designs were
developed differently, influenced by settlers from
china, the Dutch colonist and the traders from India
and Arabia.
Two methods of applying wax are used and these
are:
1.The cloth is stretched on to long tables
and cap or copper stamping tool is
used. This is dipped into a pan of hot
wax and pressed on to the fabric. This
enables the design to be repeated many
times and is usually done on both sides
of the fabric by men. This is a much
faster method of wax application.
2.The traditional dyes used are indigo
blues and soga browns and these are
still the characteristic colors for work in
Central Java. Towards the end of the
19th century chemical dyes were
introduced in the coastal regions and as
a result of this the colors are usually
brilliant and more varied.
The final hand-made lengths called Tulis, may take
several months to produce and are consequently
very expensive. Everywhere in Indonesia people still
wear clothing made from batik cloth and the tourist
industry has opened up a new market for cheap
batik and pictures.
(http://www.batikguild.org.uk/history.asp).

Batik in China
(http://www.batikguild.org.uk/history.asp).
China has a long history of batik production dating
back from the 6th century. Today you can still find
batiks being done by the ethnic people in Guizhou
Province, South-East of China. Here the Miao,
Bouyei and Gejia people use a dye resist method
that is different from the Han Chinese. There are
also many different sub groups within the Miao
minority. The Miao place great emphasis on their
costumes which are made up of very decorative
fabrics which they achieve by pattern weaving and
wax resist. Almost all the Miao decorate hemp and
cotton (not silk) by applying hot wax the dipping the
cloth in an indigo dye. The cloth is then used for
skirts, panels on jackets, aprons and baby carriers.
Indigo is used chiefly for the basic cloth throughout
Guizo to give blues. A paste is made from the
harvested plants which have been soaked in a
wooden barrel.
Wax resisted fabric was probably one of the earliest
forms of decoration in Guizhou as all the materials
were at hand. Beeswax is the main ingredient but in
other resins or wax are possibly added. The wax
resist never exploits crackle, the aim is to produce a
clear image and beeswax is both tenacious and
flexible. The wax is often heated in a little pot,
resting in hot embers.
Once applied the wax appears black on the fabric
but at the end of the process the wax is removed
from the fabric. The fabric is then rinsed in cool
water and air dried. The beeswax can be reused.
The usual tools for applying wax are made of copper
and brazed with bamboo handles. They are made
from two small triangular pieces of metal, their
apexes bound to a bamboo holder by copper wire.
It is held like a pen either upright or at a slant to the
cloth which is laid flat curving lines’.
The Miao, Gejia and Bouyei girls are highly skilled
batik artists. They use finely drawn circular and
double spiral designs representing the horns of the
water buffalo, symbolizing their ancestors’ life and
death. Girls start learning to produce batik from the
age of six and seven years. The more traditional
designs are geometric, were the most skilled wax
resist reads as a fine blue line on a white ground.
With the influence of the Han Chinese more
figurative designs like flowers, birds, and fish have
been introduced over the centuries.
(http://www.batikguild.org.uk/history.asp)
Batik in Africa
(http://www.batikguild.org.uk/history.asp).
There are examples of the batik textiles in many
parts of Africa but the most developed skills are to
be found in Nigeria where the Yoruba people make
adire cloths. Two methods of resist are used:
1.Adire eleso which involves tied and stitched
designs.
2.Adire eleko were starch is used.
The paste is often made from cassava (a root plant)
flour, rice, alum or copper sulphate boiled together
to produce a smooth thick paste. The Yoruba of
West Africa used cassava paste as a resist while the
people of Senegal use rice paste. The paste is
applied in two different ways. By using freehand
drawing of traditional designs using feather, thin
stick and a piece of fine bone or a metal or wooden
comb-like tool. This is done by women. Forced
through a thin metal stencil with a flexible metal or
wooden tool. This enables accurate repeat patterns
to be achieved. This is done by men.
The patterning of cloth is usually handed down from
mother to daughter as a cottage industry. The cloth
is usually divided into squares or rectangles and
designs representing everyday tools, carvings
beadwork, activities or traditional images of the
artists’ own culture on tribal history. An eleko cloth
is usually made up of 2,5 yard pieces sewn together.
Many women work alone but group dyeing sessions
is most cost effective. The more commercial cloths
are the stencil products and are often produced by
men. The traditional dye is indigo from a plant
which grows throughout Africa. In many places
these are now cultivated and different varieties
produce a variation of the dark blue color. Once the
paste resist is dry, the fabric is dyed in a large clay
pots or pale blue design. The usual cloth is cotton
but highly prized clothing using wild silk is
sometimes produced. In recent years other cloths
using African designs have been produced in Britain
(Manchester cloths) and Holland. These mass
produced fabrics are machine made. Some are now
produced in various African countries.

