Featured Artist : Sarah Goodman

My 27 year obsession with silk painting began in 1982 when I was teaching English in the Bahamas, and the Caribbean colours and vegetation inspired in me an incredible urge to translate the colours I saw around me into something more tangible. Never having had an art background, I started with traditional batik, using wax, cotton fabric and procion dyes, but soon tired of this method’s unpredictability and limitations in terms of colour (also, it was annoying to be continually covered in dye!!!).

Painting on habotai silk using wax resist with a 0.3 and 0.5 millimetre tjanting came next and this was far more satisfying, especially as the colours were so much more vivid than using cotton. Since then I have developed my techniques and range considerably by experimenting with different paints, fabrics and products, mainly from Dharma Trading. At first I used to only paint "paintings,” but now I am more interested in textile design, fabric for clothing, and soft furnishing, combining my love of dressmaking with that of painting on silk. My favourite subjects are flowers and tropical scenes but every now and then I branch out into unfamiliar territory!

I have always used steam fixed Pebeo silk dyes as they move well on the silk and are very intense and colourfast. I like Jacquard No-Flow for painting fine detail and the Discharge paste to lighten or eliminate areas. Pebeo metallic outliners and glitter paints are great for exciting cards and special effects, as are the Neopaque textile paints for embellishments and lustre. I also love Maribou or Neopaque white fabric paint, which is great for highlighting and lightening areas when the silk is wet. For resist, I use ordinary candle wax melted in an electric frypan set at 350 degrees.

As for fabrics, I have probably tried them all but love silk chiffon for sarongs and scarves, as well as backed and quilted – if you use a hairdryer to dry the paint and move it while you are painting, there is no need for outlines, and you get some wonderful effects (this also works well on medium weight habotai). I love Silk Velvet for painting and for clothes, and the Silk Charmeuse too for its amazing shine, drape and colour.

I have lived in the British Virgin Islands now for twenty years, where of course the vibrant colours of the islands are a continual source of inspiration.