Inspirational Reading~~~By MysticSilks

I was

browsing through the etsy forum the other day in the Business Section. I happened upon the following reading. It was so inspirational that I wanted to share it,hoping that the words and thoughts may inspire others:

"The Education Of An Artist"
Excerpt from The Shape of Content by Ben Shahn 1957:
Ones education naturally begins at the cradle. But it may perfectly well begin at a later time too. Be born poor..or be born rich..it really doesn’t matter. Art is only amplified by such diversity. Young people of both origins may or may not become marvelous artists. That depends upon factors having little to do with circumstances of birth. Whether they will become significant artists seems to depends upon a curious combination of biology and education working upon each other in a fashion too subtle for the eye to follow.
But there is a certain minimum program. There are, roughly, about three conditions that seem to be basic in the artists equipment: to be cultured, to be educated, and to be integrated. Now let me be the first to admit that my choice of terms is arbitrary; many words could be substituted and mean approximately the same thing. This off choice of terms, however, has a reason which will perhaps emerge as I proceed.
Begin to draw as early in life as possible. If you begin quite early, use any convenient tool and draw upon any smooth uncluttered surfaces. The flyleaves of books are excellent, although margins of textbooks too have their special uses, as for small pictorial notations upon matters discussed in classes, or for other things left unsaid.
My capsule recommendation for a course of education is as follows:
Attend a University if you possibly can. There is no content of knowledge that is not pertinent to the work you will want to do. But before you attend a university work at something for a while. Do anything. Get a job in a potato field; or work as a grease-monkey in an auto repair shop. But if you do work in a field do not fail to observe the look and the feel of earth and of all things that you handle-yes, even potatoes! Or, in the auto shop, the smell of oil and grease and burning rubber. Paint of course, but if you have to lay aside painting for a time, continue to draw. Listen well to all conversations and be instructed by them and take all seriousness seriously. Never look down upon anything or anyone as not worthy of notice.
In college or out of college, read. And form opinions! Read Sophocles and Euripides and Dante and Proust. Read everything that you can find about art except the reviews. Read the Bible; Read Hume ; Read Pogo. Read all kinds of poetry and know many poets and many artists. Go to an art school, or two, or three, or take art courses at night if necessary. And paint and paint and draw and draw. Know all that you can, both curricular and non curricular- mathematics and physics and economics, logic, and particularly history.
Know at least two languages besides your own, but anyway, know French. Look at pictures and more pictures. Look at every kind of visual symbol, every kind of emblem; do not spurn signboards or furniture drawings or this style of art or that style of art. Do not be afraid to like paintings honestly or to dislike them honestly, but if you do dislike them retain an open mind. Do not dismiss any school of art, not the Pre-Raphaelites nor the Hudson River School nor the German Genre painters. Talk and talk and sit at cafes, and listen to everything, to Brahms, to Brubeck, to the Italian hour on the radio.
Listen to preachers in small town churches and in big city churches. Listen to politicians in New England town meetings and to rabble-rousers in Alabama. Even draw them. And remember that you are trying to learn to think what you want to think, that you are trying to co-ordinate mind and hand and eye. Go to all sorts of museums and galleries and to the studios of artists. Go to Paris and Madrid and Rome and Ravenna and Padua. Stand alone in Sainte Chapelle, in the Sistine Chapel, in the Church of the Carmine in Florence.
Draw and draw and paint and learn to work in many media; try lithography and aquatint and silkscreen. Know all that you can about art, and by all means have opinions. Never be afraid to become embroiled in art or life or politics; never be afraid to learn to draw or paint better than you already do; and never be afraid to undertake any kind of art at all, however exalted or however common, but do it with distinction.
Anyone may observe that such an art education has no beginning and no end and that almost any other comparable set of experiences might be substituted for those mentioned, with-out loss. Such an education has, however, a certain structure which is dictated by the special needs of art.

A Business Woman's Request: Part Three: Dying The Images, Then Finishing The Scarves~~~By MysticSilks

You can see the images designed on the silk scarves with out the dyes being placed. The butterfly scarf as I stated before, was the that one caused me the most anxiety. Why? Because I was trying so very hard to duplicate as much as possible the customer's watercolor painting. And trying to keep the dyes inside the butterflies and not out running into the scarf background, which happens so often with silk and dyes.

The butterfly scarf took a week to complete. After the dyes were placed on the scarf, I let the dyes soak in and dry for 24 hours before steaming them.

The last scarf photo is the finished product, after the steaming. After the scarves are steamed, you wait another 24 hours to make sure the dyes are dried from the steaming. Then each scarf is washed, and rinced 5-6 times.Then while damp, I press the scarves with a steam iron, usually on the reverse side of the scarf.

When both the butterfly and fish scarf were finsihed I wrapped them in tissue paper, placed them in a bubble mailer, and off they went to Sharyn.

I waited, hoping to hear from her that she liked the scarves. She emailed me after receiving them , to say she thought they were 'cool'.

