Every year my school holds creative mela for different grades once in an academic year. I volunteered this year in a creative mela for students in grades 7 to 9. Each participant received a unique form of art to create during the class. My friend and I both had the opportunity to lead a batik art session. Wax and dye are combined in the batik textile method to produce beautiful patterns on fabric. This style of art requires only the drawing of a design on a piece of fabric, the application of hot wax over the design, and then soaking of the fabric in dye.

LO 2 : Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken,developing new skills in the proces

I’m not a particularly talented artist, and I had never heard of batik art before  creative mela. But after doing some research and learning more about this technique, I realised how simple it was. I was concerned about what would happen when heated wax was mixed with the dye, but it turned out that incredibly attractive patterns were being created.

LO 5 : Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

As there were so many students arriving over the course of two hours, it would have been extremely challenging for me to manage them all and teach them the art side by side. Fortunately, I had a friend with me, and the two of us divided up the work to ensure a smooth process. For instance, if any child needed to dye their clothing, I was in charge, while she was in charge of watching them use wax.