Mary Sly & Dan Wyatt

I am fascinated by the intersection of light and colors, between nature and the artist’s perspective, and then the physical reality of creating an image. During the creation and painting processes themselves I am constantly aware of the purpose of the final images and how that relates to the value that we hold for art. I create by isolating an image from nature through the viewfinder in a camera, taking that photo, then in turn choosing a portion of that to enlarge, isolate, and perhaps exaggerate for use as a starting point for drawing free hand a black and white cartoon with a resist. I try to balance between the usefulness of colors, shading, variations in patterns, intersecting forms and values, with how it might be worn, or made into a garment, but retaining enough composition on a 2-dimensional plane that could become a wall covering, banner or be framed. I work with liquid dyes, painting directly on the silk using a watercolor brush. Instead of relying on simple flat colors, I mix three or four shades of each to be laid in carefully next to each other, for example greens to give a completed leaf unexpected depth. The dyes are steam set for permanency and rinsed manually to remove over dying. The vivid colors are lightfast and washable by hand.