The Process

We start with silk from China. The silk is washed and then stretched on stretcher bars Now we draw our image with a water based resist or a gutta (which has to be removed by dry cleaning). Once the image is drawn and dry, we paint. The dye flows silkily to the edges of the resist. Shading and other techniques can be added.

Steaming

Once I decided to work for a year on silk painting, I decided the only sure way to success was to invest in a steamer. This is a commercial chimney which is about seven feet tall, so tall I need to keep it in the garage. Then when about 4-5 silks are painted, I steam them for 2 hours The results are stunning.

A Years Worth of Silk Painting

I dedicated 2008 to painting silks. Usually my 'spare' time is used to work on callligraphy, but this year was a 'silk' year. Every weekend I was in the studio experimenting with new techniques, different silks, and different resists. The results were usually quite nice.

Why Paint Silks?

Painting silks is an awesome process. Here is the beginning of a true art.