Custom Trapeze Dress and Peacock Feather Ruana

The first layer of hand painting

Ombre over-dye on jacquard silk

The fabric always starts out pure white, first I brushed three colors of dye on a double layer of silk stretched on the frame and let it dry. Azul is the colorway the mother of the groom selected for her dress, turquoise, orchid and ultramarine. Next, I immersed the dye to create an ombre overlay to the hand painted pattern. The overdyed effect is rich and saturated pastel. 

The jacquard silk is shimmering with a lovely diagonal leaf pattern. The comfortable and modern trapeze dress will have an asymmetrical hem that hits at the knee in front and tapers to mid-calf in back. The peacock feather ruana is vivid and playful with rich colors and gold embellishing and will coordinate the outfit perfectly.  

Ensemble, peacock ruana and jacquard dress. 

First things first, the feathers on a background of white silk

Color added, next is gold embellishing. 

Joy Hand Painted Silk

Custom and one of a kind hand painted silk fashion and home accessories. 

Made by-hand in Ashland, Oregon. 

www.joysilk.com

www.joyflower.etsy.com

www.opensky.com/joysilk

541-482-9665

JoySilk Summer Giveaway #2

You, my friend are among the rare and amazing fans of JoySilk on Facebook.
And you have a chance to win some cool handmade swag!! 

First prize is a pair of earrings and a beautiful Joy hand painted silk scarf. The earrings will be chosen from from my OpenSky shop.

OpenSky Exclusive Inventory

The scarf will be chosen from my Etsy shop.

One of a kind hand painted silk fashion accessories. 

There are just two requirements enter the Giveaway

1. Join my mailing list at the top right hand side of my blog. 

2. Post a comment below referencing either Photo 1 or Photo 2.

Extra consideration to entrants may be given in several ways. 

1. Follow and interact with @Joysilk on Twitter.

2.  Like, comment, and/or share any post or photo on my Facebook page.

3. Submit a photo of yourself wearing your JoySilk scarf, shawl or jewelry. 

4. Share the JoySilk Summer Fun Giveaway #2 via your favorite social media. 

5. Share, tweet or Pin your favorite items from my Etsy store or from Opensky.

A winner will be randomly drawn from the qualified entries on August 15th. 

Good luck and thanks to all who entered! 

Custom Fabric for a Hand Painted Silk Yukata with peacock motif

I am happily sequestered in studio, creating hand painted silk crepe de chine over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.  This project consists of painting several yards of crepe de chine for a custom-order peacock motif yukata. A yukata is a casual summer kimono in Japan, usually made of cotton.  The peacock is in repose, when compledted, the gracefully folded tail-feathers will wrap around the wearer.

The first step is to use the serti technique to transfer the design to the silk fabric

A lot of  planning goes into making the pattern.

This is the first layer of color. 

Silk painting is my passion! I am so happy and grateful that my studio is back in action with inspiring projects like this one!

Work in progress.

The finished effect. 

Peacock motif complete and ready to cut and sew.

Detail of the peacock's tail. 

The completed yukata. 

View Two of the completed garment. 

Close up of the peacock feather detail. 

Custom yukata by Joy Hand Painted Silk.

Custom Fabric - for a wedding party

For Kay & Jo, 

These are some snapshots so we could discuss the colors once you receive the fabric samples.  The various fabrics I used to create the samples are to show how the colors translate on the various weaves. The heavier the fabric, the more intense the colors show up. 

Misty orchid with a touch of green

Misty orchid with a touch of green (jacquard scarf)

Misty Orchid with a touch of green.

Misty Orchid with a touch of green

Peridot with a touch of lavender.

Peridot with a touch of lavender. 

Peridot with a touch of lavender.

Peridot with a touch of lavender (satin stripe jacquard scarf).

You will have to let me know how vibrant you want the colors to be.

