The Reveal

So, last time I talked about how I steam the silk scarves after dying them. Here, you can see the roll of paper and scarves. Next, you see a corner revealed. I tear off the paper-- the resist sticks to the paper, but that will wash off. Meanwhile, I try to get as much of the paper off the silk. Finally, you see the whole picture (the one above has already been highlighted with paint).

Square Scarf

So, here's a new scarf I'm working on. It's 3 feet by 3 feet. There are 4 skeletons on it and they are holding hands. I had attempted one before, but it didn't work out, but after the other two square quilts I attempted a day of the dead scarf on a square again. This time I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. I'm thinking after steaming and finishing that I'll photograph it to make a card.

Baby Quilts

These are a couple of baby quilts that my friend Lisa and I made. I did the painting which you see here. And she quilted them. It was fun to do and the babies we made them for I'm sure will enjoy feeling the soft silk against their skin. Of course we didn't take pictures of the finished quilts, but here they are while I was still painting. These are made with 36" x 36' square scarves. I get the blank silk scarves from Dharma. Usually, I use the silk satin or haboti. If you don't know about Dharma Trading Co yet, check it out!

The first one has an underwater theme. It has lots of different underwater creatures: eels, squid, jellyfish, seahorses, crabs, starfish, and sand dollars.

The next one started out as a rocket to the moon. I'd planned a simple rocket going to the moon with stars all over the sky. Lisa mentioned that the friend we were making it for loved Paris. So, I included the Eiffel Tower, in sort of a "Paris to the Moon" theme. Take a look.

Inspiration

So, my son and I often look at the colors in the sky and think about how those colors would look in a painting or on a silk scarf. The other night, he took a picture of the sky from the backyard. It was pink and blue.

I played with the image using GIMP. Here it is (this is the cubist option). I just press buttons because I don't know how the program works. First I save the photo under a new name and poke around to see what it looks like. I think this looks cool.

I've been painting a new day of the dead scarf. This one has a New Year's theme. See, these colors really do occur in nature.

Here it is further along. The moon's face is more defined, and the colors on the couple toasting are brighter. You can even see the champagne in the flutes. Happy New Year!

The Steps

A lot of people ask me how I go from a blank silk scarf to the finished product. I explain this process here.

First the silk is washed to remove any remaining residue that might interfere with the dye. Next, the silk is stretched on a frame. Rubber bands and hooks hold the silk taut. Next, I plan the painting, sketching directly on the silk using a special fading pen. I apply a water-based resist to the parts of the painting that will be white (see picture above). The resist forms a border which keeps the dye from spreading into the next area.

The next step is beginning to apply the dye. First the lightest colors and the foreground colors are applied (see illustration on right). Other considerations are how the colors will blend with the next colors planned in a given area. In the example you can see the shapes starting to form.

The process of adding dye and drawing with resist is repeated until the entire design is complete. Sometimes the dye breaks through the border and the results are incorporated into the painting (I call these happy accidents). After the silk dries more color may be added for additional depth. The background is painted in last and is kept wet for an even finish.

Here you see the almost complete piece. The lines are dried resist. The scarf is then steam set for about 2 hours. The resist is rinsed out with hot water. Textile detergent is added in the final rinse to stop the dye from bleeding. Highlighting with metallic paints is the final step. The piece is then ironed to set the paints.