Carol Law Conklin, A Warrior For Her Art, At The Bedlam Farm Open House

Carol Law Conklin, doing  the yoga pose called,  The Warrior II, in one of the tank tops made from her Llama Batiks.  You can see and buy all of Carol’s Batik clothing here.

“I’ll send you the photo of me doing yoga” Carol wrote me,  “but then you have to post a picture of yourself bellydancing”.
(Lucky for me,  I got her message on the same day I posted the photo of me in my new purple Bellydancing skirt.)

For years Carol put her art on hold and became a Dairy Farmer with her husband Dick.  But she told me that it wasn’t as though she wasn’t being creative during that time.  When she was farming, which she loved doing, she was storing up images and ideas so when she and Dick sold the farm and she began making batiks again, the images flowed easily from her.

Always an animal lover and deeply connected to nature, Carol looks the to earth, its creatures, and myths for inspiration.  In her batiks, what goes on below the soil is as important as what we see (and sometimes aren’t aware of) on top of it and above it.

Her macro and microscopic imagery often has a mystical feel to it.  The stars burst in the sky and the worms dance though the soil.

Carol sells her original batiks, but she also reproduces them into so many different forms of Functional Art it’s hard to keep up with all she’s doing.

Last year Carol began making her batiks into leggings and now she has a whole line of clothing available though her website Amity Farm Batik.

She won’t be selling her clothes at the Bedlam Farm Open House on October 6th and 7th,  but she will be selling all the other useful pieces of art like trivets, notecards, mousepads and cutting boards along with some of her original work and prints on fabric and paper.

I love having Carol and her work at the Open House.  She and her work so encapsulates the combining of art and farming that has become what the Open House is all about.

You can see and buy  Carol’s art and clothes by clicking here.

For more information on the Bedlam Farm Open House click here.

Horse History, Hand Painted Silk Scarves by Carol Law Conklin at the Bedlam Farm Open House

I’ve been trying to post Carol’s video for two days and it finally went up.  I even edited it thinking maybe it was too long.

You don’t get to see all her hand painted silk scarves in the video, but it gives a good idea of what she’d doing with them.

If you see one you like and are coming to the Open House I can hold it for you.  If you’re not coming to the Open House and would like one you can email me with questions or requests here at [email protected].   Carols scarves range in price from $70 to $100.

You can see more of Carol’s work on her blog Amity Farm Batiks.

Carol Law Conklin’s Original Batiks At The Bedlam Farm Open House

Horses From The Sky By Carol Conklin

Every Open House Carol Law Conkin shows at least two of her original batiks in my gallery.  This October I’ll have one of her mystical horse batiks called Horses From The Sky, which Carol wrote  “works with the cosmic flow of breath“.

I’ll also have Carol’s Garlic Batik.  Carol is still working on it, but she sent me this photo of it in progress.

These two prints cover the earthy and mystical, both themes Carol often works with.

You can see and buy more of Carols work here on her blog Amity Farm Batik.

For more information on the Bedlam Farm Open House October 7th and 8th, click here.

Here’s a photo of Carol’s Garlic batik, still in progress.

Carol Law Conklin’s Hand Painted Silk Scarves At The Bedlam Farm Open House

Mare and Foal by Carol Law Conklin

I opened the photos in my email and immediately thought of cave drawings.

Carol Law Conklin’s new silk painted scarves not only have the look of those ancient drawings, but the feel as well.

Carol’s batiks always have such a feel, flowing feeling to them.  Her new paintings on silk have that same feeling but with a translucency that also gives them a sense of the ethereal.

Carol wrote some about the process in an email to me:

“The silk painting on the scarves is a very different process than batik. I dye the scarf first in sections and sometimes use shibori techniques as part of the early process.

I have fun experimenting outdoors with my dye buckets and use the fiber reactive dye I use for batik, but vinegar is added in the bath as this is a protein fabric. . I have found a few cleaners I can use to lessen the colors as I like ethereal floating effects.

