I took a water colour painting class with my son when he was in middle school. We both love this medium and continued in the class for a couple of years. Ben moved on to art high school and I continued painting for fun, when I had the time.In 2004, I quit my work as a clinical counsellor in Ottawa and moved to Vancouver Island to start a different life. I took art classes at the then Malaspina College and learned how to draw. I experimented with charcoal (lovely) and chalk pastel (gruesome) and then went back to watercolour. It's sometimes hard to go back to something when you have tried other things, and I found that I wasn't as excited or motivated as previously In spring 2008 I went on holiday to Bali and, while there, took a course on batik with a water colour artist......I was hooked!
When I got back to Canada, I started by using the traditional batik method. I melted wax and, with a tjanting tool, I drew my picture. My mum, years before, had sent me silk paints and, as I discovered when I eventually found it, yards of silk. Since then, after much research and frustration at the few places that deal with silk painting supplies, I moved on to a water based resist (instead of wax) and then to silk dyes which, although more work, in that they have to be steam set, are more vibrant than the paints and longer lasting.
artwork by Clare Carver
I am enjoying finding new things to paint in silk. At present, I am painting cushions, wall hangings, scarves, purses. ties and moving to painting shawls and sarongs. I am a member of the Visions Art Tour and their Cowichan Valley Art Trail. My cushions are being sold at Imagine That Artisans’ Designs in Duncan, where I am a member, Lobelia's Lair in Nanaimo and the South Shore Gallery in Sooke.
My studio is located in Cowichan Bay at 1840 Koksilah Rd, phone 250 597 4506.
Visit my website at www.pillotalk.ca
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