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SilkwormThe Magazine of Silk Painters International

Volume 20, Issue 3, Fall 2013

Photos from Tallahassee Art in Motion Styleshow!

Part two: Cultivating a SPIN Chapter

Muffy Clark Gill: Rozome-BatikLibby Bussinah: Eco-Artist

Rashmi Agarwal - East-West Fusion

2 Silkworm - Volume 20, Issue 3

As the past Executive director and co-founder of SPIN with Jan Janas, it is with great pleasure that I write this open letter to all the members

of this wonderful organization.Many moons ago SPIN was floundering when my

friend Dr. Julie Ferris volunteered to form a board and be the SPIN president. This placed the organization on a path to success. Julie Ferris, being a professor of art education, committed to two years to get things in mo-tion. We then had the honor to have Lee Zimmerman graciously take over as president.

Lee Zimmerman’s leadership moved SPIN forward in many ways. His main legacy was the vision to simplify the formation of chapters.

Lee’s process is based on saying “you only need three people to start a chapter”. This idea gave impetus to the formation of chapters that to this day continues to grow.

I was at the Mini Conference in Tallahassee this August. I could already see the benefits of existing chapters. SPIN members in attendance, from across the United States, quickly brought up the fact that they were members of such and such chapter and described what they do. Each of the chapter members reflected enthusiasm of learning and sharing. The common interest in silk painting was the bond that Jan and I always envisioned for this organization.

I can now envision a chapter (or more) in every state and even abroad, as that will be where the growth of SPIN will come as we attract more and more diverse communities with their own set of cultural visions and interests.

Lee has indeed left an important legacy for SPIN. Thank you Lee!

Congratulations to . . .

SPIN Website Committee. They are launch-ing our new website and we are excited about the new features. They have worked for many months and now they are showing the fruits of their labor. I believe it is user friendly. It announces our events in a timely manor and our members will have personal web pages where they can announce classes and their activities.

Membership. We now have a rolling membership that allows you to keep your membership updated. If you renew your membership today, you will receive a reminder one month before it is time to renew again.

DSA Program. Revised Distinguished Silk Artist (DSA) rules have been posted on our website. So if you are ready to apply to become a DSA, the most cur-rent information is now at your fingertips.

2014 SPIN Festival. Our theme is “Threads of Silk”. Up to date conference information is posted as it evolves. However, the Fashion Show and Art Show information has already been posted.

2013 Tallahassee Mini SPIN Festival. Our 2-day conference with multiple workshops was a huge suc-cess! In attendance, we had 34 participants (23 SPIN members), 6 SPIN board members plus multiple mem-bers of the 2014 Festival team.

Florida was highly represented as well as Alaska, Alabama, California, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Kansas, Maryland, Virginia, and Texas. The Lemoyne Galley, Center for the Visual Arts, hosted our silk art exhibit (75 items on display!), which ran for the entire month of August. Photos from our Silk Art Fashion Show (64 garments!) at our other great venue, Hotel Duval. See a sampling of photos in this issue. In summary, the locals were wowed and so were we!

Congratulations to us!

When this issue of the Silkworm arrives, I will be on Isles of Man (off of the coast of Ireland) at the biennial conference of the Guild of Silk Painters, our European counterpart. As your emissary, I will bring greetings from SPIN to our colleagues across the pond and bring back their best practices.

Message from the President

Joyce Estes, PresidentDiane Tuckman

Letter to the Editor

Editor’s Notes

In case you haven’t noticed, SPIN is spinning and so is the Silkworm. The President covers it all other than this Letter to the Editor from one of our

Founding Members. Good Reading,

Mary Umlauf, Editor

http://www.icteachsilkart.com

3Silkworm - Volume 20, Issue 3

FeaturesMuffy Clark Gill: The Majesty of the Batik by Mary Umlauf - 4Eco-Artist Libby Bussinah, Silk Painter by Mary Umlauf - 8Silk Painting in the Middle East: Rashmi Agarwal in Qatar by Mary Umlauf - 12Cultivating a SPIN Chapter by Suzanne Knight - 16

DepartmentsSilkworm Messages - 2Notices - 3

In This Issue:

Notices

Please send Letters to the Editor. Stay in touch. We want you to be involved. If you have comments, complaints or suggestions, please let us know. Please send correspon-dence or photos to [email protected].

