Featured Artist : Joanna White

Over the past 30 years, I have expressed my love of color, texture, and beauty through various fiber mediums: sewing, weaving, knitting, felting, and fabric collage. Most recently, I have discovered that, through painting silk, I can convey my love of color, design, and line most effectively. 

Silk is a living breathing fiber that reflects light and has an inner radiance that brings forth the beauty of the wearer. Silk is very strong and resilient. White silk is the canvas for my work. The silk is stretched taut on a frame and then hand painted with Sumi brushes and high-quality French dyes. Dharma has provided the silk canvas, the beautiful Tinfix dyes, and the soy wax that are used to create my work. Their helpful attitude and online videos are so helpful.

Color defines my art’s form. Manipulating the dyes with a variety of techniques using gutta resists, faux batik, watercolor, salt, alcohol, and even water creates beautiful and unique designs, from abstract to realism. Hand painted silks become the watercolors of the fiber artist.

A line of silk scarves, wraps, ponchos, deconstructed jackets, sarongs, and wall hangings have been uniquely designed by me. Each silk piece is professionally steamed to create pieces that are colorfast and hand washable. Creating each individual work of art with silk allows me to share this joy of creation with others. Every piece is an expression of the beauty I see all around me in nature and the inner world of spirit.

The words of Corita Kent best describes my experience of hand painting silk: “Every artist knows that he is engaged in an encounter with infinity, and that work done with heart and hand is ultimately worship of life itself.” People who have seen my work have said that it is colorful and radiates joy. Bringing this beauty and light to our world through my art is a great gift and a unique honor.