Diane's Tallit

"Diane's Tallit"

Image size 24" x 72"

Silk dyes on Silk

My amazing friend, Diane (one of my college roommates), is becoming a Bat Mitzvah in November and we are making a prayer shawl for the big day.  

We worked together on the design and she came over yesterday and painted the pomegranates.  Today, I painted the border and leaves because we couldn't fit another painting day for her to finish it. I would have been thrilled to paint the whole thing for her but knew that it would be much more special if she did some of the painting as well as the design.

She did a beautiful job!  She has never painted on silk before so I am amazed how well she did and I know she enjoyed the process.  

Now, this has to sit for 24 hours before I can steam it to set the silk dyes.  Then I will seam the edges and Diane will add the knotted fringes (tsitsit) to the corners.

My watercolor teacher from years ago, Hillary Miller, has painted a lot of these tallitot over the years and was so helpful with advice on the best way to tackle this project and she sent the information on tying the tsitsit as well.  Check out her artwork.  Not only is she a talented artist, she is a wonderful teacher.  I learned so much about watercolor from her when I was taking her classes, and over the years, she has been so helpful whenever I have questions about silk painting.

I will post a picture of the tallit when all of the finishing touches are done.