If you have photographs of your art that you would like to have showcased in the Silkworm send photos with your name and the name of the piece. The photo size should be minimum 5”x 7” and 300 dpi for best printing.

To become a member of SPIN or renew your membership, visit www.silkpainters.org/membership.html. Membership is $50 USD annually and renewable in Janu-ary of each year.

Volume 20, Issue 3, 3nd Quarter 2013

Cover: “Annie Jimmie III, 2012” by Muffy Clark GillBackpage art from Art in Motion Fashion Show

Editor: Mary UmlaufMembership Database: Gloria Lanza-Bajo Art Direction and Layout: Keely Dorsey

Look for us on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/silkpainters/

All works presented in the magazine are the prop-erty of the artists.

SILKWORM (ISSN 2162-8505) is the quarterly magazine of SPIN -- Silk Painters International -- a nonprofit or-ganization of silk artists, painters, practitioners, and educators. SPIN provides its members opportunities to network with kindred spirits and to grow through workshops, conferences, juried competitions, and gallery exhibitions. Material contained in The Silkworm belongs exclusively to The Silkworm and/or the artist. Do not reprint without written permission.

SPIN has a new website!www.silkpainters.org

Great New Look !Join or Renew Membership On-Line

New Features - Just for MembersCreate You Own Member Profile

Signature Members GalleryCreate a Link to Your Website

Find a Chapter Near You

Members : Look for a SPIN email with your username & password.

Questions? [email protected]


At age 14, Muffy Clark Gill had a life-changing oppor-tunity to see batik made by

native hands. “My mother had always nurtured

my interest in art. We took many trips from our home in New Jer-sey to the museums in New York. When still young, she took me with her to Uganda where we saw an art show of decorative batik house-wares, lampshades, tables cloths and the like. I had never seen anything quite like it. As a result, I nagged my Girl Scout leader until she set up a crayon batik project for my troop. That was my first work in batik.”

Gill has a strong artistic back-ground with a degree in graphic design from Boston University. She has had a busy career in advertising but maintained her drive for batik and painting on the side for many years.

Gill asserts, “I have only been a full-time artist for the past 2 years.” This is hard to believe given the number of shows and honors she has accrued. She is also widely known in her local community as a civic-minded artist.

While serving on the board of the Shelter for Abused Women and Children of Collier County, she de-cided that their new shelter needed real artwork for the walls. As a

Muffy Clark Gill: Rozome-Batik Artistby Mary Umlauf


result of her leadership and artistic skills, in 2006, they named the “gal-lery” after her; it is called the Muffy Clark Gill Gallery.

Today Muffy Clark Gill is an ac-complished and full-time rozome artist who is known for her detailed work depicting images adapted from historic photos of the Semi-nole and Miccosukee Indians taken in the early 1900’s. She calls this series “The 20th Century Seminole Experience: Paintings from the Florida Indian Tribes Series 2012-2005.”

Although using original photos is a wonderful creative resource, those early images were only black and white or sepia prints.

To enhance the authenticity of her

work she developed a photo archive of tradi-tional clothing – when and where she could find these rare gar-ments.

“Capturing color, pattern and style of the traditional cloth-ing worn by the native women has been a challenge. As a result, I have also accumulated a wonderful collec-tion of antique dolls made by Seminole women prior to 1930. These hand made dolls provide some docu-mentation of the type Muffy Clark Gill


of textiles, clothing construction, color combinations and patterns used by the women for their cloth-ing. Apparently, they used textiles provided by local traders which were simple calico fabric.” Her careful study and research are evi-dent in her vivid illustrations where she depicts unique vignettes from Florida’s early history.

