Forest Qing Zhang began paving the 21’st Century Silk Art Road in 2002, when Forest and his family immigrated to Canada from Suzhou, China.

In 2004, King Silk Art evolved out of Silk Art’s growing local popularity. Our success in Canada brought us to a new location in 2006, California, US.

Silk Art is now growing in popularity worldwide. We introduced Silk Art to Japan in 2007, to the UK in 2008, to the Middle East in 2009 and to Australia in 2011.

The post 75123 Miao Girl at Door first appeared on silkart.

High quality handmade Silk Art looks alive because each artist creates it with a personal touch. These artists are masters of their craft. A machine cannot make decisions or infuse passion into its work. In comparison, machine-made embroidery looks dull and lifeless.
Each piece of handmade Silk Art is unique, even when using the same pattern; artists have the discretion to vary color and stitches. You will never find two completely identical pieces; every piece is one of a kind. Machine-made embroidery is just like a print, all the copies looks exactly the same, the color, the stitches, the final product are all exactly the same!

The post 75050 Miao Girl with a Fan-Chun first appeared on silkart.

Does the art have credibility and long term value?

The right piece, we believe it will. Keep in mind this art form has been around for thousands of years and top end pieces sell in the hundred of thousands of dollars. See some of our grand masters.

BUT it is with hesitation I would accept any claim of long term value for any art. The only way to truly see if art has investment value is when it is resold. Find art because you love it, not because you expect it to be worth thousands of dollars in years to come.

One of the big reasons we believe Silk Art will increase in value is simply what is happening to the art. The way you get a 3000 year history to the art is when you are born you have no choice. In today’s China people have lots of choices. A major concern is, as China industrializes, the hand arts, especially one where you spend hour after hour after hour stitching, will disappear.

The post 75084 Girl with a Grass Behind first appeared on silkart.

2. Strand Size – The thinner the silk, the finer the art
The thickness of the silk thread is an important aspect of each work of Silk Art. One silk thread can be divided into 16 individual strands, the smallest, finer than a human hair. A good rule-of-thumb is the thinner the silk, the finer the quality of the silk embroidery.

Overall, the affected of Silk Art is similar to Pointillism. Up close you can see each of the tiny stitches and marvel at the design and execution of such detailed work, but when you step back, you are enthralled by the beauty of the image created.

The post 75019 Nude with a Blue Shawl first appeared on silkart.

5. Layers of Stitches – Visual Depth
Silk artists vary the length and thickness of stitches, layering them one on top of one another to create depth of perspective. The Silk Art creation process is different from paintings. When an artist creates an image in silk, each of the individual fibers and their color remain intact. Where a painter would blend the paints to create the exact affect desired, a silk embroidery artist must blend the colors by layering them. The effect is to control exposure of color, depth of perspective, lighting and shadowing, creating an effect not replicated in any other form of art. The more skilled an artist is at layering and stitching the more dynamic the interaction with light. This is a key measurement of quality called Visual Depth.

Some simple pieces may have 3 or 4 layers of stitches; larger works might have ten times that amount. When a Silk Artist creates a very complicated landscape, it has more layers of stitches than are completely visible, building and blending the colors to replicate nature as closely as possible. The same piece of art can become the forest in morning sun, to mid-day, to evening and even all the way to moonlight. It is truly spectacular and beautiful.

The post 75017 Nude on a Red Blanket first appeared on silkart.