Just downloaded some photos and I had to share this one - my cat Mooshie reclining like a royal on her favourite cushion .... a handpainted silk one I made a while back, where I've written the word 'Paris' on the silk:
Today I was going through my computer looking for some images, and this one of one of my silk scarves appeared ... and it just makes me smile :-)
One of my newsletter subscribers asked me today if I had done any handpainted silk using indigenous designs, and so I went back through some photos to find some paintings I did in the early 1990's - not really indigenous designs per se, but a sort of theme nonetheless.
At the time I was a Member of ArtistsForLife, a Sydney-based Australian group of artists whose paintings and exhibitions focussed on endangered species and all Australian animals and wildlife - the Exhibition was in November 1992.
Shown here are a couple of those paintings.
This first one is called KANGAROO WAVING, and you're right - the photo isn't very good - but it was a long time before digital cameras and this is as good as I have.
I love the colours here - the rich red brown of the earth, the bright blue sky with red and yellow highlights. I remember painting all those little triangles around the outside which took forever, but I did like the effect when it was finished. :-)
I liked the black kanga painting so much I did another one using a grey kangaroo - I also increased the size of the triangular border for a different effect, which I quite like; I also added some boomerangs across the skyline for a bit of fun:
My favourite though is always my Kevin Koala, in one of his many reposes, always comfortable, always cute and cuddly, nestling in the crook of a gum tree:
I remember this particular Exhibition very well - it was at the Australian Museum in Sydney, and it was very exciting to hang the paintings in the day, then return for the opening ceremony.
Imagine my surprise when I returned that evening to find the tv cameras set up in front of my paintings! Evidently they thought the 'feel' of the paintings was indigenous, and they chose my paintings to be in the background when the special guest, Burnum Burnum opened the Exhibition. Here's a photo of me with Burnum Burnum, and I'm wearing a handpainted silk sleeveless coat I made to match the paintings.
Above: Teena Hughes and Burnum Burnum at the "Artists For Life"
Above: Habotai silk stretched on wooden frame,Two great pieces of news today ...
One, I started to move my art bits and pieces into my new Studio space yesterday - yippee!! - hopefully I'll be painting some lengths of silk this week, or at least next weekend - can't wait :-)
As I continued down memory lane today, I came across this 1989 photo of me wearing one of my very first handpainted silk coats - turquoise and purple painted onto silk habotai, with white trim which was a bit dashing :-)
In this photo above I'm visiting with my friend Mel over cocktails.
Above: this is my gorgeous friend Anca who is my trusty model whenever I need one :-)
Anca is wearing my handpainted silk chiffon Haori jacket, painted in my Coral Reef design.
Above: Anca wearing hot pink and orange handpainted silk chiffon.
Click the photos to zoom in for more detail.
Ahhhhhh what fun to spend another couple of hours in my photo folders :-) -- does the heart good!
Teena
Join me for a Silk Painting Adventure in Paris France June 2008!
http://www.a-night-in-paris.com/silk-painting-france.html
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If you look closely at this Crocodiliac handpainted silk scarf I did a few years ago, you can see squiggles in the orange background where I've gone back with water on my brush for the wet-on-wet technique.
I used French silk dyes, and white water-based gutta to draw all of the design, as it suited my purposes for this painting.
My happy little Dancing Crocodiliac
:-)
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This is a little silk painting I did of one of my favourite places in the world - tropical far north Queensland at the top of Australia. I've lived there twice now, when I needed a total break from the rest of the crazy world, and before it was turned into a piece of the city in the tropics, it was a stunning sleepy area to visit, far from the madding crowds.
It inspired me greatly from the little islands off the coast to the never-ending expanse of sea and sky, turquoise and shades thereof most days of the year. The tropical fish were unbelievable in their amazing array of colours, and unless you've seen them at the Great Barrier Reef, it's hard to describe their beauty and the luminous quality of the colours.
The painting of Double Island above is quite small, about 8"x8" / 20x20cm, and is freehand, with a little black gutta for the island. The sky I painted with two blues and lots of water, then when the silk was dry I went over it with a black texta pen, to see how it would look.
Turned out fine, I think - don't you?
Cheers
Teena
My brain is overflowing with ideas for new clothing designs, whirling swirling delicious silk colours, and I wish my sewing machine wasn't on holidays :-(
I've been sketching all weekend, and if I can, I will upload some of my sketches by taking photos of them, or sketching using a drawing program. It's been such a long time since I designed my Teena Tops :-)
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I've stayed away from gutta for so many years with my free-form creating painting styles, but more and more I'm thinking of - indeed dreaming of - designs which need OUTLINES.
I vaguely remembered reading somewhere about wallpaper paste as a way to make an anti-fuse - a product to paint onto silk then allow it to dry before painting with dyes. The idea is that the dried silk will become like paper so the design could in fact be freehand and the dyes wouldn't flow or spread on the silk.
So - I went out and bought some wallpaper paste, mixed it up, and then did something bizarre. I put small amounts of the gluggy substance into a white icecube tray and added drops of dye to each one. I then tried to paint with this gloopy substance and found it was not easy - in fact it was a pain in the butt haha. I persevered. I got splotchy colours, and the painting looked awful, but I didn't give in.
