Helen Stanfield

I like to try out many different media and techniques, and dabble in watercolour, pen and ink, silk painting and, most recently, I have tried my hand at oils. I always drift back to silk painting because of the vibrant colours and the challenge of controlling the flow. About my silk paintings I use habotai silk which can be obtained in various weights. I have also experimented with satin, crepe, jacquard and cotton, which all respond slightly differently to the paints. Hot wax is applied to the main parts of the design with a special tool called a tjanting. It is made of copper which retains the heat of the molten wax and has a reservoir with a small tube through which the wax flows. The silk is stretched over a frame which I made myself using wood and small headless nails. It is important that it is taut and level so that the colour flows evenly through the fabric. The paints blend to create their own variety of new colours and tones with an element of unpredictability. I tend to plan simple compositions to combine the dramatic effect of the strong wax lines with the vibrant, transparent colours. Most of my subject matter is taken from nature, especially flowers which are ideal subjects for silk painting with the intricate shapes of leaves and petals, combined with the soft textures. Water and fish also lend themselves beautifully to silk painting as it is possible to create soft effects using gently graduated washes.