Batik in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe batik also known as sadza cloth
represents the beautiful brightly colored fabrics
with Zimbabwean designs used on fabulous
bedspreads, pillowcases, table cloths, table runners
and wall hangings. According to
(http://www.africandesertcrafts.com), batik art is
said to have been introduced into Zimbabwe by
missionaries or non-profit organizations as an
income generating craft and the Shona people have
made a huge success of this venture. Wax is used in
the original batik processes by using corn meal,
locally known as sadza, instead of wax. In the
process of creation, designs are painted on the
cloth using sadza meal or sometimes a flour paste
and allowed to dry. The cloth is then painted by
hand before it undergoes a curing process.
Each beautiful piece is artfully crafted by hand. As
with all hand colored cloth, care should be taken
when washing the fabrics as they will fade when
washed in a machine. Hand washing in cold water is
best. The batik is said “to have a unique and novel
like ideas” by Tracy Chatsama operating in
Chitungwiza Arts Centre.

Batik in Zimbabwe

Modern designers and their designs

 Emilia Tan
She is from Banting paints, sells and conducts batik workshops
daily. She focuses her design with batik’s elements because her
inspiration, concept and composition come from her inner
spiritual life, images surface from her ongoing and deeply
personal relationship with the surface of life.

her works.

Evolution of batiks
MODERN ANCIENT
Developments
My first development on all pieces was to wash the
cloth. I used washing powder and I immersed the
cloth into the soapy water. I left this to soak for a
day to de-starch the material. Then I hand washed
the cloth to make sure that the cloth is de-starched.
Furthermore I left the cloth to dry.
This has the following advantages:
o Soap is quickly available in most households
to soak and wash the material.
o No complicated measurements are needed
to do the above process as compared to
using chemicals.
o It is user friendly as compared to chemicals
which need complicated precautions to be
done before use.

Dis-advantages:
 o It has monetary costs when try to
acquire the soaps.
o It is time consuming.

However the theoretical view would suggest the

following for professionalism:
Pre-washing your fabric, ideally with a professional
pal dyer’s product with a professional textile
Detergent and/ or an enzyme detergent. This
removes most oils, sizing and pre-shrinks the fabric
allowing the dyes will adhere better. It also gets out
excess dye better and faster than normal household
detergents so that items are safe to wash with
others in the future and is non-toxic and has no
fumes. Regular detergent will work if you are not
working on a critical piece of artwork.
Second development, sketch the drawings (or
directly draw) on to the cloth. I went on to cut out
templates for the animals I intend to draw such that
I may be able to repeatedly draw them and keep
the drawings proportional even on different batiks.

sketching on the cloth.

Sketches on plain white cloth and on yellow dyed cloth.

Third development, dye the cloth. It can be noted

that this process can be done before the sketches or
it can be done after sketching. The dye will produce
my background color after scrapping off the flour or
wax.
Fourth development is to use the wax or flour to
draw the animals (or any other pictures). To keep
the flour under control, I used a tube. Further-more
it can be note that hot flour allows the flour to close
up the pours of the cloth, thus making it a perfect
resistor and the design will be perfect in a way.
 Cold flour produces more cracks as compared to
hot flour and it rests on top of the cloth. Artists
using cold flour would find themselves using up
more flour to produces a completed batik as
compared to using hot flour. More-over it can be
highlighted that the flour which would have been
left to “stay” for a long time (almost decayed)
would produce more cracks than cold, hot flour,
wax and sadza.

Using the “tube” to control the flour while drawing.

 Fully drawn batik left to dry.

Fifth development is to paint and let the cloth to

dry.it can be noted that the artist can use any color
of paint to express themselves using the batik.
Hence it is also possible for the artist to blend the
colors on the cloth however this process of blending
requires the paints to be “wet” for professional
blending. Thus the overall objective in terms of
color selection would be to achieve harmony among
selected elements.
fully painted batik left to dry. Painting the batik.

The sixth process is to iron the batik or one can

place the batik into an oven and place a reasonable
degree of temperature. However using the oven has
the following merits and demerits:
Merits:
o It is quicker than ironing
o Heat is applied equally to parts of the batik
o It is productive efficient when heating a large
volume of batiks
Demerits:
 o Needs greater concentration compared to
ironing
o Batik can easily be burnt if the artist is not
concentrating on the process
o It needs an individual who has some
knowledge of using the stove and can avoid
spoiling the batik
o It is expensive since stoves use up a lot of
electricity
The last stage of development is to wet the batik by
dipping it into water after ironing it. This is to soften
the now hardened flour and prepare to scrap off the
flour. Hence the batik would be continuously
dipped in water to keep the flour soft. After the
scrapping process the batik is left to dry. Therefore
the completion this process marks the end of the
production process of the batik.
“Wetting” the batik was my favorite because it is simple. But it has to
be done continuously becoming tiresome.

Spread the batik on a flat surface and prepare

for scrapping. Its time consuming, but also fun to do..

Scrapping of the flour from the batik.

Final Piece
 THE HIDDEN STORY TOLD BY THE BATIK
Why only the elephant has the batik effect
showing (crackles)?
The crackles resemble the dense bushes
and places that elephants are mostly found in.
Conclusion