Painting on Silk, Another New Hobby!

Being old is such great fun. I've been getting to learn new things in the Shiloh 60+ club, like crafts I've only dreamt of or not even realized they could be done by mere mortals like myself. Yesterday, for the very first time in my life I painted on silk and I'm in love with that art medium!

As usual, I had no idea what I was doing. There was also an option to take a printed piece of silk and fill it in with the colors of your choice. A couple of the women were working on those and producing extremely professional looking pieces to either be hung on the wall or finished off as Challah Covers.

The rest of us were more interested in discovering the surprising dynamics of the medium and the various abstract effects we could generate by giving the silk, paint and salt a chance to do their magic. We were also happy with the unexpected lines produced by the "crinkled" plastic underneath the silk.

I plan on wearing the long silk piece, Gd willing. And next time we do this craft, I want to write "שבת שלום" or "המוציא לחם" on the square one to use on Shabbat or Jewish Holidays. The challenge will be finishing them off, the hemming, and lining for the Challah Cover.

I dream of doing this as a "retirement business" and selling unique, one of a kind Silk Challah Covers and pillow cases. Of course it depends on how complicated all of the rest of the production really is. I understand that after they dry they must be "steam-set" or something like that, and then there are the hemming and lining for decorative pillow cases, Challah Covers or wall hangings. I doubt if there's all that much a market nowadays for scarves to wear.  Of course, dreaming and doing are two different things...