After that I examine the scarves to find what is revealed in the abstractions of the early dyes. I paint on silk as a watercolor technique using silk dyes and can add some details with fabric markers.”

I’m thrilled to have Carol’s new hand painted silk scarves at the Bedlam Farm Open House this October.   (click here for more details about the Bedlam Farm Open House)

If you’re not coming  to the Open House, you can see and buy Carol’s art here on her blog Amity Farm Batik.

Here’s some more details of Carols Scarves….

Mare and Foal by Carol Law Conklin
Mare and Foal by Carol Law Conklin

Carol Law Conklin At The Bedlam Farm Open House

Carol Law Conklin with her some of her batiks for the Open House

Carol came by this afternoon and dropped off her work for the Open House.  She brought  a few originals and prints on all kinds of things.   She’s printed her work on trivet’s, cutting boards, mousepads and scarves.  She also has a pillow this year that she’s selling.

If you can’t make it to the Open House you can see and buy Carol’s work here on her website Amity Batiks.

The other artists will be bringing their work in the next few days.

Leggings From Carol Law Conklin

Magical Birds Batik by Carol Law Conklin.  This is the batik that is printed on the leggings I bought.

I just ordered a pair of leggings  with Carol Collin’s batik, Magical Birds, printed on them.

As you might already know, I love leggings and wear them all the time.  The thought of having a pair with Carol’s art on them is very exciting.

I was stunned when I went to Carol’s website  Amity Farm Batik and saw all the new items for sale on it.

There are the things I sell at the Open Houses, like scarves, and cutting boards and mouse pads and prints of her original batiks on fabric. But there’s also leggings and dresses and mugs and tote bags and much more.

You can shop in three different places on her website, ETSY, The Art Of Wear and Fine Art America.

I was excited to see all the ways Carol has to offer her art.  It’s so creative and a wonderful way for her to get her work out into the world.  It inspired me and got me thinking of what is possible for me to do with my art.

Carol will have her work at the Bedlam Farm Open House on June 10th and 11th.  So you can see it all in person there.  But there are many ways of having her art that you can only get from going on her website.

So if you’re looking for something for yourself, or need a gift, think of Amity Farm Batik.  You’ll have an opportunity to buy some very unique and beautiful functional art.

You can see all of Carol’s work here.

Carol Law Conklin, Making And Selling Her Batiks at The Bedlam Farm Open House

By Carol Conklin
Batik By Carol Law Conklin

Last June I made four video’s of Carol Law Conklin making her batiks.  Sunday,  October 9th at 12:30 at the Bedlam Farm Open House Carol will be giving a demonstration of how she makes  a batik.

It’s truly a magical thing to see.  How she creates a horse or landscape by dripping wax then dying the fabric and repeating this process again and again.

Carol makes her batiks available to us in so many forms.  You can purchase the originals, but she also prints them on functions objects such as trivets, mouse pads, cutting boards, note cards, scarves and pillows so they can become a part of our everyday life.

She  prints them on fabric too (which are a lot less expensive than the originals). They can be framed or  incorporated in your own creative endeavor.

Carol’s art hangs on my walls and sits on my tables and counter tops.  I get to see and use them everyday.

You can see all of Carols wonderful creations here on her website Amity Farm Batik.  And if you can’t make it to the Open House you can buy her work here.

Here’s the first video I made of Carol creating a batik, this past  June.  You can see all four videos, which shows the whole process, on my You Tube Page.

Carol Law Conklin, Making Batiks Part II

In this video Carol is demonstrating the second part of her batik process.  She’s dying the wax drawing of the horse she drew in the last video.

And the process has really just begun.  Carol will go back and paint more wax and do many more dyings before this piece is done.

Carol is showing and selling her work at the Bedlam Farm Open House this coming weekend.  You can also see more of her original work and reproductions on her website Amity Farm Batiks.  You can also contact her there if you have any questions about her batiks.

Full Moon Fiber Art