Featured Artist : Eric ArmentroutBatik by Eric

Batik Artist Eric Armentrout: Still Melting After All These Years

Growing up as an Air Force brat, Eric Armentrout moved around a lot. He spent a good part of his youth living on military bases in Germany and Spain, where he was exposed to the world of art. Eric has been creating art as long as he can remember. "I knew I was an artist when I was at least 10 years old - my first love was clay; I'm a sculptor at heart."

First exposed to tie-dye via the Grateful Dead, Eric was introduced to Batik while attending a Virginia high school in 1981. Since then, he has been studying and exploring the art of Batik and dyes with a passion. It wasn't until 1986, while earning his bachelor's degree in three-dimensional design, that he was formally taught the "traditional" style of Indonesian Batik.

An art professor, Dr. Halide Salam, who taught Fiber Design at Radford University in Virginia, took interest in Eric's talents. A native of Bangladesh, Dr. Salam taught Eric how to use the Tjanting Tulis, a pen like tool that allows you to draw with hot liquid wax. It wasn't long before Eric was known around campus as the "wax artist." But the odd title didn't bother him -- selling Batik T-shirts to fraternities, clubs, and Dead Heads on campus helped finance his love for live music.

Eric still believes Batik is a challenging art form because the artist has to have the ability to adapt and improvise with winging-it when the hot molten wax takes the design in an unexpected direction. "That's why I'm still doing this after 40 years; I never feel like I'm creating the same design twice, even when I am repeating a design. Each one is unique due to the nature of the medium."

After college, Eric moved to Tucson, Arizona where his wife, Michele, earned her master's degree at the University of Arizona. "We came to Tucson for two years and liked it so much we stayed for nine." His wife Michele says, "We make a great couple because we both have a great passion for our art -- I'm a writer, and Eric is a Batik artist." In Tucson, Eric polished his skills creating Batik clothing for arts & crafts shows and street fairs around Arizona and the West Coast.

In 1994 he connected with the New Orleans Radiators, who were in Tucson promoting their Southwest tour. A long time Fish Head (a fan of the Radiators), Eric proposed making one-of-a-kind T-shirts for the band. Over a period of months an alliance was formed. If you have seen the Rads in concert, you've no doubt seen Eric's shirts dancing around the crowd with their happy owners.

Eric has been using Procion Dyes and Dharma clothing which he regularly gets from his favorite dye supply store, Dharma Trading Co. since at least 1987.