Mary Jones

My passion for art drove me to pursue a career in art education. Teaching middle and high school students a wide variety of art techniques was very rewarding and I am now enjoying retirement. “Once a a teacher, always a teacher” rings true for me, and I am now loving my new title of artist/adult art educator . I have always been drawn to the art of batik (pronounced ba-teek) and am excited to share this non-traditional mixed media approach. After experimentation, I now melt and apply colored wax and crayons to fabric, similar to the encaustic painting technique. The final steps are to crackle the entire waxed piece, dip in a dye color that will enhance the artwork, and finally remove the colored wax. The intense colors and intriguing crackled effects is what drives my passion for the unpredictable and delightful process of batik!