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By Rebekah AlcaldeLiving in Egypt as a child during WWII,

Diane Tuckman recalls, “they were shoot-ing Jewish girls in the street...My family andI escaped [in 1949] and went to France.”Though less harrowing, even in France “itwas a very difficult time after the war, withration tickets and very little housing.”

But eventually, Paris became home andmuch more to Tuckman. For it was therethat she learned the art of painting on silk— a traditionally Asian way of painting dyeon silk fabric.

She describes the technique as similarto “watercolor for fabric.” Furthermore,the “great variety of silks — with differentlooks, textures, weaves and weight — con-tributes to the uniqueness of each piece ofpainted silk,” she said.

For all these reasons, the delicate skillhas been a lifelong love of hers.

To master it, she took classes from thefinest silk painting instructors in Europe.She especially appreciated the “endlesspossibilities” it offered, since the fabriccan be used in both décor, such as framedart and panels, and for wearables, likescarves, clothing and shawls.

While she was fortunate to discover herlove of silk painting in France, she wasequally fortunate to have met her hus-band, an American, there. The two eventu-ally married and moved to the UnitedStates, where she resolved to popularizethe ancient technique.

While silk painting was a well recognizedcraft in Europe, she found it to be some-what of a mystery to American artists, mostof whom weren’t familiar with it. Further-more, the materials were simply not avail-able in America, such as the special dyesused like paint.

In 1977, Tuckman began to change thatby setting up her own company, Ivy Imports,to bring over needed supplies from France.

Now 82 and living in Lanham, Md.,Tuckman credits the art with keeping herbusy and sharp. She thinks it’s importantfor older adults in general to practice someform of art. “It’s empowering, recreational,stimulating, and mentally active,” shenoted from experience.

Many steps to the processFor those unfamiliar with the art form, the

first step is to “stretch or stabilize the silk” to

keep it in place, Tuckman ex-plained.

For abstract-type art, youcan simply apply the dye col-ors directly onto the stabi-lized silk. The dyes can beapplied using one or moretechniques, including “weton wet, wet on dry, wet nextto dry, etc.”

If you want to create aspecific design, however,you need to create a “re-sist,” which exposes a limit-ed amount of fabric at atime to a paint color.

Silk painting uses a vari-ety of dyes and paints, and

Silk painter shares her skill with others

Diane Tuckman models oneof the colorful silk scarvesshe so loves to paint. Shehelped bring the little-known art of silk paintingto the United States, andteaches classes to helpothers learn the technique.

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See SILK PAINTER, page 37

Arts &Style Laurie Metcalf, nominated for her firstOscar, talks about her career and hercontinuing fear of cameras. See storyon page 41.

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many different types of applicators —“from brushes to Q-tips,” she said.

“Once the fabric is painted with dyes, itneeds to be set, so it’s washable and dry-cleanable. It can then be transformed intopanels for home decor and/or wearables.”

Teaching teachersThough she was busy raising a family

when she first moved here, Tuckman al-ways made time for her art, eventually re-alizing it was more than just a passion.

Alongside her friend and master silkartist Jan Janas, she started a silk paintingteaching program for instructors. “We alsoboth teach independently,” she said.

Tuckman recalls meeting Janas, now 77,at a tradeshow — a lucky coincidence,since their friendship has sparked manycollaborations over the years.

“Someone was painting at my [tradeshow]space, and Jan made a quick U-turn andwatched. I was teaching a hands-on class atthat event; she took the class and washooked,” Tuckman recalled.

Janas now lives in Lakewood, Colo., andhas since become a master painter. “Herwork belongs in museums! I am so proudto work with her,” boasted Tuckman. To-gether they’ve co-authored four books onthe art of silk painting, with the most re-cent, The Fine Art of Painting on Silk, slat-ed to come out this spring.

“All our books are excellent learningand teaching tools, because they describethe step-by-step process very clearly, soanyone will feel comfortable with trying

any possible application,” she said.They also launched Silk Painters Interna-

tional (SPIN), a nonprofit organization of silkartists, painters, practitioners and educators,to connect artists and share information.Every other year, the group holds an inter-national silk painting festival, featuring a vari-ety of workshops, art shows and a fashionshow. Tuckman also spent many years at thehelm of their group’s magazine, Silkworm.

Local classesThough most of her classes are taught

in small groups of no more than ten peo-ple, Tuckman is willing to offer largerclasses at other venues. In fact, she thinksthe class is a good setting for a retreat orteam building program, and she has held afew of these already.

Students are not required to have priorexperience or artistic skills to learn. “Evenif you have never picked up a brush, bringa friend and share in the joy of painting onsilk as you watch the dyes or paints glidethrough the silk,” she said.

Her classes are offered in one- or two-day formats, with “liquid paints” on single-day sessions, and traditional dyes used forlonger ones.

The traditional dyes she uses are im-ported from France, which require steamsetting, so the fabric can be washableand/or dry cleaned. The steam also allowsthe colors to “bloom” so to speak, reveal-ing a deeper, jewel-toned color.

The paints used on one-day workshopsare something she actually “badgered themanufacturers for many years” to create.Though not as brilliant in color as thedyes, they don’t require steam setting, and

work on other fabrics as well as silk. One-day workshops are the best for be-

ginners, according to Tuckman. “It willsave a lot of time, materials, and will allowthe participant to move on quickly to de-velop their own style once they learn thetechniques. The artists can then decidewhat to use their silk art for,” she said.

In that class, which costs $100, studentslearn the basics of silk painting — includ-ing stretching, diluting, resisting, spotting,salting, double loading, wet-on-wet, fabricsetting, and more — and will create fiveworks of art.

The two-day $200 workshop offers amore in-depth approach, and students willcreate a total of seven works of art. Studentsare only required to bring lunch and latexgloves; all other materials are included.

Tuckman also offers classes for chil-

dren, and customized programs for groupsof four or more.

Even after all these years, Tuckman’slove for silk painting — like the steam-setdyes — has never faded.

“I have been painting on silk for overfour decades, and I still get excited when Iapply brush to silk,” she said. “As an in-structor, seeing the reaction when some-one paints on silk for the first time is al-ways so rewarding for me.”

It also has a uniquely practical compo-nent, in that you can literally wear the de-signs you’ve created. “An added plus,” Tuck-man said, “is that when receiving a compli-ment, the artist can say, ‘I painted this my-self,’ and elicit a look of amazement!”

For more information, visit www.iteach-silkart.com, call (301) 474-7347 or emaildtuckman@gmail.com.

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style 37

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Silk painterFrom page 36

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