Silk Painting and Batik with Caren Threlfall February Meeting 2017

This month we welcomed local textile artist Caren Threlfall who had come to show us the delights of silk painting and batik. Many of our members already knew Caren from various courses she had taken locally.
Caren showed us a range of samples she had produced and introduced us to the beautifully vibrant silk paint colours.
She demonstated the use of gutta to limit the flow of the paints and suggested that members might like to try a picture of a ploughed field, [see picture below] but could try out any ideas they wanted.

 Caren demonstrated how to apply the paint so that it flowed, mixed and then how to change the appearance of the paint by the addition of salt and drops of water.
Members were very keen to have a go and some of the beautifully vibrant results are below.

In the afternoon Caren put on her "cooking pot" to melt wax ready for batik.
Caren demonstrated building up a picture in layers of paint then wax applying darker and darker colours. She suggested we have a go at a dandelion clock.

Once the wax and paint were dry Caren demonstrated getting rid of the wax by ironing the piece between newspaper.
Some members got as far as this final stage others took their second piece to finish at home. There was lots of discussion over what kind of stitching and how much they were going to apply to their pieces without detracting from the beautiful colours.

It was a very enjoyable day with members being inspired to have a go at home.
A big thank you must go to Caren for inspiring us.

One of our members has embroidered her silk painting and added a few beads.

Completed work from previous workshops
 
A completed  "4 lines embroidery"  combined  with a stumpwork butterfly. Well Done!

 Weavings from last month;

Very pretty colours.