In This Issue

Jan Billings

Jan is the designer of the mystical gowns shown on the previous pages. Having trained at the Royal College of Art in Printed and Woven Textiles, it took Jan some time to come to the art form which she now loves. During that time, she experimented with many mediums. She worked with printed and woven textiles, enameled jewelry, graphic design, stained glass, oil and watercolour painting and on and on. Eventually, she discovered silk painting and the rest is history (or her story so far). “When my brush touched the silk and spread in a magical way, I knew that at last I had found what I had been searching for. The luminosity of silk combined with glowing paints had me addicted. I have been experimenting with different techniques ever since!”

Taking her inspiration from nature – plants, landscapes – and music, she works through the rainbow of colors. However, she finds herself drawn to certain colors and they form a theme in her work.  “I like to work through the spectrum but keep returning to silver, violet, purple!”  To read more about Jan and see more of her work, see Volume 18, Issue 4.

Jan Billings' dress with beautiful matching lace hand painted by
her daughter

Joanna White

"Evolution is a part of life.” So begins Joanna’s adventure into the world of silk painting. While taking a watercolor class given by a neighbor and professional artist, Joanna found herself struggling with the medium. “Paper seemed like such an unforgiving canvas. The question occurred in my mind....was there a way to move color on fiber?”

Joanna searched for an art form that resonated. Her search led her to the internet.  “The internet became my teacher and videos on You Tube led me from one instructor to another. I was on my way to becoming a silk painter.”

A self-taught artist, Joanna has spent the last five years establishing herself as a professional artist. “Opportunities and doors kept opening and my rule of thumb is to respond to each opening door. My careers as a special educator and non-profit manager had ended. Being a silk artist seemed to be the next step for me.”

“Creating art to wear,” she states, “is a process of co-creation which unfolds organically. Color is my joy and I find myself painting the colors that are loved best: blues, purples, greens and the golden colors of autumn. In my mind’s eye is a grouping of colors and in my basket of tricks are techniques like resists of soy and gutta, watercolor techniques and embellishments.”

To see more of Joanna's work, see Volume 18, Issue 4.

Traveling around the world, I discovered that silk painting has a long and rich history and tradition with humanity. To put color on fabric and to transform it into artworks or garments is a long-lived human adventure. Red, purple, yellow, green…blue, humans have used natural elements to explore and discover different dyes that will enhance their lives, transforming a black and white vision into a full color daily life.

Let me tell you about my specific indigo experience. There is a place, in northwest Vietnam where old communities are protected and still live as they have done since the middle ages. Even if boys drive motorcycles and girls communicate with cell phones, the agricultural lifestyle is the way the people live in this village. With the rice field terraces, the use of cattle to cultivate, the wood houses that can be deconstructed and reconstructed in the same day, traditional life creates an atmosphere where you will feel comfortable enough to settle in instantly.