Gill’s vibrant work of Florida’s native people has opened oppor-

tunities to show in historic muse-ums, public buildings and other high traffic settings. Her Seminole artwork “The 20th Century Semi-nole Experience: Paintings from the Florida Indian Tribes Series 2012-2005” have been displayed at the Marco Island Historical Museum as well at the Southwest Florida His-tory Museum.

Florida Gulf Coast University purchased a mixed media rozome

wall hanging from that collection as part of their Art in State Buildings Collection. You can also find her work hanging in the Volusia Coun-ty Courthouse in DeLand, FL.

The corporate world appreciates Gills work, too. Whole Foods Mar-ket purchased four paintings from this same series: these batiks are on permanent display in their store in Naples, FL.

Her work is also well received by local Seminole tribes. She was recently invited to serve as the Feature Artist for the Seminole Immokalee Casino’s annual Balloons Over Paradise Festival in April 2014. As the feature artist, she will be developing the signature artwork for the festival and anticipates that a one-woman show will follow.

Her techniques and ap-proach also show growth and flux as an artist. After taking a recent class on rozome with Kiranada Sterling Benjamin, she has become enhanced by the vibrant colors offered by Japanese silk dyes. She says, “I may have to switch my dyes. In just 2 months I have completed


several works using these amazing colors.”

In addition, she often works from photos that she takes of local wildlife and nature. Consequently, she has initiated another series of works she calls the “Aqua Series.” The result has been rozome images from an underwater perspective that displays water’s exotic distor-tion of reflected light.

Her newest works capture swim-mers and fish on silk as if they were still in motion. As large wall hangings they compel the viewer to come closer and become immersed in the still undulating image. Thus, Gill keeps her work vibrant in color as well as vital in concept.

Gill maintains her Internet vis-ibility using a webpage (http://muffyclarkgill.com). She also uses Facebook as well as Twitter (#muffyclarkgill), Houzz and on Pinterest. These venues allow her to add photos of new work to reflect her creativity.

She has also self-published a photo intensive book of her work that she uses when she has art show openings. She is considering offer-ing her book through “print-on-demand” in the near future..

What are her other future plans? “I’d like to restart my local rozome classes. I have recently reorga-nized my studio so I can better accommodate having others in my workspace. I am also excited by op-portunities to teach at SPIN events. I showed my work at the recent SPIN show in Tallahassee and really enjoyed the camaraderie of other productive silk painters. And, I am looking forward to being in Santa Fe in 2014, too.”


Libby Bussinah began painting on silk ten years ago – a big departure from her classical

training with oils and her degree in Illustration and Graphic Design.

Her professional career has been focused in the world of commer-cial art for about 25 years prior to discovering silk painting. It was the combination of the two that ulti-mately led her to where she is today – an enthusiastic advocate, devoted to capturing her images on silk.

“If Georgia O’Keefe and Peter Max had a love child – it would be me!” says Libby with a wink.

She laughs as she recounts a tale from her student days at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sara-sota Florida: “I was a second year student in painting class and we were assigned our first major paint-ing - a still life. I thought to myself, ‘Ugh – I do not want to paint a jug of plastic flowers’, like many of my classmates were doing; especially since the project was to span sev-eral weeks.

“So, I went rummaging through the still life library of available items, searching for something that caught my interest. I was delighted when I unearthed an old cow skull and proceeded to set up my space accordingly. A couple of weeks later, happily immersed in my project, a senior student passed by and glanced at my work. ‘Oh, like Georgia O’Keefe,’ she said and complimented me. I was pleased at the attention of a senior.

“Wanting to know more, I asked in complete naiveté, ‘Really – does she go here?’ …You can imagine the response I got! I had never heard of Georgia O’Keefe before, in my limited experience, but that set me on the path of exploring her work. I felt an immediate affinity with her sense of color and rhythm – and a shared love of bones. I have been in love with her ever since.”

Libby and Peter Max go a bit further back, she says jokingly. The 60’s pop icon’s work was every-where when she was just becoming interested in being an artist. Libby’s sketchbook was populated with her

carefully made copies of his famous posters. The linear quality in her work today reflects that influence – as well as a passion for vibrant color and the French serti technique.

