Silk Painting Process
The Properties of Silk
Silk has wonderful properties of
movement, flow and luxurious sheen
which come from its smooth,
continuous, triangular fibers which
reflect light. It is also a very strong,
elastic fiber which can stretch
20-25% without breaking and will
stretch back; that is, it has a memory.

Chiffon is Soft, sheer, translucent,
loosely woven, plain weave.   
Habotai/Pongée Habotai which
means 'coming from Japan' and
Pongée, which is sometimes called
china silk, are both tightly woven,
smooth, plain weave fabrics.
The Process
I stretch the silk on a frame using special pin hooks that hold the silk tight.  I start with a
plain white silk  to create my hand-painted scarves from a fluid-like watercolor method to
a more controlled resist technique.   I apply a clear or colored "gutta" or resist to the silk
to control the flow of paints or as a highlighter in my designs.
I paint on the silk using fiber reactive  silk dyes that I mix to the color specifications my
idea calls for. The more intricate and purposeful the painting obviously the more time is
spent on a piece. The process consists of a lot of drying time in between layers of
color.  After a piece is complete, I steam-set the silk for 5 hours, hand wash, dry, and
press.
All my designs are freehand and one of kind.
This scarf is not an original design.The pictures
depict the process of applying gutta to raw silk,
applying fibre reactive dyes, and the final steamed
and set wearable art piece.
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No image may be reproduced in any manner without prior written consent of the artist.
Copyright © Mira Mickler Moss