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Sunday, June 10, 2007

Silk Painting

I have finished quilting all the backgrounds of the animals and some of the animals themselves. It is at this point that I have to flog myself into keeping at it and finishing the project. It will go faster from here on I hope. I am not sure how I will quilt the barbed wire. Maybe along the wires with dark brown or maybe between the wires with beige. I'd have to go back to Fabricland to get beige thread so maybe that would be the best idea. The sale is still on. Lol.




Here are some silk scarves I painted awhile ago with Dupont dyes. This one was done by painting the flowers with red and then applying clear gutta around the edges of the red before adding shading. The little brown spots in the middle were done using a nearly dry brush and a tiny bit of dried up dye from the mixing tray. For the borders I mixed a strong salt solution and painted it on the border area. After it dried, the salt acted as a bit of an anti-fusant. I like the way the edges turned out due to the salt. Unfortunately, I got a splotch of red in the lower corner that kind of ruined the look I was going for.

This one was done by making a thick sugar solution by boiling sugar water. When it cooled I painted some on the silk and added the dye with a brush. It sort of oozed together and I quite liked the look of it. The scarf is long and narrow so I folded it to show the different effects at each end.
I should have ironed the scarves before taking the photos but they were going right back into the storage box so I didn't bother. Looking into that box made me realize that it's time to get the bolt of silk and dyes out again.

8 comments:

meggie said...

Wow Joyce, I love those huge red flowers! And I dont even like red! LOL.
Love the soft colours in the other scarf too. You are so talented, with so many skills.

Pam said...

You have done an amazing job. The scarves are both beautiful. I didn't even notice the red mark until you pointed it out and I had to go back and look for it.

Beautiful Joyce. You are very talented -- in more ways than one!!

Fiona said...

What lovely bright scarves - they have a 1950's feel about them.

Rose Johnston said...

Love the scarves!!! great job!!

Darcie said...

Oh my! Yes...you must get that silk out again! Will the humid weather have any adverse affects on the silk dyeing?

I love both...but the thick sugar one has such a beautiful, soft watercolor feel to it. Absolutely beautiful!

Mind me asking a few questions, Joyce? How do you finish the edges of the silk? And what weight of silk do you use?

Libby said...

Wow - such beautiful pieces. I've not heard of the sugar solution technique before. Lovely results.

Diana said...

I love the scarves. My gosh, I didn't even know it was possible to achieve this variation in colors without it all running together. Wow, great job!

Judy said...

those are yummy!!
you need to get back to your silks, lady!!!
xo