Steaming Silk

Someone asked me how I steam my scarves. I have to say that steaming is the necessary evil in the whole process as far as I'm concerned. I enjoy planning the piece, sketching out a design and then seeing it come to fruition. Often the design and especially the details change as I go along. Sometimes I find that colors are too similar when next to each other when I wanted them to be more different, so I make changes. Sometimes I'm find that a background works better darker or after an initial wash takes on swirls that look interesting and I keep it. Sometimes I make a mistake and have to cover it up with a flower-- leading to other flowers-- even a field of them!

I love how the scarves take on a deeper, richer color after steaming, some colors that seemed similar when I painted them on take on more unique characteristics on silk.