Silk Scarf Painting at The Watts Gallery

 Earlier I write a post about a workshop I was going to tutor at the Watts Gallery Artists' Villlage.
We had a light, spacious and well equiped studio to work in which is attached to Limnerslease house which was the Wattses' home. It is surrounded by woods and approached through a well kept garden area.
We started with a an informative tour of the Helen Allingham exhibition to get inspiration.
The scarves were worked off frame. The silk was made damp first, placed onto a sheet of polythene then the colours blended on the silk. Salt was added to some while still wet to make patterns.
We were fortified by good coffee and biscuits!
When dry some people added motifs using a small frame, outliner and more colour. Some did a second scarf.
Here are the lovely results.

 

Watercolour Textiles Paint a Silk Scarf

Above, silk scarf hand painted using wet in wet techniques and embellished with gold.

I will be tutoring this day workshop at The Watts Gallery Artists Village at Compton near Guildford Surrey. The workshop coincides with an exhibition of Helen Allingham watercolours and includes a short talk and tour of the exhibition.

Watercolour Textiles paint a silk scarf
Watts Gallery

Friday 9 February10.30am - 4.30pm
£75 including materials

Learn the art of silk painting. Paint onto damp silk and watch the colours flow and blend. Explore the different effects which can be achieved as the silk dries by adding salt or some cut out shapes onto the silk.

The silk can be embellished with metallic gutta ( see image above) or embroidery. Leave the workshop wearing your new silk scarf!

No drawing skills or previous experience of silk painting required.

Book here

Silk Scarf yellow and grey geometric pattern

I have used AV Vallejo black outliner and Marabu iron fix paints on a ponge 5 scarf. I worked on both ends in turn until the design met in the middle. It was not drawn out first but evolved as I worked on it.

A close up of one end

The ready hemmed blank silk scarf is attached to an Arty's Easyfix frame while being worked on.

Both are available to buy by mail order from Silkcraft click here for the frames and here for the scarves.

I find this type of frame is useful for painting scarves. I have a square frame and an extension kit. The system is flexible and can be set up for different sizes of scarf, oblong or square. The silk is held away from the frame rather than pinned onto a wooden frame which means that ready hemmed blank scarves can be painted right to the edge.

I find it a bit fiddly to set up and for work where the edges will not be seen prefer to use a wooden frame.

TIPS  Don't make the rolled edge too wet.  Be on the look out for moisture from the rolled edge moving into the drying scarf and making watermarks.

 I painted this scarf in small sections and dried them one at a time with a hair drier. This has to be watched too as one colour can spread along inside the rolled hem and get into the next section.

                                                       Finished scarf  135x35cm approx

Silk Scarf Painting Affordable Art Fair London and Tutorial

This scarf is back from the microwave and this is the first glimpse of how it turned out.

I tutored 2 groups sponsored by fashion house Gudrun Sjoden at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea London. We used Arty's Quick Colour and ponge 5 silk scarves.
 Over 2 sessions of around 1 hour each about 34 damp silk scarves were folded, twisted or scrunched and painted using the dye direct from the little nozzles on the tubes of colour. This product though a bit pricey compared with some steam fix paints is very convenient and useful for groups where time and space is limited as you don't need paint brushes, pots or palettes.
 The colours were fixed in a squad of microwaves up on another level and ferried up, microwaved and brought back by a team of helpers. The damp scarves were wrapped in paper towels, placed in a plastic microwavable container and microwaved for about 3 minutes. I have put more info at the bottom of this post.

Tutorial 

You will need

Silk scarf  Chinese silk Pongee 5 weight and Arty's Quick Colour steam fixable dye

disposable gloves

plastic sheet to work on

microwavable container eg plastic take away container or glass Pyrex bowl

kitchen paper or couch roll

Remove the label from the scarf.

Wet the scarf and blot off excess water. Then EITHER

1. Scrunch it into a loose ball

2.Twist it along it's length till it folds back on itself

3. Fold it in 4 lengthwise

Drip colours on straight from the bottle. They will spread and mix slowly.

For 1 or 2 do this in the microwavable container. For 1 squish the ball to help the colour spread. Open it up and apply more colour as needed then screw it up and squish it again.

For 3  Place flat on polythene and when you have applied the colour, sandwich carefully between sheets of kitchen paper, loosely roll it up then transfer to the container.

Fixing the colour

These dyes can be made permanent by fixing from damp in the microwave.

Place a sheet of kitchen roll in a microwavable container, put the damp scarf on that and cover with another piece of kitchen roll. Or for 1 and 2 wrap in cling film and secure loosely with a rubber band. Microwave on medium heat for around 3 minutes till dry. Open the package after about 2 min, take care because of the hot steam. If you used method 1 open the scarf out and re scrunch so that any damper parts are on the outside of the ball. Methods 2 and 3 just turn the package over. Now microwave in 30 sec bursts and check the silk. If it's still damp the colour won't be properly fixed. WARNING if you microwave for much time after the silk is dry the silk may become scorched or the plastic container may start to melt and leave bits of molten plastic on the silk. So keep checking till the silk is just dry.

If the work had already dried before it was fixed it can't be microwaved. Instead wrap it loosely in foil and steam it like a pudding for about 1 hour. Make sure the parcel is water tight and don't let the pot boil dry.

Rinse, blot in a towel and iron damp.

Tuition

If you would like details of silk painting classes, my work and exhibitions or to contact me go to  www.saa.co.uk/art/tessaspanton or find me on facebook www.facebook.com/tessaspantonartist  

Silk Scarf Painting Taster Affordable Art Fair

I am tutoring a silk scarf painting taster class, inspired by the rich and intense colours of Georgia O'Keefe's work  It is sponsored by fashion house Gudrun Sjoden,  at the Affordable Art Fair, Battersea London UK On Fri 14th March
 It is is preceded by a talk about women in art, then drinks and nibbles then the taster workshop.
There is no charge for the workshop and you get to take the scarf home with you.
It is suitable for complete beginners.
You can book online and for the first ten to book there's  a Gurun Sjoden goody bag.
More details here