We've made the 2016 the year of the landscape.  The Silkworm will explore the various landscapes.  In the current issue, we explore nature's violent side with Marlyse Carroll who writes about her experiences surviving and helping others to emotionally, spiritually and artistically express themselves in the wake of the catastrophic bush fires in Australia which changed many lives.  Stephanie Gay from England explores a lighter topic, painting town and country on silk.  Addie shares her secrets for painting en plein air.  Brecia Kralovic-Logan returns to inspire, taking on the topic of the interior landscape.  Stay turned as we explore a variety of landscapes this year.

In This Issue

Sunset in the Kimberley by Marlyse Carroll

From Black Saturday to the Phoenix Reborn
by Marlyse Carroll

Each country has significant days that are meaningful to its citizens. Here in Australia ‘Black Saturday’ evokes a human and ecological tragedy that rocked our world in February 2009.

On that hot summer day, the worst bushfire in Australian history raged through the magnificent wooded hills north of Melbourne where I live with my husband Michael.

Here’s what I wrote a few days later:

‘The black and white landscape looks like a stark, surrealist painting. Or a nightmarish vision.  Grey earth. Skeletal black trees. A smoke-filled white sky. People ambling aimlessly, in a daze. One house after another burnt to the ground.

Silence. No bird songs, no dogs barking, no laughter. 

No electricity or running water either.

Here and there, army tents, police cars and men in uniform surround the charred remains of cars driven into trees and ditches.

The subtle presence of death permeates both outer and inner worlds. Like ghosts, masked people in white overalls search through piles of ashes. I hardly dare say what they’re looking for…

(To read more, go to Vol. 23, Issue No. 1.)

View from Chelsea Embankment by Stephanie Gay

Town and Country with Stephanie Gay
by Tunizia Abdur-Raheem

The first color you see when you visit Stephanie’s website is green.  She paints the verdant landscape around her home, Maidenhead, a small town of roughly 75,000 inhabitants about 30 miles west of London. For one who’s only visited the United Kingdom via the Internet, the impression is of town mingling with country mixing with city. Stephanie confirms. “The UK is very small. So the towns are close together. But there’s plenty of countryside in between. I live in the town but I can walk out into the countryside in about 10 minutes.”

Commuting to London by train where she works three days a week, she does get to take in the landscape. Traveling from town through country to big city and back, perhaps this is where her love of landscape developed. And perhaps why she paints these commingling environs.  Painting trees and grass but also roads and bridges makes for a stimulating blend of town and country. The paintings are at once peaceful and evocative.

Sisteron by Addie Chernus

En Plein Air in Europe
with Addie Chernus 

Plein air silk painting is one of the most glorious and educational experiences an artist can have. There is a definite charm about being outside and painting, even with bugs, wind and sun. Fewer supplies gives the artist a “lightness” in choosing colors and techniques. There is a spontaneity and freedom in plein air painting. Simplify, exaggerate, you are the boss. Enjoy!

If you are not yet ready for silk painting outside, try sketching. Keep a sketch book and pen with you. The next step add watercolor washes to your sketches. Then try plein air silk painting in your back yard.