That's my biggest pleasure, when a customer is pleased.

Thank you so much for reading.

http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

A Business Woman's Request: Part Two: Creating the Templates~~~By MysticSilks

In November of this year 2010, I was contacted by a customer(Sharyn A. Brotz) of mine who had just purchased four of my hand designed silk scarves. She wanted to know if I would be able to design a couple of silk scarves based on her watercolor paintings:

See: www.deuxartistes.com.

I asked her to snail mail me the images of her paintings, and I would see if this request would be possible to fulfill. She mailed me the images and my next concern was would I be able to view her images through the silk I was planning to use: Silk Satin.

First let me say that this was the first time I had ever attempted to design on silk using the images of someone else's art work: That is the challenge to try and replicate the colors , the images, the nuances surrounding the main images.

The two photos 1) the butterflies , and 2) the fish as I came to call them were the templates that I used.

I taped the images of Sharyn's art work to a piece of foam core board. With the butterfly I traced images of butterflies to use throughout the upper part of the scarf.

On the fish painting, I traced the fish on each side of the silk scarf, then just carried blue sky throughout the scarf.

The butterfly scarf was labor intensive. Each image of a butterfly was hand designed using resist to make impermeable barriers against the leaking of the dyes from one butterfly into the next, then individually hand dyed.

The same principal was used with the fish.

Please read:

Part (3)the dying of butterflies, and fish.

Thank you

http://mysticsilks.etsy.com

A Business Woman's Request```By MysticSilks

Well, it's almost that magical day of the year: Christmas! I think a lot of the purchasing of online gifts is pretty much coming to a close.
I had a most excellent and challenging custom order in November. I will go into more detail of that experience in another blog, along with photos of the step by step process. But right now my intention is to introduce my readers to this lady, Sharyn A. Brotz, and I am utilizing her own words:

Sharyn Brotz is the managing director of a boutique consulting firm that provides technical and business project management and systems design support catering to the travel industry. She has over 15 years of experience working for airlines, global distribution systems, cruise lines, time share companies and cruise lines. Her commitment to her customers is to exceed their expectations with her work and that of all of the specialized sub-contractors commissioned to work by the clients.

The web site link is www.pragmatic-systems.com.

Her passion is painting. She uses watercolor, gouache, acrylic and ink, emphasizing the beauty and innocence of animals and the splendor of the outdoors. Her animals often have expressions of joy and cater to the children of the world, from newborn to senior citizens. She and her best friend started a web site to showcase their work which can be found at: http://www.deuxartistes.com/.

And it was from Sharyn's watercolor art that our artistic relationship was established.

Now on to the next blog which will detail the custom order for Sharyn.

Thank you for reading
http://mysticsilks.etsy.com

Hello faithful readers! Happy Thanksgiving!
I have an etsy shop I'd like to share with you:http://www.etsy.com/shop/RSSDesignsInFiber. Ruth creates such lovely crocheted pieces for your home decor. I know it takes a lot of talent and patience to create a center piece for your table or dresser. My Austrian grandmother used to crochet lovely delicate doilies, and doll's dresses. This is one of my favorite pieces from Ruth's etsy shop:http://www.etsy.com/listing/12625320/grapes-in-leaves-centerpiece-or-doily.
Ruth is also a member of http://Designstyleguide.net/
Please visit her shop and see all of her beautiful crocheted works of art.

Thank you, http://mysticsilks.etsy.com

NASA Space Etsy Contest```By MysticSilks

This silk painting, "Super Nova," was entered into the NASA Space Contest as a last minute decision.

About 3 weeks ago, maybe a month now, I had read in the etsy admin forums that they were running this contest, and if any of the etsy members would like to enter a 2-D, 3-D , original, or reproduction entry to do so.

I thought of all my original creations, I have no prints, nor reproductions of my work, of what would be an appropriate entry.

" Super Nova" came to mind. It is my image of what a close up of an exploding star would be.

I could imagine the Hubble turning in space and capturing that image in its telescopic lens.

Enough to take my breath away, and about as close as I'd want to get to an exploding star!

OK, back to the main part of my story. About two weeks after whatever voting might have taken place;I thought etsy admins were the ones voting on this contest, and that once they had sifted through and voted on what they thought were the best entries, then they would open the voting to the etsy members.

Well, I went back to see who was in the running. I did not see my silk painting anywhere on the finalist's page. Oh, well, I thought, that's what you get for opening up your mouth and speaking your mind in the etsy forums: Etsy admins read those posts.

Well, then the other day I read a new post in admin threads, saying, that somehow blah, blah, blah, they left out some of the finalists. I chuckled to myself, thinking what's new.

Etsy seems to make many errors, and apologizes again and again. I have come to believe that the meaning of the word etsy is: Much to forgive. OK, back to the story, so I decided to click on the voter link:

http://www.etsy.com/voter.php, and look at the Group 2-D original http://www.etsy.com/voter_list.php?ref=voter&room_id=118

and lo and behold, there is my painting! But, the week before when I thought I had lost in this contest, I went back to edit the title of my painting, took out the NASA Space, and Super Nova.

