A Nature Silk

This one has a home already (I painted it for my Father)

 I started with this beautiful garden spider on a background of white oak leaves.

 Then I added a ruby throated hummingbird. I took some liberties with the vine: kind of a cross between bignonia and jessamine, but I think it's beautiful.

 The far left side finished up with a dragonfly on a background of sycamore leaves and water oak leaves as a final framing piece, since I wasn't going to paint the full size of the silk. I used water and jaquard green label silk dye directly on the fabric with water to move the dye.

Finished nature silk painting

I finished with a mottled background in 4 washed of dark blue. The pictures don't do the silk justice, but I think that it turned out lovely. I am always in love with and inspired by nature.

Multi-month update brought to you by the letter J

The letter "J" for Jaidra and for Job: as in, Jaidra's full time Job takes up all of the time that was once spent on taking and editing photos, updating websites, networking, etc.

I am still making art and dancing! It just occurs at odd times, and is in no way consistent. So, for brevity, here's the bullet point update.

• Uniq by Jaidra silk art is available at Artizan Gallery in Columbia, SC. They have been fabulous to me, so if you're in the area, go by and check them out!

• Uniq by Jaidra silk art and jewelry is available at Raspberry Moon Skin Care studio in Greenville, SC. Nicole is amazing and will help make your skin Fabulous, so definitely check her out!

• The Uniq by Jaidra Etsy store is closed temporarily. It just takes too much time to maintain. But, I still take custom orders and I always have pieces for sale. Just contact me at jaidra_art@yahoo.com

• I am a featured artist at Dharma Trading company this month! I get all of my silk painting supplies through Dharma, and LOVE them! 

• I am available for private henna body art appointments. Due to time constraints, I am limiting in house and travel appointments to a minimum of 50$ (a pretty large or detailed piece). Longer and larger appointments still run 75$ per hour. I do have a two hour minimum for parties, corporate events, and weddings.

• Dance classes continue. I always wish that I could dance more, but there's only so much time in a week. Stay tuned. I will try to be more consistent with the updates!

Joy, art, shimmies!
Jaidra

Some Pics from the Past Few Months

Uniq by Jaidra: Art Fair Booth

Uniq by Jaidra: Art Fair Booth

Uniq by Jaidra: Art Fair Booth

Custom Belly Henna

Turkish Fusion Performance

Irises Silk Painting

Taking a life break: Hiking is my relaxation

I just love this picture: Mushrooms above a mountain stream.

Finding Inspiration in the Storm

Storm Goddess on Silk

I've been doing a lot of figure work lately, and had begun moving towards more representational work as opposed to the very abstract pieces that I started with. This one is a move back towards my abstract pieces, drawing on inspiration from nature and movement - she's a storm goddess, whether conjured up by a storm or creating the wind, I will leave it to the viewer to decide. I used 7 different washes of blue for the figure and a range of greys, greens, browns and water to paint the background. The leaves blowing by introduce just a hint of color. I'm in a tumultuous place spiritually right now, and the intense weather that so many of us have been seeing recently really lent the inspiration for this piece. I can't wait to steam set and iron this one to see how she turns out.

Freedom Weekend Aloft Artists' Showcase

Roberto Cortez

The decision to hold an artists showcase at Freedom Weekend Aloft was apparently a last minute one, but they couldn't have found a more eclectic and fabulous group of people to showcase!

Nichole Madonna

When I arrived at the venue for the pre-set up meeting, I immediately met Roberto Cortez and his wife (some of my new favorite people - by the way). Transplanted to Greenville from California, they are an amazing couple. Roberto's art work is full of color and life, and his abstract paintings really draw the eye. I am still debating between five or six pieces to try and figure out which is my favorite.

We set up ahead of time, on Thursday, and I met my booth neighbor, Nichole Madonna (no relation to Madonna Madonna - just in case you were concerned - as some have been). Another transplant to the area (this time from Pennsylvania), Nichole does really fascinating pieces that have an organic feel to them. I've enjoyed chatting with Nichole and her fella throughout the course of the weekend.