When the silk was dry, I outlined the painting in black texta pen [of the permanent persuasion] and it started to take on the semblance of something almost acceptable :-) Well, in the eyes of its mother - me.
Photos will be uploaded shortly - a story-board of fascinating proportions - stay tuned!
Teena
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Wearing the silk over other complementary/similar colours works just as well.
This handpainted silk chiffon Teena Top at right in hot pink and lime green looks gorgeous with my hot pink silky satin tank top and matching pants, and yes, you guessed it - I DO have a lime green top and pants too!
The extra wide extra long scarf wrapped around the model's head is great for added effect, and perfect for cooler weather to keep the little earsies warm.
You can read more about this Teena Top on my website under Wearable Art:
http://abfab-australia.com
Talk soon!
Teena
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I'm very excited! This week I have joined the Surface Design Organization USA on http://www.surfacedesign.org - something I've been meaning to do for ages!
Their next Conference is in April 2008, and I might just start planning a trip to the USA for their 2009 Conference, as I'll be in France in June 2007 with a group of silk artists.
This afternoon a huge sulphur-crested cockatoo sat on my balcony with an equally huge black crow - what a pair they made!
Looking at the cockatoo took me hurtling back through space and time to my very FIRST painting on silk, when I lived in Paris. I had just received a letter from my sister in Australia and the postage stamp had a cockatoo on it.
I sketched the bird on paper, enlarge to 36x36 inches, and painted my first silk painting. When it was steamed and hemmed by the local French lady, I posted it to my sister who decided to frame it under glass.
Many years later when I returned to Sydney on a visit, I saw that cockatoo ... and I was so embarrassed at how it looked haha. After painting on silk for a few years I'd learnt a LOT since my first painting, that's for sure :-)
I'll see if I can find some photos of that original silk painting ...
Ciao ciao
Teena
Testing new way to display photos ... a slideshow should appear. If it doesn't please send me a COMMENT [below], stating Mac or PC, and which browser - thanks! PS - I am not looking for a critique of my old photos :) I am looking for info on whether the photo viewer works well on other computer platforms and browser sotware. More info on technique is below ...
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I've been testing different ways of displaying photos online the past week or two, so I can showcase my handpainted textiles ... and I think I've found something I like better than the rest. I'm testing this with 3 of my Paris photos - I hope you can see this:
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At the International Silk Painting Festival [in Chambon-sur-Lignon, France - June 2007], I attended several workshops and tried lots of techniques - I was in heaven :-)
One of the techniques I'd heard about for years but never got around to trying is the use of two types of dyes on the one fabric which has 'piles' or 'tufts'. The velvet pile has shapes cut out of it, and the backing fabric is different to the velvet pile, which means you can paint each with a different colour.
What is it?
The brand is called AlterEgo, and is a dye which only colors silk - it is is combined in a single dyebath [or painted direct onto fabric] with another type of dye, Procion, which colors both silk and rayon. The results are amazing - you can see one colour on the silk backing and another colour on the rayon pile/plush. You can see this in wonderful combos when used on silk/rayon velvet scarves, especially if the devoré technique has been used to create a pattern on the velvet.
An arty friend of mine regularly makes winter scarves using this technique, but instead of painting by hand [like I do] she puts the velvet in a saucepan and pours the two colours in.
Now I know you'll find this hard to believe - but the colours DO NOT mix together. When she removes the velvet, the backing takes on one colour and the velevet pile has taken on the second colour. How cool is that?
Back to France ...
The workshop I attended was a lot of fun - our Tutor is a well-known French textile designer and silk artist, who designs for some of the most well-known fashion houses and designers in France. We experimented and played with multiple layers using hot wax on the velvet after each applicaion of colour [from the two types of dyes - AlterEgo & Dupont Silk Dyes].
Above: Applying the hot wax. You can see the bright white of the velvet, and the grey areas are the devoré bits where the velvet has been 'eaten away'.
Here are the silk toggles I mentioned in a previous post - aren't the colours gorgeous? I will use one pair per coat, sew them at approximately bust level, as closures. Bit of a change from the usual black or white Chinese toggles I have used in the past, and I don't have to dye these!
The photo doesn't do them justice - I'll try to take a better one :-)
Each toggle is about 1.5 inches long / approx 4cm.
Au revoir!
Teena
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Here's another shot of my all-time favourite roll of handpainted silk I came across - isn't it delicious?? Yum!!! The price on this is 66,90 Euro, translates to approx $A110 per metre, or $US91 per yard.
Phew! For all of us textile designers / silk artists, we might want to rethink our prices :-)
Oh what fun I'm having in gay Paree!!
Ciao for now
Teena
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I love the textile district of Paris - all the fabrics outside each store, beckoning you inside, rich colours, fabulous textures ... ahhhhh, this is so wonderful!
I had such a good time, I had to have a rest in a local café while I gathered my strength to look in more fabric stores :-) All of the streets around here are filled with fascinating little stores of all kinds, and I spent a delight6ful day checking them all out. I found a great little haberdashery store which sold the most wonderful Chinese toggles I can use on my handpainted silk coats.
More soon!
Teena
PS - Click COMMENTS below to send a message : and View the SILK PAINTING VIDEOS shown below.
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