All titles have to be google SEO friendly so they have a better chance of being found by a gazillion Internet seekers. But now my painting title on the etsy voter page says, original painting, fine art. Oh well.

I asked my friends on Facebook to vote for me, my Vast team mates, and Design Style Guide Team members; a lot of them have and I so appreciate their support and votes.

So I raise my glass of wine on Thanksgiving Day to salute the friends I have.

And etsy, I forgive you for your goof-ups--:)

Thanks for reading,

visit my etsy shop:http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

And if you're a member on etsy vote for my "Super Nova"

Family---By MysticSilks

You see that face in the middle of those two great looking women? Well, that middle face is my son: Just recently daubed , " The Wizard Of Warren" He's a terrific guy! Not saying that because he's my son, but because he is filled with honor and integrity in all he is and does. I have 4 children, and I am proud of and love each one. But this one the youngest has added much fun and laughter to my life. I had more time to spend with him when he was a baby---the other children came so quickly, that at one time I thought I was taking care of triplets.But , Bill was the last of the 4 so there was more time with him.

In 2006 I moved in with him and his lovely wife Theresa. My back had made it impossibile for me to handle a 20 some acre piece of property. So Bill and TJ added a large room with full bath onto their home. They also set up a studio for me to continue my silk art work.

Tj and I had finished wrapping and steaming 10 new silk scarves.I posted photos of them on my Facebook page. And later in the day when I was reading the very nice comments folks had left about the scarves, I saw Bill's.

"Hey', he says in his comment, "I know where you can get some of these(scarves) real cheap."

I saw that and my jaw dropped open. Rather then get upset, I decide to come back with some humor of my own. So in the comment box under his posted comment I said, " Pay no attention to that man behind the green curtain(remember that scene in the "Wizard of Oz", where Dorothy , Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Straw Scarecrow, are approaching the huge screen with the Wizard on it, and ToTo runs behind the green curtain exposing the Wizard? He says, "pay no attention to that man behind the green curtain.."

I went on," he thinks he's the Wizard of Warren."

We all got a great laugh from that.

He are some more photos of the new silk scarves: View at the top.

http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

http://mysticsilks.designstyleguide.net/

http://mysticsilks.artfire.com/

Thank you

MysticSilks

I had the privilege of being interviewed for the Spotlight feature on iCraft. This great interview was arranged and conducted by Diane Cipollo, editor of Spotlight.
Her questions were thoughtful and I could tell she had done her research; I was quite impressed.

I thought I would share it with my readers.

Klaire Martin is an artist working in the natural medium of silk fibers and fabric dyes. A retired nurse, she enjoys creating the wonderful silk paintings, scarves and pillows in her Mystic Silks iCraft Creator Exhibit.She starts with pure white silk and the finest French dyes. These organic mediums take on a "mysterious life of their own" resulting in OOAK pieces of art. She uses a custom made steaming pot made from a clam chowder boiler pot for the steaming process that brings out "mysterious images on the silk". The entire process takes many hours but she took time out to share her story with us.
Please give us a brief bio – introduce yourself.Hi, My name is Klaire, also known as MysticSilks. Art has been a part of my life since I was old enough to hold a crayon or paint brush.My professional training came from The Cooper Institute of Art, however I gave that up to become a wife and mother. In between being a wife and mother I attended Kent State University, graduating with a degree in Nursing. And betwixt and between that career, I attended various classes in art. I began silk art as a way of relaxing. According to my art instructor, creating silk art was a ZEN experience: Not for me, I am a Virgo perfectionist!

You have worked in several mediums including oils, acrylics, and watercolors. Why did you decide to concentrate on silk ?Silk art offers me surprises. It has a mysteriousness within the process of creating it.
With the organic nature of the "mystic" silks and dyes, you must get some surprises along the way. Would you share a story about how a "surprise" became one of your favorite works of art?One of those mysterious outcomes is in the painting "Fairies In Our Midst". If you do a zoom in on that painting between the statue's tree stump, and the rose bush, you can see images of people. That was not an intended outcome, but I find it a delightful addition.
You also work in watercolors. One of your watercolors became a Christmas card and was sold to benefit the Residents of Maple Leaf House. Can you tell us a little about how this came about?This was an exciting experience for me and my clients at Maple Leaf Residents. The staff and residents were asked to draw or paint some winter scenes. Prizes would be awarded and the top winner would have their artwork made into Christmas cards plus win a cash award. My clients persuaded me to enter the contest, which I did. I won the 1st prize. The sponsors of the contest had my watercolor "Magic Snowfall" professionally framed plus they published holiday greeting cards using that painting. I was very honored.
Positive and negative feedback is part of the art business. You received a lot of positive reactions to your Picasso's Sun piece which influenced you to create Picasso's Moon. However, your memorial painting of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 was not well received at its first hanging in 2002 and again on eBay in 2004. Would you share your thoughts about this controversial piece?That infamous day of September 11, 2001 was traumatic for all Americans. I watched the events of that day happen on TV: It was surreal. A week or so later I found an article written in the Times magazine, plus a photo of the towers: One had been hit, one had a plane coming at it. It was from that photo that I painted the destruction of the Twin Towers. It was cathartic for me to paint it. I captured some American history in that painting. Yes, the feedback from eBay was sad. I wondered if every photographer or painter of the Civil War, or any American war, was reprehended for capturing history? I am in the process of donating that painting to an art museum.
We never see our own art as others see it. One of your less favorite pieces was featured on the front page of Etsy. Can you tell us a little about this pleasant surprise?"Mountain’s Majesty" was the art piece on the front page of Etsy. I finished that piece a couple of years ago, but I guess never really looked at it, I mean really looked at it. I put it in a drawer after I had finished it. It wasn’t until 2 years ago, that I pulled it out, and said, ‘Wow!’ This is good, really good". I framed it and put it up for sale in my Etsy store. And one day someone told me it was on Etsy's front page. I am very critical of my work.



