Silk Painters in Fashion! Jackie Peters Cully

This amazing woman started her print design studio in the Garment District of New York City. As a black woman in the 1970s she faced a lot of adversity but because of her perseverance, and pure talent - she became an incredibly successful Textile Stylist. It was because she created prints on silk which looked far more representative of the actual print on the final production fabric. Prior to this method, prints were designed as drawings on paper. 

Mallory Gnaegy,  A&E Editor - wrote an informative piece about Jack Peters Cully - here

Selfies of SilkPainting

I usually paint in my pajamas... I dressed up for this one :) 

BEFORE I paint the dye - I create a wash with water and then start to apply the dye - this helps in two ways: I can "sketch out" my color application on the canvas without actually applying dye and, secondly - the dye will spread more evenly and have softer edges when it dries. 

Silk Painter Pioneers

Before I even took to choosing dye or picked up a paintbrush, I did extensive research on the art of silk painting. I spent a year perusing the internet for techniques, styles and materials. A few women came about in my research. The first was Karen Sistek. I found her work  through Dharma Trading Co. She uses what is called the Watercolor Technique. Which is what I employ in my work. 

Here is the lovely artist herself, Karen Sistek. 

The Watercolor Technique involves using water and alcohol to spread and blend the dye on the fabric. It can be tricky because you have to move fast as the dye dries very quickly and also watch out for drips!  

This is a test piece I used as my palette - to see how the colors behave and what the true shades are after they dry. Now I feel like I need to explore this idea further and actually create a scarf using these big drops of color!! 

This seashell was painted using a wash of water and then application of various gradients of dye. Purple and yellow always make a nice contrast.