Sarah has been developing and experimenting with wax resist techniques for many years, producing a wide body of work:
'My aim is the transformation of colour perception resulting from the endless variations of the batik process. I work on cotton lawn, silk and Chinese hand-made papers. I sometimes use a canting,(a traditional batik tool - a wooden handle with a small metal cup with spout out of which the wax seeps) but often prefer to work with brushes and other techniques to apply the wax - the simpler the better. I also hand-paint dyes, but dip-dyeing remains crucial to my work; the colours are constantly changed, muted and transformed by the immediacy of the dye bath. I particularly enjoy the marbling effect created as the dye penetrates cracks in the wax. Batik for me means colour and change.'
Sarah has run regular courses on batik for, amongst others, Morley College Lambeth, West Dean College Chichester and Hackney Community College. She has taught practical classes at Art In Action Waterperry, Oxford for a number of years.
Sarah’s book 'Batik' is published by Crowood Press.