As a graphic designer, Libby initially used Dr. Martin Dyes to create illustration pieces that were to be photographed for print. Although brilliant, those dyes were unstable and not archival. Looking for something to achieve that same vibrancy yet remain archival, Libby discovered silk painting. Initially she used dyes that were chemically fixed but she quickly transitioned to the luminous colors of steam set dyes.

Trained as a figurative painter, her subject matter remains identifiable. However, her works illustrate the tension between the natural instinct to copy images and her creative instinct to alter them. Libby’s body of work is an outgrowth of her infatuation for vibrant color and strong line drawings. She prefers that “the initial purity of the subject remain visible in the finished piece, thus contour and linear planes are

Libby Bussinah:Eco-Artist

by Mary Umlauf


signifi-cant elements in my work.”

While hold-ing down a full time job, Libby’s busi-ness card says that she is an “Eco-Artist.” Libby also paints and teaches silk painting in her home studio in Hopkins, South Carolina. Although she is a busy person, she recently exhibited and gave a gal-lery talk at the ArtFields event in Lake City, SC. Plus, she is currently completing three silk works for the Ian Somerhalder Foundation to promote their mission related to youth development, environmental preservation and animal welfare.

The “birthing” process of a silk veilLibby’s current inspiration stems

from her life-long love of animals. She enjoys creating “lasting celebra-tions of life’ and drawing attention specifically to threatened or endan-gered species.

It is her intent to share the beauty of these creatures and inspire others to work toward their conservation. Her newest painting is actually a wearable featuring the Glossy Ibis, a costal wading bird (Fig1). This bird

is on the

highly endangered

list due to threats on its wet-

land habitat in South Carolina.

Wildlife artist frequently over-look this bird because of its seem-ingly nondescript brown coloring. That is, until it spreads it’s wings revealing a kaleidoscope of shape and color variations. Interpreted on 5 momme silk, this semicircular shawl (45x104 inches) sweeps you along its trail of flight. What fol-lows is a description of the process and outcome.

Since the subject is symmetrical, she begins by sketching half of the image on drawing paper. She makes

See Model on Page 19


all her composition and design ad-justments in the sketchbook, so that when it is projected onto the silk, the drawing can be any size.

When the sketch is complete, Lib-by scans it into her computer and prints it out on a transparency film for an overhead projector. In this case, only one wing needed to be worked in detail, because she turns the transparency over to create the other wing. This ensures that the final image will be symmetrical on the garment.

Next, she stretched the silk and carefully drew directly onto the fab-ric using the projected image as a guide (Fig 2). To create distinct out-lines for each feather, she intention-ally used a permanent marker that would remain visible in the finished piece. Once the drawing was com-plete, the gutta lines were applied over the drawing as well. She used a black gutta to complement this image, knowing that it could only

be dry cleaned in the future.The dyes were then blocked as

shown. (Fig 3) She lets the dyes dry thoroughly, either by air or using a hairdryer before beginning to blend with a 50/50 alcohol/water dilutant. After everything has been blended, the piece was left to ‘rest’ for 24 hours, if possible. Libby has noticed that the colors bloom into greater vibrancy when allowed to rest and dry completely.

In order to achieve the more detail in the feathers, Libby later goes back in to each feather, sweep-ing strokes of 100% alcohol side by side, pushing the dye to form the dark edges. (Fig 4) This technique adds a three dimensional look to the painting that more closely re-sembles the vanes and barbs of bird feathers (Fig5).

This must be done very quickly on very dry silk with a small brush. Sometimes Libby uses a haird-ryer to dry the silk rapidly, further

insuring the placement of the highlights and dark areas created by alcohol. From there, steaming is done in the traditional manner.

The finished garment was in-cluded in SPIN’s 2013 Festival in Tallahassee (Fig 1). This particular creation received great acclaim from her fellow silk painters in attendance. Fortunately, Libby was able to attend the regional SPIN fes-tival and show her beautiful work with the help of a small grant.

