Magic Sizing Technique Experience

I had such a great experience painting with the magic sizing technique; the technique has a lot of potential that I am yet to discover.

Thank you Karen Sistek for sharing your wisdom about this technique with me.

Watercolor Inspiration Drawings

As an artist who likes adventure and spontenouity in life, I usually paint freelance without a premedidated design; gutta becomes my pen and dupont is my color. The experience is completely suprising because I never know what the result will be. Sometimes the result is not to my liking but it can still appeal to others. The entire experience of painting on silk becomes a complete suprise.

I began to experience a different way of painting by making watercolor sketches like the ones I'm sharing below. Any painting on silk is suprising but doing the sketches beforehand actually allows for me to explore more. The final painting does not only satisfying my expectations but it has greater composition and richness.

Painting silk without a skecth is spontenous creation without a set goal. Painting with a sketch is less spontenous but it still gives great opportunities to add more richness.

One Shawl, Different Looks

Purchase this Purple Iris Shawl here

Purchase this Purple Iris Shawl here

Constructive Criticism

I love to do a lot of market research and I'm always looking at the work of other silk artists and fashion designers. I sometimes become deeply inspired by the color, design, and skill of artists and designers; however, I also become disappointed to see a lot of mediocre silk art posing as "unique", "labor intensive", and "high-quality". It seems to be that individuals practicing silk art become scared of stepping out their boundaries or afraid of creating something that will overstep the boundaries of the "commercial".

As artists we should have the courage and sincerity to give each other honest criticism and to help each other grow artistically. Giving each other sugar-coated criticism or praising something that does not deserve praise is damaging to our work and our skill growth.

I admire the courage and the effort that it takes to take up silk painting but I believe that it's important and necessary to take skill-building classes, give each other constructive criticism, and support each other by being sincere and honest.

Stylized Flowers on Silk Chiffon

Christian Dior Spring 2012 Couture

The Christian Dior Spring 2012 Couture fashion show was one of my favorite collections. It was very classic and conservative, and it reminded me of a mix of 1950's silhouette and 1980's design. The sheer fabrics used are very feminine and the waistline was very pronouced. The colors were monochromatic but they were gorgeous. It was all very elegant, glamourous, and sophisticated.

My experience at the Paseo Arts and Holly Fest

I participated as a vendor in the Paseo Arts and Holly Fest, which happened December 17th and 18th at the Paseo Colorado outdoors mall in Pasadena. This mall has a lot of space in between the retail stores and the booths were located in this space. The promoter was very nice and he had volunteers to help vendors set up and to take down the booths.

The name of the show has the word "art" in it but the vendors did not match up to the title. There was a variety of vendors and some were artsy and some were not. It also seemed that the people at the mall were there as frequenters of the mall and not because they were interested in the Paseo Arts and Holly Fest. I didn’t have any customers that were interested in art.

I do not consider this place a good place for artists because the retail stores were offering high discounts and customers wanted discounts from me, which I could not afford to give. I cannot compete with retailers. This was not a good show for fiber art artist like me.

This experience helped remind me how much I have to research the shows I participate in before I sign up.

However, I met a great artist at this show and I am so happy that I met someone like her.