OK!  I'm here on Bali and spent some time a few days ago motorbiking to the busy central area of Bali to a large hardware store where I bought a propane stove and a small butane torch.  I also found some tjanting tools to use in my experiment with batik tjanting application of wax to my paintings.  The next day, I found a metal fabrication shop where I had a piece of thick steel cut to use as a palette on the stove.  Here is a photo of the young guy cutting the metal for me ($6.00).  Notice his careful use of protective gear for his eyes and body as the sparks fly!

The first visit to the batik factory!  This is a 'modern batik' factory, where the lines are drawn in wax and then the spaces are filled in with colored fabric dyes.  The wax works as a resist/dam so the colors don't run into each other.
I observed the artists and watched carefully to see how they used the tjanting tool.  The tool is a small copper cup with a tiny spout on the bottom/side of the cup.  The cup is attached to a bamboo handle.  It is dipped into hot wax, and then, as the wax flows out of the spout, it is applied to the fabric by the artist, who is following drawn lines.  In my case, I will have no drawn lines to follow.  Scary.

Yesterday, on my way to the batik factory to practice using the tjanting tool, I got my hair cut by a great young Balinese guy.  Then I crashed my motorbike!  Into a river.  Luckily, I only got some bruises and scrapes and I also got frightened quite a bit.  The motorbike lost it's mirrors.  I didn't get to the factory.  My motorbike had to be hauled out of the little river, and I had to be home and feel very shaky.  I did make it there today, on foot, and got to practice.  The artists were friendly and helped all they could, but due to my 'baby Indonesian,' I couldn't understand everything they were saying to me.  I just practiced on paper, not fabric or wood (which I will be using for my paintings).

I came back from the factory and set up all of my equipment outdoors, where there is a nice breeze to keep the sometimes toxic fumes away.  If the pots of wax get too hot, they may start to smoke, and these fumes are very unhealthy to breathe.  I found that the propane stove's lowest setting is too hot, so I kept my pots off to the side of the center of the steel plate.  Maybe I'll find some way to raise the plate away from the flame.  Anyway, the first session went well, and I was able to practice on a piece of wood which I brought from home.  The plywood here is thin and won't work well for encaustic painting.

I put down some random colors of pigmented wax on the board with a brush, and then, finally, I was practicing with the tjanting tool!!!  I painted (tjantinged) some whimsical trees.  I used this image because it has long narrow lines and dots, both of which the tjanting tool are best for.
Then I swam and had dinner, after which I painted over this image with clear encaustic medium, and scraped it back to reveal a flat image.  I'll try to take a photo of it tomorrow, but may not have time, since there's a big wedding in the village.  A young priest (18) is getting married and the village has been busy all week preparing decorations, offerings, and food for the wedding.  He's marrying a girl from an adjacent village, and there will be all sorts of processions.  A very high priest is being transported form 2 hrs away to perform the ceremony.  Very big deal.  They are expecting 2,000 people.  Not 200.  2,000.  One of my 'family' members was busy until 11 pm working on the food boxes (2,000 food boxes).  The wedding begins at 8:00 a.m, so I'd better get to sleep. 

Oh wow a blog.
I want to let everyone know about encaustic painting....how it's done, etc., and also to track where I am with my latest painting/s.  This will, hopefully, keep me on track with my work and show the process in action.  I'd like to do a video blog of my studio and the equipment and process of encaustic painting.  It is similar but so entirely different from painting with oil, acrylic, or watercolor paints.  It's very process-oriented and reminds me lots of printmaking, which I love.  I'm going to Indonesia now for a month and I plan on using the local beeswax, pigments I've packed in my luggage, and the local Indonesian damar resin.  I intend to solicit a few neighborhood batik friends to help me do some collaborations, since they're so handy with the tjanting tool, and I've got no experience at all with it.  I'm so excited about it, and I'll post photos of our process.  Oh wow a blog!