She received partial support from the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of SC.

Libby Bussinah Contemporary Art on Silk - http://www.libby-art.com/


Silk painting began in India as early as the 2nd Century A.D. and continues today. Rashmi

Agarwal is a native of India and began studying silk painting on her own many years ago.

Like many other silk artists, who had no early access to mentors, she explored the possibilities of silk and dyes on her own for nearly ten years.

“When I first encountered silk painting, it quickly became my pas-sion. That was nearly fifteen years ago. Today, my passion for silk painting is even stronger.”

Rashmi admits that she was limited because she did not know about the commercial dyes that are readily available in many other countries.

Traditionally, silk artisans in India grind and prepare their own “watercolors” from natural sources such as plants and minerals. As a result, they have had a very limited color palate and are not able to produce the range of vibrant colors that silk artists have today. Plus, due to the cost of silk fabric, Indian artisans typically use cotton and silk blend fabrics. Thus, traditional folk art has a somewhat limited color palate and lacks the visual ef-fect of modern dyes on silk.

Rashmi admits that she has been very fortunate in this regard. After the Internet became more acces-sible a few years ago, she was able

to make connections with other silk artists worldwide. She was excited to find organizations like Silk Painters International (SPIN)

Rashmi Agarwal: Silk Painting in Qatar

by Mary Umlauf

Teaching an East-West Fusion of Silk


and to make friends with other ac-complished silk artists. She credits SPIN members with supporting her artistic growth because they readily shared their favorite choice of dyes and special techniques they used.

Although she had over a decade of ex-perience in silk painting, her learning curve has moved to the fast track as a result.

“My initial works were limited; they were like simple sketches and had some flaws. In the last few years my work has evolved significantly. My silk painting has advanced far beyond what I could have imagined when I began. I love working with silk dyes; they seem to have no limit, like a miracle.”

Since then, Rashmi has been spending great effort experimenting and with great success.

One of her interesting experiments with dye on

silk involves using milk while paint-ing.

“One day I took a small amount of raw milk,

not boiled, and added a little lemon juice. I used the liquid (the whey) from the curdled milk and sprinkled it on my wet dye, just as I would do with salt. The result is a lovely flower effect on the surface of the silk – another miracle in silk

Rashmi Agarwal: Silk Painting in Qatar

Rashmi and Husband

Rashmi’s Students

“[Silk dyes] seem to have no limit, like a miracle.”


painting! I am always testing some-thing and I teach my students to do the same.”

Not long after she discovered silk painting, she and her family moved to the State of Qatar for her hus-band’s job. Since then she has been working full-time as a silk artist.

Qatar is a Middle Eastern country that occupies a small peninsula on the southwestern edge of the Per-sian Gulf.

In spite of being small country, it is a very affluent country with high-est per capita GDP in the world. Over a relatively short period of

time, Doha has evolved to become an international business center and plays an important role in maintaining the peace process in the Arab Region. In 2010, Qatar was named the cultural capital of the Gulf countries, which works for the benefit of all artists attracted to this country.

After coming to Qatar, Rashmi discovered that silk painting was virtually unknown in this part of the world. As a result, silk paint-ing supplies were scarce. She had to become resourceful and import supplies for herself and her students from sources worldwide. As a result of her determination, dedication, skill and effort, she is recognized today as a prominent artist and teacher of silk panting in Doha, the capital city.

As evident in the photos of her work, Rashmi’s silk paintings typi-cally pulsate with color. However, in Qatar this apparently works to her advantage.

“The people here have a great thirst for the vibrant visual effect Rashmi’s Students


of dyes on silk. They love color and love to have colorful artwork in their homes and in public places. My work feeds that hunger for the bright hues and tints of flowers and vegetation that are scarce in the desert climate.” That is, the limited color palate of the desert landscape may elicit a rebound need for bright color among her audience in Qatar.

Although her work is bright, Rashmi notes that depictions of humans and animals in art are not accepted in Islamic cultures. For example, this cultural dictate is apparent in Islamic art and archi-tecture.

