When we talk of God given talents, the word is often well expressed through the works of Batik Post cards, Batik artworks and other forms of artwork. Ordinarily, these artworks are made by outgoing talented individuals artists. Most of them undergo their training at various institutions in the country such as the young men Christian Association (YMCA). The Kenya Polytechnic and Youth Polytechnics formerly known as Village Polytechnics. Some develop the artistic talent or skill through the hand of more experienced artists or through encouragement from friends and relatives. Many of the artists come from rural, urban and pre-urban squatter villages. Almost all of them are married and as such their use of God given talent is so handy as their main source of income. A majority of the artist operate at their respective homesteads. It is a thing which is not only cost effective but of added value to building the family social and cultural bond. The selling of Batiks, cards and other forms of artworks is often done by individual artists and in rare cases by a group of artists who come together as a means of attaining socio-economic gains. This is done in the spirit of seeking recognition which would otherwise not be possible to be accomplished or realized by working in isolation. This kind of initiative is informed by the fact that groups attract assistance more easily than an individual. Most of the products that the artist are able to come up with using natural material, display a significant touch of cultural value or national heritage. It is indeed impossible to enumerate each and every single item that come out of these creative individual artisans/brains. The materials used are cotton clothes or silk, various dyes for colouring, wax to separate colours, while iron charcoal box is used to clear off wax. The production process is quite involving and labour intensive. The use of natural material is already growing popular in that even maize cobs, water plants and other types of leaves are now handy in the hands of creative artist. Some of the products made are things like Bird figures, Christmas tree decos, wall hangings, animals, traditional homesteads or Kenyan people in their ethnic attires such as the Maasais, Pokots, Turkana, etc. Each batik piece of work can be produced according to the customer's tastes and interests in terms of colour, design etc. Many of the art does give insights that express value of life and people's culture thus depicting natural heritage e.g. wildlife birds, animals, people including abstract art e.t.c. In recent years, some artist have come up with Batik bone designed house utility items like spoons, knives, Beer opener or even cultural custom dress etc.
The production of wood carving in Kenya is associated with the Akamba ethnic community of the arid and semi-arid eastern region of Kenya. The art of woodcarving dates back to 450 years ago. In other words, it is a perfected skill, which has been passed on from one generation to the next. The young apprentice works among the seasoned master carvers; learning all the techniques of the craft form splitting the timber to carving and hand polishing the finished forms. Many of the artisans specialize in sculpting a series of African forms, including the exotic wide range of wild animals found in Kenya and East Africa. All carvings must meet rigid standards of quality for the export market. While production norms are maintained, no two pieces are ever exactly the same. Traditionally, the women role is to sand paper the finished product as part of quality touch in terms of coming up with high quality products. The art of woodcarving as one would rightly put it is in Akamba people's blood. The carvers age range from 18-65 years. Kenya has over 60,000 highly skilled craftsmen who produce tones of woodcarvings a month. Woodcarving as an income generating activity supports about 350,000 people. The woodcarving production is by nature labor intensive. The craftsmen model each form using simple tools made from animal hide, local wood and spring steel fashioned into adzes and knives. No machinery is used in the process of transferring a tree- truck into hundreds of items both decorative and functional. The woodcarving products are very popular with the tourists visiting Kenya. Kenya's woodcarving items have over the years been exported to almost all parts of the world. The wood carvings products have not only acted as a source of income for a large number of Akamba community but have also been a commodity that has over the years earned Kenya a substantial amount of foreign exchange. This has been realized through the sale of a wide range of decorative and utility products such as the animal figures, traditional people masks, bookends, salad servers and many other items. Some of the wood that the carvers use or cut down have now come to be enlisted as endangered species and for that reason, the government has come up with stringent measure that requires planting of at least two trees for each tree fallen or cut. Besides that, the government has also put tough measures, which require issuance of license before any tree is cut or fallen down. These measures are aimed at avoiding further deforestation in Akamba arid and semi-arid areas and the entire country in general. According to the available research/statistics, the carvers need for wood account to 10% of the national consumption of hard wood.
A set comprises of 24 pieces. Each set consists of:- 6 Forks 6 Knives 6 Tea spoons 6 large spoons Colour s include:- Black,cream white,Pink,Grey,Dark green,Light green, Light blue
