Thursday, May 7, 2015

Silk Painting

It has been really busy here the last two weeks.  Last week I spent two days in a silk painting workshop with Nancy McKay.  It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot about silk painting.  I would recommend that anyone who has an interest take a class with Nancy.

This week my oldest daughter came home from her university for a few days and my youngest celebrated his birthday.  Around all this activity my family was dealing with colds and tummy bugs too.  All in all I have had two great weeks and hope to continue on with a lovely spring season.

We used crepe de chine 12mm that had been treated with sizing to better control the flow of the dyes.  We used H. Dupont Dyes which bond to the silk fiber when they are steam set.  The colors are beautiful and easy to use.  Here is one place that you can buy these dyes:  http://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dupont-silk-dyes-french-silk-dyes.html

This first piece was the practice piece that I did to get used to the process and how the dyes would work. 
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In this workshop we drew our sketch onto the silk and then painted it.   This girl is the first one that I painted.  I love making whimsy style girls.  Now I want to stitch on top of her to add texture and depth and to modify areas that I don't like.  I love how the stitching really adds to a textile piece. 
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I also want to add stitching to this sunflower. 
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We dyed a silk scarf in class as well and steam set the dye in the microwave.  This was a shibori style that was wrapped and tied with a string to create a resist.  I love these colors and the process. I could happily make many more of these scarfs.    
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Textiles add so much to our daily lives.  I love manipulating fabric to create beautiful items and make the environment even more beautiful.  I hope that you too appreciate the beauty of textiles.  Have a wonderful end to the week.
Janelle 

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