Both disciplines rely on elements like complex geometric designs, stylized floral forms, and highly stylized calligraphy. However, Rashmi denies that she is limited by local culture while creating her art.

Her vivid paintings and luxurious silk wall hangings employ flamboy-ant floral designs and exotic depic-tions of sunsets or sunrises, as well as multicolored images of the soar-ing skyscrapers of Doha. Thus, the color that nature lacks in the desert, Rashmi provides with her artwork.

Rashmi teaches silk painting at several educational venues in Doha, including at Virginia Common-wealth University in Qatar and at Katara - the Cultural Village Foun-dation of Qatar.

Recently she was honored by hav-ing a one-artist show at the Katara center under the sponsorship of HH Dr. Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Qatar’s Minister Of Cul-ture, Art and Heritage.

In addition, she shows her work at several galleries, art centers, private & public forums and events,

Rashmi at a ShowDr. Hamad Bin Aldulaziz Al-Kuwari

with Yashvi, Rashmi’s Daughter

also sponsored by the Ministry Of Culture, Art and Heritage.

Rashmi’s very colorful website is: www.oystersilkart.com


Creating Professional VisibilityDevelop a colorful postcard to serve as your Chapter’s business cards. Post your cards in your local art stores. Send cards to the art teachers at local schools and col-leges. Ask members to attend local events or art openings to introduce yourselves and your SPIN Chapter. Speak well, shake hands, smile and hand out your colorful cards.Engage your members to post fly-ers about your public events in art stores and wherever art supplies are sold or where art classes are held in your community. Always have some copies of your fliers and post card handouts in your car to give out. Ask friends and spouses to share flyers with co-workers.

GrowingIf you want your Chapter to grow, you have to talk it up. Offer a silk painting demonstration and invite the interested public. It is going to cost you some money out of pocket to get started, but it will likely be less than $100. Make sure that introductory events look polished and enthusiastic. Provide lemonade and bite sized food at your public events. Nothing messy, nothing expensive—just enough to be hos-pitable and allow your visitors be become interested. Today it is essential to have a website for your group. If you can’t find someone who does web development, a Facebook page will suffice. Always include your meeting schedule and the location

of your meeting on the front page of your webpage or Facebook page. If someone is looking for a group like yours, make it easy for them to join in on the fun. Provide links to SPIN and the Silkworm website. This will show that you are affiliated with of a larger group of accom-plished silk painters and artists. On your webpage you can devote a page to individual members. Here they can display their biographies with a photo of themselves paint-ing and pictures of their art. It is a source of group pride to display the quality of members in your Chapter. We have received job and speaking engagement requests through our website. When apply-ing for art related jobs, your mem-bers can also use the website as a reference.

The Importance of Regular Meetings Some groups have monthly meet-ings, though you may find this too frequent. However, quarterly meet-ings keep your members chomping at the bit for the next gathering. The meetings should be held at a public or art related venue that is centrally located venue. Community centers

typically want their buildings to be well used by groups that offer cul-tural enrichment for people of all ages. Send them lively photos from your events and tell them “Thank you.” regularly.It is also best to have the meetings at a consistent time of the month and at regular intervals during the year. Say, the second Wednesday of each quarter. If you vary the time of day of meetings, you are more likely to catch everyone. For instance, the fall meeting may be in the morning, but the winter meeting may be in the afternoon or evening. Discuss your schedule with your host venue to ensure availability, and let your officers help pick the schedule. Invest time during meetings to help decide on meeting times and topics for future meetings. Keep it in your file to refer back to later.Consider combining meetings with public demonstrations, if you can. This will help introduce newer members to new techniques while promoting member recruitment. Besides, interactive events facilitate the mingle, meet and greet method of building membership. Meetings can also be combined with a com-

Cultivating a SPIN Chapter Part Twoby Suzanne Knight Sample of Brief Biography

Jan Janas Jan Janas has a degree in art education and has been teaching art to adults for 25 years. She is co-author of three art books on silk painting published by North Light Publishing Co. Janas’ artwork has been displayed in museums, in owned by corpora-tions, collected by private individuals, and has been hung in many national and international juried art shows. Janas resides in Colorado and teaches art throughout the U.S.


munal silk painting day for mem-bers that will build camaraderie and cohesiveness. Members can bring their portable frames, and the Chapter can plan for instruction on various techniques, like wax class or a day for steaming.