Happy Spring! Beauty and Creativity

I am inspired by life, these women are creating a beautiful flower petal dressing for the well in the Chalice Well Gardens. The Chalice Well is one of Great Britain's most ancient wells, in the Vale of Avalon between the Glastonbury Tor and Chalice Hill, it is a place of sanctity, healing and peace. Tonight's full moon & music program will be divine, Ravi & Adrian are said to play music to transport the listener to a celestial place. I invite you to take a moment and allow their music to transport you!   The Druid Beltaine ceremony is a community event that takes place every May 1st in Glastonbury. This ancient tradition is still alive and well in Britain and the St. Michael ley line is also aligned to this date, where beacons would be lit on hilltops across the country welcoming in the turning of the year. The flower petal painting was created by pressing live flowers, individual petals and cones into wet clay. Enjoy the beauty! 

The finished dressing in place beside the Lion's Head Well

The Vesica Pisces created with petals of Echinacia, Gerbera, Aconite and Forget-me-not. 

Springtime Blessings to you and your loved ones. 

Take time, notice & enjoy the beauty and miracles surrounding us! 

Back in action on Planet Joy

You may or may not know that my studio flooded this year in January (again). I've been dealing with insurance adjusters and contractors to get the renovations completed. Finally last week, I finished painting the floors and touching up the walls and moved my equipment back inside.

Demolition phase

As much as I love the look of my studio when it is empty, it is idle, it calls for the creativity!

Fresh new floor surface. 

Now, happily, there is life and creativity afoot! The muse has enjoyed the rest during renovations, I've been germinating new ideas and custom orders are underway once again. 

Peacock feather motif in production

I will be very busy during the rest of April and through the month of May catching up on production for the Santa Fe Opera gift store and some very special orders for clients out east - it's wedding season you know!

Custom jacket for a wedding.

I will do my best to write for Planet Joy, but if you want to keep up to date with day-to-day studio happenings and activity, please join the fun on Facebook!  Feel free to comment or contact me to create and design a custom silk wrap for yourself or a friend!

Traditional Line Painting on Silk

Whatever style they follow, all silk painters must have an intimate knowledge of their material, painting silk is full of changing and unexpected characteristics. Click here to watch a contemporary studio demonstration of this fascinating technique on YouTube.  

The Tibetan Thangka is the best known religious form. Click here to further explore the technique used to create the famous thangka depicting the twelve stages of Buddha's life.  

Twelve stages of the life of Buddha

Gongbi is the name for the Chinese silk painting technique. The name is from the Chinese Gong chin meaning tidy, literally “detailed strokes” referring to the meticulous brush technique. Classic examples of this school are Imperial-court paintings of the Ming Dynasty. The painting below is a copy by the emperor Huizong of an earlier Tang Dynasty painting by Zhang Xuan depicting women pounding and preparing silk fabric. 

Court Ladies Preparing Silk

The Vietnamese style of silk painting utilizes the natural color of the silk as the background. Delicate color and silk background of this traditional style demonstrate harmony with nature. 

Silk painting from the village of Hue, Vietnam

I am fascinated by the precision and beauty of this traditional Asian silk painting genre. There are many resources available online for deeper study. Many museums exhibit traditional silk paintings in collections worldwide, including Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Beijing's Capital Museum and the British Museum to name just a few.

Details of a Ruana

The photos in this post are original sized and may not look right on your screen. Click on the image to see the details of satin edged chiffon. The versatility of the chiffon ruana is unparalleled. Imagine the possibilities of made to order by Joy Hand Painted Silk. 

 The satin edging is just the right weight for a perfect effortless drape. A ready made ruana measures 42 x 79 inches. Length adjustments can be done in a variety of ways; by ruching (gathering) or tying the satin edges or shortening the chiffon panels

 Here is a close up of the simple knot used to tie the edges in many styles. This is a shawl tied at the center front.

This image shows the sheerness of the chiffon in contrast to the satin edging.