author
Ida Strawn Baker
1876–1962
An early twentieth-century textile artist and teacher, she helped bring batik and pattern dyeing to a wider audience through a practical, hands-on book written with Walter Davis Baker. Her work sits at the crossroads of craft, design, and art education.
1 Audiobook
Batik and other pattern dyeing
by Walter Davis Baker, Ida Strawn Baker
About the author
Ida Strawn Baker was an American artist and craftswoman associated with Indianapolis, Indiana. She is best known as the co-author, with Walter Davis Baker, of Batik and Other Pattern Dyeing, a 1920 instructional book from the Waldcraft Studios that introduced readers to batik and related decorative dyeing methods.
Contemporary records also place her in Indianapolis in the early 1920s, where she was connected with arts-and-crafts circles including the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts, the Handicraft Guild of Indiana, and the Women's Rotary Club. An alumni note from the University of Northern Iowa records that she lived and worked with her husband in Indianapolis and was involved with the Waldcraft company.
Although detailed biographical information appears to be limited, the surviving record suggests a life rooted in making, teaching, and promoting the decorative arts. Her book remains a useful window into the Arts and Crafts era's interest in handwork, color, and textile design.