Carolyn Stewart

I have worked in a variety of textile media as a maker and a teacher but have latterly begun painting on silk and have become absorbed in the particular qualities of the fabric and the way in which you can use both historic and contemporary techniques to generate often unexpectedly beautiful designs.

I initially explored watercolour techniques that exploit the way dye spreads or bleeds when applied to silk, and shibori, a range of Japanese techniques using tying, binding or stitching to resist dye penetration which generates pattern with subtle and delicate variations.But it is the way silk takes the colour of the dyes that really captivated me. I was encouraged by the response to my work and have sold my work in galleries and makers markets and have carried out commissions. I pleased to be able to claim my work has travelled as far away as

Washington state and Puglia, Italy.

Just before the first lockdown, I worked with Isabella Whitworth, a renowned textile artist who works with shibori techniques but also uses wax – a form of batik- and started to explore combining wax and shibori to extend my visual vocabulary.

As well as scarves, the accessories I make focus on rich colour combinations in loose pattern, as in my silk purses and creating textural effects with resists that retain vivid colour contrast, as you can see in my lampshades.