What has been your favorite work so far and why?"Picasso’s Moon" because of the content of that painting and vibrancy of colors.
Can you suggest any books, tutorials or videos that will help the beginner in your choice of medium?Dharma Trading Company offers many books and materials for those who would like to learn the process of creating art on silk.
Thank you Klaire. It's been a pleasure.

Here is a photo of that watercolor painting that won 1st prize, and had Christmas Cards made from the image of that painting:

Its at the top of this page. I never know where my photos will show up on this blog.

Again, thank you iCraft and especially Diane Cipollo.

Another Day, Another Dollar....MysticSilks

Have you heard that song? " Another day, another dollar. Sun comes up ,I'm on my way..... Seems I'm working my whole life away..." I think Volkswagen uses that song for one of its Jetta commercials``` Catchy song.

But after working for two weeks creating ten more hand designed silk scarves, I can relate to that song. I thank goodness, my daughter-in-law helped me with wrapping the scarves after I designed and dyed them. That is a very labor intensive aspect of the silk designing process```especially on the lower back.

I will add a note here and say that I am so glad I went to using unmarked newspaper to wrap the silk scarves in for the steaming process. I have had no bleed through.

One silk scarf that took a lot of time to create is " Sassy Cat's Twin Calico's" It is based on a painting I created called " Sassy Cat" You can see the painting on the right, and the silk scarf with the Calico Cats on the left. I used the painting as a template.

When I first began using the resist to draw the cats on the silk, I smudged it. Yikes! I hurriedly ran the scarf under cold water, hoping to flush any of the resist and smudges away. I had to let the scarf dry, then I ironed it, and began again---seems like the second time is a charm.

After the resist dried( 24 hours) I pinned the scarf to my wooden frame to begin the dying. I did each part seperate from the others. I wanted to be sure the dyes did not run through the resist borders. This happens, and when it does it can cause one to simply break down and cry.

But every dye stayed in its place!!

Please vsiti http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

or

http://mysticsilks.artfire.com/

Thank you for reading.

MysticSilks

ArtFire```Is This A Rising Star In Selling Venues?

I've been on etsy.com since 2007--My sales haven't been too bad. But I and many other 'fine art' artists have been trying to encourage etsy to build a better category for 'fine art.'

That is one thing that ArtFire has accomplished. And I wonder along with my other fellow fine art artists, why etsy can't seem to wrap their brains and tech talent around this 'fine art concept'?

We began a petition and have over 700 signatures that support having the 'fine art' category on etsy:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/artonetsy/index.html

I and other 'fine art' artists have written convo's to Rob Rokali(CEO of etsy) with our concerns, but have received no response. We were promised last year(2009) that they were making changes and had hired a taxonomist to organize the fine art category, but alas that has not happened. So many are listing their art on ArtFire, and I have listed several original fine art pieces on ArtFire.com:http://mysticsilks.artfire.com/

Currently I have my orignal art work on both: http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/ and http://mysticsilks.artfire.com/

I sure wish etsy would, as they say, get a move on with defining and supporting the art category on etsy.

The Process of Creating Silk Scarves~~~MysticSilks

For me, each step of creating a silk scarf is comprised of intense moments, and I think that's because I want each piece of silk art to be just what the buyer is looking for.

OK, I have layered and rolled all the dyed scarves onto a wire roll( see photo to the right). Just layering each scarf and then rolling the batch of layered scarves is a 2 hour process. You don't want any scarf sticking out and overlapping onto another scarf. After I've rolled the batch onto the wire mesh cylinder, I set up the steaming pot. (See photo to the left).If I would have purchased a pot from a catalogue I would have payed close to $300.00.This steaming pot saved me about $280.00, because I bought a clam chowder boiler pot. Then a friend rolled a piece of sheet metal to fit inside the pot leaving about 2-3 inches away from the sides of the pot. He popped it with some rivets to hold its shape. On the bottom of the pot sits a raised round metal pan with holes cut into it. This is where I set the cylinder of scarves on top of that metal pan which is 7 inches above the water

I always set up the steaming pot inside the garage. I pour 4-5inches of water into the bottom of the pot. The water never, NEVER touches the cylinder of scarves. All you want to have circulating around the scarves is steam, never water. Before the cylinder is placed into the pot I wait till the water is at a low boiling point.

