Soft Aqua Hand-painted Silk Scarf

    I call this 11" x 60" hand-painted silk scarf "Floating" because, somehow, that's how it makes me feel. Like many a silk painting project (at least in my world), I had a somewhat different plan, then let the way the dyes flowed and dried gently change my direction.

Hand-painted silk scarf, "Floating"

Corner detail

     In this case, the first pale layer was intended to be a soft, under-layer and background for an ocean wave inspired pattern to be developed with other hues, some of them more intense and darker. But that layer dried with an interesting sort of scalloped design that begged to remain as it was. My best guess as to why it dried that way is that it might have had something to do with the very watery color mix I used which flowed more in response to the tension points of the pins on the stretcher frame than more concentrated dye mixes do.

Another view of "Floating"

     So, I "went with the flow" and played with salt on the next layer of color to give it a more textured look. Gradually, I subtly deepened and slightly varied the hues. Finally (once it had dried again), I coated the entire edge near the hem with a narrow, but thick coating of salt in preparation to create a lacy edge. With a heavily loaded brush of concentrated dye of a deeper blue shade, I pulled color all along the outer hem edge two separate times. Once it was thoroughly dry, I used an old credit card to scrape all the salt off.

Scarf with first dye layer drying on stretcher frame

     The result pleases me, and I'm glad that I let it happen this way rather than proceeding with plan A. "Floating" still needs to be steam-set and pressed, so looks a little stiff now. When it's finished, the silky softness will return, and the colors will be sharper. Previous posts showing hand-painted silk scarves.

Question of the day: Have you experienced some surprises in your creative projects lately?