Start of Xsilk

Xsilk came about quite by accident.  I was working on an art project, painting a face onto a piece of silk.

I had some knowledge about textile dyeing but had no experience in silk painting.  For a few months, I learned as much as I can about silk painting method.  Then I started to experiment.
There were many hours spend, many hit and misses.
 The moment I started to experiment with silk dyeing and painting, I was taken by the depth and the richness of color dye on silk.  It's bit like stained glass, colors take on luminous quality on silk.

Working with silk takes a lot of patience.  Silk is beautiful to look at and heavenly to touch, but it can be unforgiving when you try to paint, dye or sew it.  Learning about the process prepared me to start, but experimenting help me to error less.  Practice makes perfect...well, almost perfect.  But it's those imperfections and happy accidents which makes a piece of silk endearing.  Even if silk didn't dye the exact color I wanted, I never met a color on silk I didn't like :-)

The more I understand about silk and how it takes dye, less I want to manipulate it.  I let it do its own thing.  I know I can never manipulate it completely, I will leave that job to big manufacturing mills and garment factories.

Silk painting conjures up a memory an old tale I heard as a child.  It was about a couple in clandestine love affair.  As her lover is about to take his leave, she lifts her long voluminous skirt to reveal her pristine ivory silk underskirt.  She brings him brush and ink and asks him to leave her a memento of their love affair.  While she sits with her underskirt exposed. He bend down to write an ode to their love affair on her underskirt before he departs for the last time.
It's a bit dramatic, but as a child I found that story to be very poignant.

There is something very special about clothes painted by hands.  Painted clothe makes movements of its maker's hand so immediately evident.  Each mark on a silk tells a moment in its creation.  As it is worn as a garment, wearer's adventures and personal stories are layered onto its self evident traces of its creation.
As I launch this blog, I hope I can share some of my adventures working with silk and finding owners for my silk garments.

Happy making everyone!