Dale Shutt

Silk Painting Gallery

Painting on Silk is a technique using dyes rather than paint. The dye is applied to silk, penetrating the whole fibre to create designs or pictures. The basic technique starts with stretching a piece of silk onto a frame. Keeping the frame horizontal, lines can be drawn on the silk using a resist. The resist penetrates the silk and when dry acts as a barrier, stopping the flow of dye and defining the figure or design. Liquid dyes are applied by brush, penetrating the silk, working quickly to combine and blend the colours before they dry. The finished painting is steamed to fix the dye into the fabric, making it wash and light fast.

I have been painting on silk for over 45 years. It is a joyful experience where there is always something new to learn. Silk is unsurpassed in its ability to express colour. In the simplest explanation, colour is the result of refracted light. Whereas a cotton thread may have 100 facets, a silk thread would have thousands, each reflecting light and colour giving the characteristic shimmer and shine we associate with silk.

Artwork measurements include the frame. If there is a price listed, it is for sale in Canadian dollars. I do not charge sales tax. If there is no price, the painting is already refracting joyfully on someone else’s wall. If you are interested in purchasing, please contact me to discuss shipping costs.

20th-century artist Marcel Duchamp is quoted as saying: “A work of art is completed by the viewer”

Thank you for completing my work.