SpeakersGo out on a limb with speakers—if you don’t ask, it’ll never happen! Ask that famous silk painter that everyone admires to speak at your next Chapter meeting. If the special artist does not live nearby, ask if they plan to be in your area soon; give them an open invitation to speak to your Chapter. If he/she says “no” you lose nothing, but if the answer is “yes” you’ll look like quite the negotiator. This will pro-mote several goals for your group, improving skills of members and bringing notoriety to your Chapter among silk painters nationally, as well as in your community. Be sure to notify your local newspaper or neighborhood reporter that your special visitor is coming. At the least, you can offer to take photos of the event and send in the story yourself. You can also ask large art supply companies to send a representative to give product demonstrations. The company might agree, and you’ll get to hear from the masters and maybe even get free products for your Chapter. Again, you will boost the skills of members and introduce them to new techniques or approaches.

Use the Silkworm for CredibilityKeep copies of the Silkworm Maga-zine on display in clear plastic enve-lopes at meetings and events. It gives the Chapter credibility among

fellow silk painters and visitors. Mention SPIN and the benefits of membership at least twice in every meeting. Remind your members to submit articles, stories, and photos to Silkworm. Don’t forget that you should submit stories too! Keep your Chapter and activities vis-ible locally and worldwide through SPIN and its Facebook page.

Membership RosterYou will want to maintain a com-plete list of Chapter members with street addresses, email, birthdays, phone numbers, and website infor-mation. Give everyone the list for their reference, but let members know that it is neither private nor for sale to advertisers.

Interested Parties ListYou should also draft a list of local people and businesses interested in silk painting who are not of-ficial members of the Chapter or SPIN. These people may include the Directors of local art museums, high school art teachers and faculty at local colleges. Try to get as much information as you can, but at least get their email address so you can invite them to meetings and dem-onstrations. Having a guest roster at

shows and meetings can help build this list.

Application for Chapter membership Have all members and new mem-bers fill out application forms that including asking about favorite ideas about silk painting, other art memberships, strengths, future techniques they want to learn, and how long have they been painting. With this information, it is easier to fill committees for special projects and plan future meetings to meet the needs of members. For instance, one member wanted to learn how to use wax but could not tolerate the fumes caused by some prod-ucts. This was a opportune time to schedule a special demonstration about using soy wax and bees wax at the following quarterly meeting. We advertised this event as being a healthier and eco-friendly alterna-tive to traditional wax methods. What to Do about DuesYou will want to establish dues for Chapter membership; but the amount does not need to be sub-stantial to be worthwhile. The San Diego Silk Chapter’s are just $15 a year, enough to cover entry fees at silk paintings events. Remember,

Sample Agenda

San Diego Silk Chapter Winter Quarterly MeetingSan Diego Art Department 3830 Ray Street San Diego, CA March 1, Friday 2012 1:30 PM

Introduction & Welcome by President.Introduce new Silk Chapter Members and guestsTreasurers Report. Business: Discussion, planning, reporting, . . . Latest SPIN news and events.Review next meeting date & time and events.


Chapter dues represent the mem-ber’s commitment to a group that values them. Your chapter may also want to offer scholarships for mem-bers who are underage or preparing for a career in teaching or art. You can advertise this “opportunity” to a select few students each year, making it a somewhat competitive and desirable honor.As an aside, when one of our early members paid her dues for the first time, she said “Oh boy! I am a member of a Chapter!” Just then, it occurred to me that some women just don’t realize how nice it is to have sisters until they find them-selves in a group that shares a com-mon artistic enthusiasm. Then they just sit back, sigh and say: “Thanks I needed that! It truly comforts me to have the Chapter as the wind beneath my sails.”