Lexique Studios

When I arrived Saturday for the first day of the showcase, I was early - I'm always early, but it's better than always being late! I met Stephanie, the force behind Lexique Studios, a jeweler and another kindred and kind soul.

Once we got started, I met my other booth neighbor, Mel Rivera. Mel is possibly one of the best pencil portrait artists that I have had the pleasure of meeting, and he's a joy to share space with - though he lost his cellphone on day one and has had all kind of problems trying to access the WiFi, Mel has been upbeat and pleasant the entire time, and people love his drawings!

Mel Rivera

Stephanie of Steph-n-Annie and Elizabeth of Elizabeth studios are sharing a booth across from us where they display Stephanie's whimsical mosaic work and Elizabeth's gorgeous photography. Stephanie and Elizabeth are tons of fun to chat with, and I really wish I had lots of money so that I could buy pieces from them both! Behind them, Dan Taylor spent the past two days both selling and making stained glass. His leaf inspired pieces are absolutely stunning.

Stephanie and Elizabeth

Rounding out the art, Laura Nance reminds me of the mother that loves everyone. Her watercolors reflect a soul that is full of joy and kindness. She paints flowers, and they are amazing! Bossy Mossy Beads have a great display right by the front door, and Jocelyn Davis' paintings make me want to go run around in the mountains somewhere until I find a beautiful view and then sit...and enjoy.

 hot air balloons and me

Around 7 pm, someone noticed that all of the hot air balloons were taking off, and we ran outside to see them floating away. It was a beautiful sight. I rounded out the day watching the Wailers play some of my favorite reggae tunes while the sun set over the trees.

It's been an incredible two days, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Uniq by Jaidra's Upcoming Events

Uniq by Jaidra Silk Scarves

I will be exhibiting artwork at Freedom Weekend Aloft this coming weekend on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (May 28 - 30) . The artists' showcase will run from 2 to 7 pm each afternoon. If you're going to be in Greenville this weekend, this is going to be an incredible event with concerts, frisbee dog competition, games, hot air balloons, and of course ART!
I will have silk scarves, pillows, veils, and paintings available as well as jewelry.

Jaidra Sword Dance

The following Sunday, June 5, I will be teaching this Sword Dance Workshop in Williamston, SC. I am looking forward to this one. Some bellydance experience is necessary to get the most out of this class. I will be focusing on swinging and spinning the sword, balance, and fluidity with a brief lecture section on proper care and storage of swords.

Custom Fairy Henna Back Piece

I am following this up with henna at the Savannah Asian Festival as a guest artist with Crimson Arts Henna. Elizebeth, Crimson Arts' main artist taught me how to mix and apply henna and continues to function as my henna art mentor and I am honored that she asked me to help out at this event on June 11.

Finished Fae Princess Silk Painting

Silk shot on an angle in attempt to show shimmer of fabric

 I used 8 different jewel toned and lighter washes to create the abstract background for my princess silk. I applied alcohol liberally over the dyes while they were wet and mixed colors in broad swathes directly onto the dry silk. I then placed both fine and large grained salt in streaks across the silk while the dye was wet. The alcohol and salt create fabulous abstract patterns on the silk. Unfortunately, I don't believe photos can accurately portray silk paintings - the silk glows, and the dye takes on jewel like qualities.

Finished Fae Princess silk - still on stretcher frame

More Happy Accidents in Silk

So often, I decide that I want to try something and I have no idea how it's going to work out. I guess that an important trait in art as well as in life is to have the courage to try something new while knowing that you very well may fail.

Something I have attempted multiple times and never been able to do is paint a person's face in detail. Silk isn't easy, and though I know it's possible, I've had difficulty in the past with the human form. Shading in detail enough to create highlights on a face that are relatively realistic is difficult on silk, so what I decided to try this time was painting very pale washes of pink and brown onto wet silk. I was hoping that since the colors were light and I was working on wet silk that I would be able to fade out the edges and create gentle highlights.

I made a sketch and transferred the sketch to silk. I hated the hair - it looked awful...so I changed it, using a technique that I've used in small scale, breaking up the hair in small sections to give the finished piece a very mosaic look...and I'm thrilled with the results. Today I'm going to attempt to remove the old hair resist lines and paint in an abstract background around her.