The cylinder is placed onto the metal pan, careful not to touch the sides of the rolled sheet metal. I then cover the top with a couple of braided rugs, 2 towels, and heavy cotton sheet, which I tuck around the side of the pot to hold the steam in.

Then comes the waiting game; usually 2-3 hours. It takes that long to allow the steam to set the dyes deep into the fibers of silk. I am up and down the two step into the garage maybe 30 times in that 2-3 hour period of time.

I am making sure the pot has not tipped over. I am checking to make sure the water is still at the right level and slowly simmering. And that the steam is pouring through the rugs, and towels I have placed over the pot: These are all good indications that everything is coming along just right!

The time is finally up! I turn off the electric hot plate, and lift the cylinder full of steaming scarves out letting them cool before unwrapping. I empty the chowder pot of hot water in some weedy part of the garden. Turn it upside down to drain any excess water. I hang the rugs and towels up to dry.

And then , and then I begin to cut the strings that held the wrapped scarves onto the cylinder. I unroll the batch, then begin to peel off each layer of newspaper, releasing each silk scarf. I check to make sure there are no splash over of other dyes. Hey, no matter how careful I've been, sometimes it just happens. But they are beautiful ooopses.

About 3 batches ago, I had some beautiful ooopses. Each one I sold, the buyers comments and feedback were all very positive. Go to my http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/ feedback and read. Except for one. I gave her, the buyer good feedback;payed promptly, etc. She slaps me with negative feedback and the most nasty comments: Poor quality, poor wrapping.

WOW! I was heartbroken. I contacted her offering her a refund if she was that unhappy.

She wrote me back, she couldn't return it. She had given it as a gift!!

If you figure that one out, let me know. How displeased was she? Or did she dislike the person she gave the gift to? But if you didn't like someone, would you give them a gift?

I have remained puzzled since that time, and kind of sad , too. Cuz I really loved that scarf. The one to your left is that scarf!

OK,the scarves are peeled away from the layers of newspaper. I let them dry overnight. The next day, I wash the scarves in a gentle soap water. Then each scarf is rinsed till the water runs almost clear. I say almost because, it seems for the first few washings there will always be a residual bit of dye in the scarf. Out comes the ironing board and each scarf while damp is ironed. Then I set up my photo taking drop cloth, and begin to set up the scarves for their photo session. This is an all day process. I take 5-6 different angles with different props.

The I head over to picnik.com and edit each photo till I am satisfied I have brought out the best depth of colors. You'd think we'd be finished, huh?

But no! Off I go to http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/ or to http://mysticsilks.artfire.com , and if it's a painting, off to http://designstyleguide.net and I spend another 2 hours per scarf to list each scarf separately on one of those website stores.

I wait with anticipation till my silk beauties sell, and I hear how pleased each buyer is--:)

Thank you--:)

MysticSilks

The Process Of Creating Designer Silk Scarves, Part 2```MysticSilks

To the left is a photo of me during the dying process of my silk scarves. In this batch I am doing three scarves at a time.I try to wear the same clothes when I am placing dyes on the silks. You can't believe the number of shirts and slacks I have ruined with dyes.

I used to use resist to create images on the scarves. But as I began to lose the fine motor movements in my hands I turned to using a mixture of dyes and blending them with a diffusion solution, which adds beautiful dimensions to the dyed scarf. After each scarf is dyed, I wait 24 hours to allow the dyes to sink into the fibers of silk. When all the dying is completed which is usually a 2-3 day process, I then begin to layer the scarves between long pieces of unmarked newspaper. I use 2 pieces under the scarf, and 2 pieces on top of a scarf. The photo shows me in that layering process.

Layering 5-7 scarves, takes about 2-3 hours. It does for me anyways, because my back won't tolerate bending over for long periods of time. And the layers of paper requiring cutting to accomodate each scarf, plus the scarves need to have all areas covered or you take the chance of a bleed through during the steaming process.

