Hand-painted Silk scarves with Nancy Dorian at Bead + Fiber in Boston!
Just a reminder …
- The Laugh-in Scarf
Silk painting workshop at Bead + Fiber 460 Harrison Avenue Boston MA on Saturday, April 14, 2012
look what first time silk painters did in my new class
Just goes to show … we are all artists if we can just step out of the way.
My new class is running Tuesday nights at Holyoke Creative Arts Center this fall. We will be exploring all things fiber, including nuno felting, hand painted silk scarves and custom dyed yarns. I’m also teaching at WEBS in Northampton, Holyoke Community College and New England Felting Supply. My classes have been filling quickly, so I’ve added other venues. Get your spot now!
Posted 3 years, 10 months ago at 11:09 am. Add a comment
Hand-painted silk yardage anyone?
Love, love, love creating this luscious yardage! When the weather is nice, I’m outside dyeing and felting. So inspiring being out in nature with all the great colors and textures. Can’t help but take my inspiration from it. Many are like Monets on silk! I’ve been offering my silks by the yard at New England Felting Supply and to my students when I teach. This stuff is so wonderful to felt on. I use it for my base in some of my scarves. I’m going to sew up some silk ponchos or wraps with it, too!
Posted 3 years, 10 months ago at 4:10 pm. Add a comment
silk painting workshop at wistariahurst museum
I didn’t get a chance to post about the workshop I taught at the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke. We had 9 silk scarf painters! Everyone had a great time and went home with 2 completed scarves each. It’s amazing how the artist comes out in all of us when given a chance to play. There aren’t any rules at my workshops. I tell everyone to let the scarf become what it wants to be. That let’s them off the hook and takes the pressure off. The scarves are always beautiful. I worked with Melissa and Marjorie at the museum to set up the workshop as a fund raiser. They had us in a wonderful, sunny room in the mansion and it went so well, the plans are to repeat it each spring and fall. Check www.wistariahurst.org for more.
Posted 5 years ago at 4:37 pm. Add a comment
About
Nancy Dorian is a fiber artist with a degree in Interior Design and Fine Arts minor in Ceramics. After a 15 year career in corporate office design, her company now & ZEN art to wear emerged from the belief that joy comes from doing what you love.
Always making and creating, Nancy developed strong skills in pottery, stained glass and jewelry. Having been taught to knit and sew at a very early age, she has fond memories of a fiber filled youth and now works primarily with fiber.
She creates one-of-a-kind wearable art garments using techniques such as Nuno Felting, Fiber Etching and Serti silk painting. Each piece is made by hand, one at a time, with unique fabrics she has created by using any number of the following techniques:
“Nuno Felt” emerges after adding a thin layer of wool roving, warm water and a little soap to silk fabric and then a whole lot of elbow grease to coax the fibers into becoming one. This results in a wonderfully textured, light weight fabric that drapes the body beautifully.
“Fiber Etching” creates gorgeous, flowing semi-transparent silk by carving away the rayon fibers of velvet or satin with etching solution and leaving sheer areas of silk chiffon.
“Serti” is a French word meaning to encircle or surround. In the serti technique, a resist is used to contain flowable dye within a design shape on fabric such as silk.
Since her work is not mass-produced, she typically attracts collectors who understand and appreciate the value of hand-crafted goods. They realize the uniqueness of what she does. A person wears a “Dorian Original” for just that reason … to know it is a one-of-a-kind wearable work of art.
Nancy’s couture has been featured in Preview Massachusetts Magazine and can be found at galleries and boutiques throughout New England and on Nantucket. She enjoys teaching fiberart workshops and classes in her home studio, as well as the following venues :
- New England Felting Supply, Easthampton, MA
- WEBS, Northampton, MA
- Bead + Fiber, Boston, MA
- Fletcher Farms School for the arts and crafts, Ludlow, VT
- Wiawaka, Lake George, NY
- Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT
- Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA
- Holyoke Creative Arts Center, Holyoke, MA
If you would like to book a workshop please send your inquiries to nd@nancydorian.com
