Visual Art

Wine with a Side of Batik

Barbara Arnold, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

What do a rooster, a Holstein cow, and elephants have in common? They are just some of the subjects of 16 batiks done by Chippewa Falls artist Sandra Churness on display through June 30 at From the Vine Wine Room, 2526 Golf Road, Eau Claire. (For hours, visit fromthevineftv.com.) “I love the surprise factor in batik,” she wrote in an email. “The texture of the fabric and the wax, the crackle caused by cracks in the wax where dye seeps through, the variation in colors as one color is added over another. … All these create unique, never-to-be-repeated pieces.” Batik means “wax writing,” and has been practiced for centuries in Indonesia. Churness, a retired teacher, learned the craft from friends in Minneapolis almost 40 years ago. “Batik is done on a natural fabric: cotton, silk, or linen,” she explained. “After a sketch is created on the fabric, beeswax and paraffin are melted and painted on areas that are to remain white. It is then dyed in the lightest color. And when that color has dried, the portions of that color are preserved with wax. Successive colors are dyed and waxed until the whole fabric is covered with wax. Then the batik is ironed between paper to remove the wax.” It takes a few days to create each batik, which then must be ironed, matted, and framed. Churness’ batiks are also available at Tangled Up in Hue, 416 S. Barstow St.