I made the first two hand-painted, one-of-a-kind silk scarves shown in this post at the week-long "art camp for grown-ups" class I mentioned in a previous post. The Asian-influenced design in apricot and sage green was a learning experience on several levels. One of my first attempts to draw a design using resist to prevent the dyes from running together, it also was a hopeful stab at mixing colors to match outfits without having them in the room with me for comparison. Both the main colors are some favorites in my wardrobe, and I was thrilled when the results looked perfect with all the outfits I had in mind.
The nighttime scene with moon and owl also arose from a desire to practice using resist to "draw" on white silk, then to paint inside those lines, and finally to fill in a freer style background. Two techniques produce the sky in the scene: some of the areas allow the colors to run together on their own, which produces uneven--sometimes jagged--lines while other areas used a quick rubbing technique Donna Kassab taught in the class to achieve blended tones (click on this, or any, photo to see more detail). The "stars" are simply dots of resist on the white silk before painting.
The fuchsia and orange scarf began as a disaster. In the class, the result of painting the background waves of color was (in my view) garish. Believe it or not, the colors are considerably toned down now. Although some classmates liked the original, I decided to remove some of the dye right away and washed out the color 3 or 4 times. After the scarf dried, I took it home, uncertain how to finish it. Once I had all my equipment and supplies collected at home, I decided to use resist to draw sort of day lily type flowers in the corners and painted them with coordinating colors. I also restored some of the orange tones in the background. Sorry I don't have a better photo; I gave a couple of scarves away to relatives on a recent vacation, and this one was snapped up before it had posed properly. You see it here on the stretcher frame my long-suffering husband helped me make. The silks must be suspended and stretched for the painting and drying processes.
Finally, the green/purple/yellow scarf, another version of my "Colorburst" design, is one of two I made for a friend who wanted to purchase a green toned scarf for a gift. She wanted some greens in the Colorburst design, but was somewhat vague on details, so I made two for her to consider. I don't have a good photo of the one she chose, but this is the other--the first scarf made entirely on my own at home. What fun all these projects have been!
Question of the day: Can you tell that my love of color is a key factor in my enjoyment of both silk and landscape painting? How does color bring joy in your life?
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