Tomorrow: The Steaming Process

Visit, http://mysticsilks.etsy.com

The Long Road To a Designer Silk Scarf```MysticSilks

I thought I'd share with the general public
the long process of creating a designer silk scarf from start to finish.
The beginning step is the ordering of the pure white silk scarf, which like oranges, come all the way from China: I wish there was a place in the USA to order them from. The scarves arrive, and the next step is washing them all by hand in a soapy water that extracts any remaining silk worm residue. Then it's dunkie, dunkie, into a fresh rinse water, a gentle squeeze, and hang them up to dry.
Or while damp, I usually just iron the wrinkles out. I did not take any photos of the beginning steps.I was saving the reader from some boring views.The photo on the right is the next step. I pin rayon tabs of cloth at the top of my scarf, and around the sides.Then the silk scarf/scarves is/are pinned to a wood frame, which I should mention, were made by a dear friend of mine to whom I am forever grateful. The wood frames are filled with remnants of French dyes from previous dying sessions. I usually pin and frame two scarves at a time trying to pin them taught to help the dyes to flow more evenly over the scarf.. I cover the floor with a drop cloth to keep the floor free from dyes. After each silk scarf is dyed I let it dry for 24 hours. Then I set up another two to dye. My limit for the dying project is from 5-7 silk scarves. After we're through taking you through all the steps , you'll understand why```Smiling~~~ I use French dyes as there are the best and produce the deepest and most beautiful colors.

Tomorrow, I will post more on the process of creating designer silk scarves.

Be aware of this, the process is not a walk in the park.

http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

http://mysticsilks.artfire.com/

Please read my other blog: In My Personal Opinion.

Thank you

MysticSilks

FIne Art, Original Paintings( Reaching Out And Up)~ BY MysticSilks

"Paintings must be looked at and looked at and looked at...No writing, no talking, no singing, no dancing will explain them."-Charles Demuth

This wrapped canvas painting can be seen and purchased at http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

http://mysticsilks.artfire.com/

Thank you,

MysticSilks

I Found The Best Photo Editing Site- By MysticSilks

I'm not sure how this post will appear after I am finished. I am still not proficient when it comes to uploading photos onto my blog. So please excuse my clumsy attempts.

The two photos you are viewing is of a water color painting that I created about 5 years ago. The MRDD facility that I was employed by, had a contest for a winter scene drawn, or painted by a resident or employee. I managed to complete the two deer in a deep winter scene and submit it as an entry to the contest.

I won! And as a result I was awarded a $100.00, plus they paid to have the painting professionally framed, and in addition had hundreds of boxed Christmas cards made with my water color painting on the cover of the card!!

I may be an artist , but not a photographer. And when it comes to these computerized digital cameras, well, just tell me which button to push to take the photo. I know nothing about any other setting on my Cannon camera,and just recently figured out what the heck a pixel was/is.

OK, so I take the photos, and download them or is it called uploading?

I have photos that seem to have too little light, too much. The photos are too large, the color or tint is off.

I used to struggle with this complexities of getting the photos just right to upload to my online shops:

http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/ or

http://mysticsilks.artfire.com/

And then one day I read in the etsy forums that someone was using http://picnik.com/

I thought yea, right another complicated only for genius type people to use site. OMG! Was I in for a surprise!! A most wonderful, delightful surprise!

I uploaded my poorly taken photos to picnik.com, clicked auto fix, used the re size , or crop feature, plus any other adjustment I thought the photos needed. Then clicked save. Bang! It saved my now beautiful photos to my computer. From there I now am able to upload with pride to my artfire, or etsy site!

If you are having the same problems with photo editing that I was, I highly recommend:

http://picnik.com/

Try it, you'll love it!

MysticSilks

In Time For The Holidays~~~MysticSilks

I began creating a new line of silk scarves two months ago. My how time flies! I wanted to freshen the stock of silk scarves in my etsy shop.

For me this is a huge creative task. that once completed, and the scarves are listed, I let out a grateful and huge sigh of relief.

My greatest desire is that my customers are pleased, so I try to think of colors and color combinations that will appeals to the eyes of the viewer/s.

My scarves are never worn by human models, and are created in a non-smoking studio.

After each silk scarf is completed, I like to personalize it with a name.

We'll start at the top from right to left: " Plum Crazy"````" Every Thing's Coming Up Roses"~~~" Emerald Isle"~~~" Nebula"~~~" Caribbean Sky"~~~" Chocolate Covered Plums"

Come on over to:http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

Many lovely gift ideas for any and all occasions--:)

Also, want to add a new online site that I've joined:mysticsilks.artfire.com/

Thank you MysticSilks

Snow Angel's View~~~MysticSilks

Have you ever laid on the ground after a snowfall, under the trees, and a full moon, moving your arms like a flying bird and your legs sideways, creating a snow angel? Several years ago, I did. Then I looked up through the trees still covered in places with snow,at the face of the full moon. I was so enthralled at the beauty I beheld, that I ran and brought my camera back, laid on the ground, and snapped a photo. This painting is the result of that night.~~~Enjoy!
Painting is on canvas board, acrylic, measures 28wide x 22 length in inches.
Sprayed with matte finish to protect colors.

Unframed, because it is less expensive to ship.

http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

Remembering 9/11~Twin Towers

I will continue to post my original thread about the silk painting I created as a memorial to those whose lives were lost on American soil on the infamous date of September 11, 2001.

