This isn't exactly an urban sketch. My husband and I attended the International Lion Dancing Competition when we were in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. It was absolutely wonderful, watching costumed young men, in pairs, dancing and leaping and jumping on tall metal towers, imitating lions. So beautiful, so exuberant, a graceful gymnastic cultural tradition.
So I sketched a few lions.
In Kuala Lumpur, in the central market, there's a shop selling handmade batiks. They also have un-dyed batiks, waiting for visitors to add the dyes. I brought in my lion sketches, and had one of the batik artists draw my designs on fabric, drawing in melted wax. He added a floral motif in the background. Then after the wax cooled, I painted in the dye. Loved my lion dancer batik!
Then I mailed the finished batik back to myself in the US. Unfortunately, the box arrived empty. Everything was gone. Most of the items were just used clothes, but the batik was in there too. The one and only important item in the box. Gone.
But I still have my photos of this wonderful memory.
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