Oil on Canvas

30 x 25 x 1.5 cm

My painting is inspired by a picture I found of a Batik drawing. Batik is a traditional living craft from Sri Lanka and the design is built up by a progressive process of applying melted wax to create a picture and then dyeing the remaining cloth. I wanted to see if I could capture the beautiful, intricate pattern work in this picture using paint as a mediium. The craftworker who created the Batik picture is not identified, so I think it is part of a folk art tradition in South Asia where such artists and crafters work incognito for businesses to create fabric patterns to sell. So, though I can't credit the artist who did the original Batik drawing, I can say that my version is quite different. I wanted to paint this because I was moved by the image of a mother in a playful, protective embrace of her child as it reminded me of myself with my children when they were young. It also sang to me in recent times of the pandemic when the desire to protect our loved ones from harm is our utmost priority.