Clara Graves
Silk Art

	The Swan
	Pathways

Phone: 301-589-1939 E-mail: claragraves@claragraves.com Web site: http://www.claragraves.com

Out of Chaos

One day in 1999, a friend showed me a book on silk painting and I was captivated with the images I saw. When I first put a dye loaded brush to silk, I fell in love with the way the colors danced across it and with the ways I could blend and shade them to create an infinite range of colors and values. They were magnificent and warmly brilliant.

Although I had been a professional graphic designer, I had no previous experience as a painter. From that day forward, I immersed myself in learning to paint on silk. I began teaching myself using that first book as a guide and ultimately was fortunate enough to find additional learning resources. The most fulfilling were wonderful silk painting teachers who taught me the techniques I needed and encouraged me as I explored the creative freedom that I had found in painting on silk.

For me life is about exploration, expansion and always learning and growing. I love silk as the common basic structure of my work and am enthralled with watching what develops as I work on it and learning the path work is asking me to travel.