Silk Scarf Painting - Bower Center for the Arts

History of
Silk Painting
Wax resist techniques
for embellishing silk can
be traced back to India
in the second century
A.D. and to Java 200
years later where the batik industry flourished.
Gutta resist techniques are most likely a more
recent development, but probably originated in
the Indonesian islands where the pallaquium trees,
from which gutta-percha is derived, grow
naturally. It’s a bit of mystery how silk painting
found it’s way to Europe, but silk painters from
France and Hungary believe their teachers learned
the craft in France from members of the Russian
czar’s family. In the 1920’s, hand-painted silk
designs began to appear in haute couture of
France. Upon the freeing of the colonies from King
George the 3rd via the American Revolutionary
War the prohibitive tariffs on silk were averted,
thus allowing silk to become a new trend in
Colonial American arts. Silk started showing up in
samplers, stitched-and-painted pictures and such
in the early 1800's, but by the 1840's there was a
distinct preference among the few colonial fine
artists there were, for painting on silk. The
medium was still very expensive to do, and so it
was something of high art snobbery to behold or
own a silk painting. One may find that the
abundance of silk painting waxed and waned with
the activity of the silk mills in the New England
states from 1840 on. When the mills closed their
doors, people stopped painting on silk. It wasn’t
until the 1970’s that silk painting really began to be
popularized by artists in the United States and it
has been gaining popularity as a textile art ever
since!
Nancy
O’Neal
… a Bedford area
artist and Juried
Artist of the
Virginia Artisan
Center, specializes
in hand painted
china silk utilizing
the application of
Jacquard silk dyes.
Nancy’s art grows from a childhood rich with
creativity and her artistic abilities come naturally
from her parents, both of whom were professional
artists and affiliated with the highly respected
Wustum/Racine Art Museum. The RAM was her
playground and classroom.
Silk Scarf Painting
with Nancy O’Neal
Spring
2016
She majored in art at Concordia University in River
Forest, Illinois. Nancy has worked as a theatrical
set designer and painter, and was co-owner of an
art gallery featuring Virginia Artists.
Her art is influenced by nature and the world outside
the gallery walls. Her themes are often organic and
reflect the surprise found in the flow of colors into
natural fibers.
It has been 20 years since Nancy was first given the
tools to create art in silk and she set it aside until
just 2012 when she rekindled her interest in the
medium. Her mother taught her many of the
techniques she uses for silk painting, which are
similar to watercolor. Her personal goals are to
study old methods to gain a better understanding
of the process, while testing new techniques and
discovering what dye does on silk. She explores the
many ways to apply the dye and create images and
patterns that become a wardrobe statement.
Nancy’s passion is that the “wearable” is the
“seeable” and she treasures the appreciation each
person shows when they wear one of her scarves.
www.WearableSilkArt.com
Bower Center for the Arts
305 N Bridge St, Bedford VA 24523
540-586-4235 www.bowercenter.org
Discover Silk Scarf Painting
with Nancy O’Neal
Different Techniques
Gutta or Resist Technique ...
Saturday
May 14
9am-4pm
Tuition:
$ 50. (Pay to Bower Center)
Supply fee:
$ 30. (Pay to instructor at workshop)
Sign up early - workshop size is limited
This class will show you the basics of painting on
silk. You will have the opportunity to do each of these
basic dye applications which include: resist, salt, wet on
wet and wet on dry. Your final project will either be
done on a 8” X 72” scarf or painting size 21” x 21” square.
Try this art form that traces back hundreds of years to
wax resist techniques in India. In the 1970s it began to be
popularized in the United States and has grown as a
textile art ever since.
For more information contact Nancy at:
Nancy@WearableSilkArt.com
is applied to the silk as an outline and once
the gutta or water-based resist has dried, it
acts as a barrier for the dye or paint - keeping
the color within the outlined areas of the design and allowing
you to achieve sharply defined borders. (Without this barrier,
the dye or paint would flow into more of an abstract, undefined pattern). After the dye or paint has been properly set,
the clear gutta or resist is removed and a defining line the
color of the original fabric remains. Colored guttas and resists
are also available that are meant to remain in the fabric.
Salt Effect
Sprinkling salt on the piece when still wet, and leaving
till completely dry before brushing off the salt, produces
interesting textural effects. Applying alcohol to dye-painted
silk also creates beautiful effects.
The size of the crystal of the salt creates different patterns.
Water color Effects - Wet on Wet or Dry on Wet
Watercolor-like effects can be achieved by applying dye or
paint to silk that has been pre-washed and put on stretcher
bars whether or not you are using resists (but not if you are
using stop-flow). Dyes or paints are applied to the silk with a
paint brush, mist sprayer, eye dropper, or other tools to
achieve abstract effects. Spraying the silk lightly with water
before adding color increases the flow of the dye or paint.
Register for classes at Bower Center on line at www.bowercenter.org and pay thru www.lynchburgtickets.com, mail a check to Bower Center for the Arts, P O Box 713,
Bedford VA 24523, or pay in person at the Center (Tues/Thur/Fri 11AM-4PM)