It all started three months ago with a social media wish hurled in to the aether, a UK foodie and author who lusted after a sixties scarf. Pink and yellow daisies burst from the square confines of the silk, and are shakily bordered by spindly blue train tracks.
My, it was pretty. I was intrigued. And I wondered. Could I make one?
I’m fairly confident with my brush strokes but I had never worked on this medium before. It would need silk, real silk. And dye. Many colours of dye. I’d have to be careful not to let it meld in to a blurry mess.
I offered the foodie and author a deal. I would make the scarf and send it to her for the cost of shipping.
She replied that I was too kind and she would think about it. She’s still thinking about it. I may have overwhelmed her with the offer. It’s no big deal on my end. It’s a project so consuming it kept my mind humming, and it was fun. So I charged ahead for my own satisfaction.
I sourced a silk georgette from Our Social Fabric in Vancouver. A remnant end from the garment industry, rescued from the landfill. Delivery was stalled by the postal strike, which gave me weeks to construct the scarf in my mind.
I painted a test piece in acrylic on board to work out the order of the dyes, and where I might need wax resist.
I finally had all the pieces on hand and I set the dyes to heat, laying two foam core boards on the floor of my kitchen. Cut the georgette to size (three pieces really. So I could test on the littles before committing to the big), pinned it to the foam core. And set to paint, talking myself through it all the way.
Next came hemming and ironing the scarves. Noticed something interesting on the foam core. My, the daisies left behind from the process were darned pretty, bursting with zest from the canvas.
Stalked my favourite UK foodie writer. Found out she was on vacation. Found an e-mail address. Restrained myself to a couple e-mails. After all, the poor woman is on vacation!
I am just a prairie grandma fussing and brushing and having a good old time.
She replied! I shared the details and costs for shipping, which isn’t much as the silk is so fine and light.
And I had my leftovers. A silk kerchief. Another square suitable for a dolly. And now a framed painting of that marvellous daisy pattern left from painting through a silk scarf.