Keeping Good RecordsKeep it simple. Maintain an ac-cordion file of Chapter information and history. It is an organizational lifesaver. The folders I have are: 1. Voting and election guidelines2. Member names addresses and applications completed. 3. Bank account info.4. SPIN bylaws.5. Guest register.6. Proposal and show guidelines.7. Juried exhibition entry forms. 8. Biographies for members.9. Completed show applications and notes.10. Advertising and press releases11. Chapter applications.12. Potential speakers.13. Potential members.14. Future shows and sales proposal possibilities. 15. Future meeting ideas. 16. Agendas from meetings past.

Get a Checking AccountIt may seem strange, but having a checking account makes the Chap-ter appear put-together and profes-sional. When the treasurer gives his or her official report at quarterly meetings there will be records for every transaction. Strive for com-plete transparency in your finan-cial dealings; your members will become estranged quickly by the appearance of messy finances.

Lessons Learned (about checking accounts for groups):1. You must have chosen a name for your Chapter. The treasurer must obtain an Employer Identification Number from the IRS. Apply for a business account under “organiza-tion for a group of persons for a specific purpose,” at www.irs.gov and the EIN will be granted in a matter of minutes. Note: the trea-surer must put his or her own social security number on the application.2. There should be two persons list-ed on your account, and you should discuss expenses before you whip out the checkbook. However, with two persons listed on the account, if one signee becomes unavailable due to illness or extended travel, the other can still manage business. With just a nominal fee for dues (ours is $15), your account will likely never be big enough to worry about. 3. When the there is a change in the Treasurer’s position, it will be necessary to formally change the signee at the bank. This should be done as soon as the next person takes office. 4. Bank or credit union require-ments are: EIN#, copy of the bylaws of SPIN to verify the group’s

existence, verification that this treasurer is authorized to open this account (this may be a letter from President of Chapter), a driver’s license, and an application com-pleted at the bank.5. Order checks with the Chapter’s name on them.6. Each time dues are paid a receipt is given to the member for his or her tax records from a Chapter receipt book kept by the treasurer.

CONCLUSIONIn order to move ahead, a turtle must stick her neck out.

When we formed our Chapter there were just four members, and we met at one of their homes. I wanted to stick my neck out for more of ev-erything: more playing with paint, more shows, more sales, more com-munity, more learning and teach-ing, and more silk painting sisters and brothers. A voice came to me in the night and said: “Cultivate your Chapter. Build it and they will come.” Of all the things I’ve done in my 66 years, I consider this my most gratifying –achievement—all because I am a turtle.

Only $25 for a CD of profes-sional photos from the Art Show opening at the LaM-oyenne Gallery and the Silk Art Fashion Show. There are 1168 pictures (three differ-ent file sizes) and they are awesome.

Contact Dorian Burr -- [email protected]


Ro-KataJapanese Wax Stencil Process

First DVD available, worldwide, of this exciting, innova-tive process. One in a series of instructional DVDs by master artists Kiranada Sterling Benjamin. This is the “complete course, on one disc” covering the origins of this unique 8C Japanese process, as a flexible art technique for applying pattern to fabric.

DVD Includes:• History • Cleaning Stencil• Materials • Waxing hibiscus• Cutting a Stencil • Dyeing• Preparing to Wax • Blending Process• Applying Wax to Stencil • Steaming and Finishing

This 53 minute DVD is accompanied by a booklet of written instructions on the process.

Also Available: CD version of The World of Rozome Resist Textiles of Japan. A history of the Japanese resist process.

http://www.betsysterlingbenjamin.com/

SilkwormP.O.Box 585, Eastpoint, FL 32328, USAVolume 20, Issue 3, Fall 2013

Art in Motion Fashion ShowAugust 10th, Hotel Duval2013 SPIN MINI Festival

of Silk PaintingTallahassee, FL

Photos by Dorian Burr [email protected]

silkworm - silkpainters.org · muffy clark gill: rozome-batik libby bussinah: eco-artist rashmi...

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