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Several weeks after the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, I saw a photo of the two towers in Time magazine.The one tower had been hit, and black smoke billowed into that beautiful sapphire blue sky. The second tower in the photo showed another plane heading towards the upper part of that tower. In the front of the towers is a bridge, other buildings, and a river.I stared , and studied that photo for half the day. I guess I was still mezmerized, and stunned thinking of the horror of that day.I can't say exactly why, but I wanted to capture that scene in a silk painting. Maybe it was to pay tribute to something that I felt totally helpless about. Perhaps, it was a cathartic form of therapy.

As I painted that horrific scene, I said a prayer for all the victims and their families.After I finished the painting, I wrapped it in black plastic and laid it in the back of my dark closet.

In the summer of 2002, I had an art show and was gathering up my paintings to take with me. I called an artist friend and asked her if she thought I should bring "The Twin Towers"?

"Sure," she replied, " you're an artist and have licence to capture anything you desire into a painting."So, I brought it along and set it up under my canopy.Many people who saw it, stepped back from my tent, whispering, " Do you see that painting?" Whisper, whisper.I finally re-wrapped it in plastic and put it in a corner of the tent.In 2004, I decided to place it on eBay, see who would be interested in owning it. Actually, I was hoping word would get out to a museum, and they might be interested in having it in their collection of historic memorabilia.But, that wasn't the case. I received such negative comments from eBayers. Who did I think I was to paint that picture? Didn't I care about the people that had died? And, on and on. I finally removed it from eBay.

I couldn't help but wonder if the painters during the Civil War who captured the violent death scenes of that war, on a painting, or paper, were critizied?What about all the other wars of humanity that have been captured on canvas, were their creators chastized?I don't know, and still feel confused.

What do you think? Do you think an artist is wrong for painting the horrific acts of violence against humanity in a painting or drawing?

I also wrote a poem trying to express my emotions of that day:

In The Name Of Allah

A Poem Inspired By The TWIN TOWERS Silk Painting

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH

A confrontation of shadow selves,

Ethereal you, invisible I,

Who try

To Taste the tears of God,

Or run our fingers across

Her smiling lips.

Yet failing, we sink beneath

And hide behind

The brutal waves of ego.

Egos that wear layers of frightening masks,

Called greed, superiority, hate, and power.

We dress in different cuts and colors of cloth.

Demanding our own way,

We raise hands holding guns,

Or fly planes that bomb

Already ruined lands

Into more rubble...

Each grain of sand runs red

With our own blood.

It's all an illusion of Monopoly:

Whoever gets the big blues,

Park Place and Boardwalk, wins.

By: Klaire aka Mystic Silks

Memories of Wash Day ~ MysticSilks

I don't know what made me think of the days gone by when we did the laundry and called it 'wash day'?
Back in the early 40's and 50's, and before that time period, housewives had a day designated for doing each of their chores.
Yes there was some organization to their lives, and my mother was obsessive compulsive organized.
Monday was wash day. That day started out by mother stripping all the beds, taking the clothes from the hampers, then with arms filled ,she'd walk carefully downstairs to the basement,her head cocked to the side so she could see around the mound of laundry to where the steps were. She'd get to the basement, drop the clothes to the cleanly swept floor, and head back upstairs to remove the towels and facecloths from the bathroom. Back to the basement she went and began to sort all the clothes into piles.
She'd put the white pile of clothes closest to the washer, then the lightly colored clothes into another pile, and lastly the jeans , plaid shirts, and dark socks into their own pile where they were never mixed with the other clothes.
Oh, dads dirty work clothes, he was a plumber, went into the furthest pile from the washer: For some irrational reason, she thought that his clothes might contaminate the other piles of soiled laundry.
All that running up and downstairs would tucker out a modern day woman.
But we were just beginning the wash day.
We had a EASY SPIN two tub washer with an agitator in the washing side of the washer, and attached to that was a smaller tubular wringing tub. Even though the big tub had an agitator, she had a wash stick that she would use to push several times, the clothes under the water. Why she did this I don't know?
Wait I'm not done!
Attached to the very end of this washer was a ringer, consisting of 2 rollers you fed the clothes through to squeeze out excess water.
OK, dirty clothes were put into the tub with the centered agitator. The hot water was added by a hose attached to a stationary tub that stood against the basement wall, and where you rolled the washer to on wash day. Into that hot tub of wash water went chips of Fels Napta soap, tide, and a cup of bleach.

There were two tubs to the stationary tub. On one side mom would fill with cold water, that was the rinse water. When the agitator tub full of clothes were washed, she would take each piece feed it through the rollers, into the tub of cold water. Then she'd take each piece of washed laundry, dunk it up and down, up and won several times, then run it back through the rollers and into the spinner tub, where by centrifugal force, that water was removed.
Then the contents of the spinning tub were removed and put into a tub of cold water that had 'bluing' in it. Bluing was a bottle of blue liquid content, and when added to cold water it would make your white clothes whiter. Sometimes as a treat , mom would let me put several drops of bluing into the last rinse tub.
From that last rinse tub of blue water, mom would then run the clothes through the ringers, into the spin tub, where they went through their last spin.
She would remove the clean, clean clothes from the spinner into a clean wash basket. Set it aside, then filled the washer tub with the light colored clothes, and set them to swishing back and forth, and then during the summer, up the stairs we'd go out to the back yard and the clothes lines.