Silk Painting

Dancer Series Silk Paintings: Go Go

sketch of go go dancer

Oh my! It's rare that I get more than one full silk painting done in one day - it's a long and intricate process from start to finish, and unfortunately I only have one stretcher frame for each size silk that I work on. Hopefully that will change when I get a studio, but who knows when that will be!

I had a bit of a head start on today since I already had the Cancan dancer resist lines finished and only had to paint (the easiest part for me), but what really got me through was the energy that I'm feeling from these silks. I'm enjoying every part of working on this series, and I'm not running out of inspiration any time soon. My new batch of silks came in the mail and I was off and running.

Resist Lines for Go Go Dancer Silk

I didn't need to look up photos for the Go Go Dancer silk since I was initially inspired to start this series following my own experience dancing for a 70's disco themed benefit last weekend.  I used the costume I wore as the general starting point and went from there. The sketch turned out exactly the way I wanted it on the first try (a rare experience), and I immediately got to work on the resist lines.

I chose the checkerboard and disco ball themes to add in extra ties to the 70s, and left little resist circles along the checkerboard to make it seem as if they were spots from the disco ball.

The color scheme I went with was bright on bright. I used thin resist lines on the top part of the background with the intention of flooding the lines and letting the colors run together. I enhanced this effect by putting salt along the resist lines to draw the dye.

Go Go Dancer Silk - Finished

It's late now, and I'm exhausted, but happy. I love dancing, and I love bright colors, and this piece has a whole lot of both - that's the way I like it (uh huh, uh huh!)

Dancer Series Silk Paintings: CanCan

CanCan Dancer Silk Painting

I personally find it fascinating that when I sat down to decide which dance styles to represent in my new silk paintings series, I went straight to the dance styles that in their time were risque - flapper, burlesque, cancan, disco, bellydance, etc.

The third piece in the series is the CanCan dancer. I spent a good bit of time looking at pictures on the internet for my inspiration in this piece. I did what I normally do, which is take bits and pieces from different photographs as my inspiration, sketch out an outline, and then free hand the resist lines on the silk.

This piece turned out bright and bubbly, just as I planned. Now I have a few days of material imposed rest while I wait for my order of silks to get here...and then I'll get to work on my disco dancer!

I Was Featured

In this lovely blue and green treasury on etsy

I get all a-twitter when my pieces are chosen for etsy treasuries, as I have a soft spot for the treasury in the first place (beautiful hand made things all in one place - who wouldn't love to look at that!)

The seller who made this treasury is a rather awesome crochet and knitter (no, I don't know her personally, but check out her shop. I was especially excited about the snake puppet scarf, because how cool is this?

It's a scarf that's a snake...and a puppet! Literally, it's a conversation piece! Teehee - I punned.

I was also featured in a treasury of "Hidden Treasures"

By this seller who creates cards and the coolest finger puppets - I guess I'm having a puppet kind of day. My favorite was this set...

Because, who doesn't love pirates. Arrrgh!

Recently Sold Items

Dragonfly Hand Painted Silk Pillow

I hate taking pictures of the items I make. I love having the pictures once they are done, but I'm not a very good photographer and the act itself of trying to get decent photos is frustrating to me. That being said, I've sold quite a few items that I never photographed, and I really wish I had pictures of them. So, I am going to try very hard to get photos of everything that I make. The following pictures are all pieces that I've sold that I did get photos of. Though no two pieces that I make are ever exactly the same, I am glad to be able to post examples of what I make.

Hand Painted Butterfly Silk Pillow

Hematite, Mookatite, Turquoise and Copper Pendant

Amethyst, Picture Jasper, and Copper Pendant

Hand Painted Hickory Medalion Pendant - Tree

Hand Painted Hickory Medalion Pendant -Lotus

Hand Painted Hickory Medalion Pendant -Om

Carnelian and Moss Agate Tear Drop Pendant

Hand Painted Hickory Medalion Pendant -Branch

Hand Painted Hickory Medalion Pendant - Tree

Summer's Wish Hand Painted Silk Scarf

Autumn Leaves Hand Painted Silk Scarf

Yellow Roses Hand Painted Silk Scarf