Painting a crocodile on silk

A lot of my paintings are influenced by Aboriginal themes and colours, and the simplicity of painting with two colours.

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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My favourite island painted on silk

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

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Using wallpaper paste in silk painting

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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Handpainted silk plus size top

Silk chiffon is sooooo beautiful and the fact that it's see-through means that I can paint the brightest colours and if the silk is worn over white clothing, it stands out in a crowd ...

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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