Each article of clothing was shook out before placing it on the clothes line, and secured there by two clothespins. The sheets, and pillow cases were place open on the grass. The grass, mom stated, made the white clothes even whiter.
By the time we hung that batch of laundry it was time to go back to the basement , and go through the entire process of rinsing the next batch of laundry.
And, so the day would go.
As each clean basket was taken out to hang on the lines to dry in the summer sun, Mom and I would go through the clothes that had been hanging there awhile to see if they had dried.
Then each clean, dry, piece of laundry was removed, folded and placed in a basket for ironing later that day.
I loved to take the clothes off the lines. The fragrance of the clean sun dried clothes, was a pleasure to my nose. And later at night, after a bath, I'd snuggle those clean fresh sweet smelling sheets to my nose,take a deep breath and know all was well with life and the world. Of all the commercial fragrance sheets sold today, there is nothing that compares to line dried clothes.

While the last tub of laundry was washing dad's scrunggie work clothes, mom would have the ironing board out and was busy ironing shirts ,blouses, my dresses, pillow cases sheets, slacks and anything she felt looked better pressed out.
Those were the days before modern steam irons. Mom used a Pepsi bottle filled with water, that had a corked metal top with small holes. She'd sprinkle each piece of laundry, rolled it into a ball, set it aside to be ironed.

Wash day would begin at 7am, and end at 6:00pm with only a break in between for lunch, and supper . Usually by 5:30pm she would be finishing the last of the ironing, and running up and down stairs putting all the clean laundry into their appropriate closets, or drawers.


Years later in 1965, my brother Jim, surprised mom for her birthday with a totally automated washer.
In 1970's I went up to Michigan to stay with her and help her after a surgery.
I went downstairs to do some laundry---against the wall on a table were a few piles of folded clothes. I yelled upstairs, " Mom, where's the dirty clothes you need washed?"
" Oh , there on that table down there Sis."
" The ones that are folded?"
"Yup!" She replied .

I took the pile of white clothes over to the automatic washer, push the button to start the hot water into the top loading tub. Added the soap, some bleach, then the clothes. I began to shut the washer lid, when I noticed sitting in the stationary tubs her old washing stick.
Just for old times sake I picked it up and shoved the clothes under the water~~~figured mom would approve.

Today I am amazed when I hear women complain that they have clothes to wash , and they have no time.

Oh, by the way, mom was also a working outside the home mother.


Thank you for letting me share~ http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

What's Happening On Etsy?

What's happening on etsy with regard to sales? The last non-family sale was back in March, and not a thing since then.

So, what am I to think? My creations are no longer desirable?
And with silk , one can not just put out a new creation daily.
I have one painting on etsy titled, "Picasso's Moon"--it's a real beauty and has gained over 8,000 views, but has yet to sell.

And there are several more silk paintings simply sitting there waiting for a buyer with a discriminating taste for beauty to purchase one of them.

Oh, yes this is called blowing your own horn and I don't feel one tidge of guilt.

So if you come across this blog, click on the link to my etsy shop, and browse through my shop:
http://mysticsilks.etsy.com/

Aging Factor~ Age Discrimination~ PayPal Survey

Since I've retired I have a lot more time than I did when I was working. When I was working and I'd receive a survey either via snail mail, or email, I'd throw it out, or click delete. Who has the extra time to fill out that stuff ?

Well, the other day in my email is a notice from PayPal, they had a survey they asked me to participate in. So, what the heck, why not. In fact I was becoming sort of a professional survey taker, thanks to J Powers, and GMAC. I bought a PT Cruiser in January and since then the car manufacturer wants to be sure I am very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, or not satisfied,plus they started paying me to fill out the forms: $1.00!! That sort of makes me a paid professional,right?

I clicked on the Paypal survey link and read the agreement, then discovered that it would take 25 minutes to complete the survey. Then as a reward, they would enter me in a drawing for $1,000.00. Hey, that's pretty good money if I was selected.

OK, so on the first page it asks, what is your gender? I clicked : female. I clicked next, which took me to the following page. What is your age? I clicked the 65+ plus box.

All of a sudden the page literally jumped to the next page which stated, " The survey is finished.Thank you for taking our survey!" That was it! No more questions.

I was a bit put off by that whole experience, after realizing that the PayPal survey was not interested in the opinions of a senior citizen. That really was a slap in the mug as I have a business account with those folks.

I might think about cancelling since the money they make off of my account is well and good, but they just are not interested in the opinions of the more learned and wise. So be it!

Sun Power~A New Silk Creation

This is the last of my smaller silk paintings.

Please see to purchase at htpp://mysticsilks.etsy.com/