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!

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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.

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4. Color – the more colors, the more realistic look of the art
Only carefully-dyed, pure silk is used in our Silk Art. We use thousands of different shades of color. The wide variety of tones and shades used by our artists, allow them to create shading and dimension bringing the silk embroidery artwork to life.The same images may made in different sizes and quality levels. Usually, the larger canvases will use a greater variety of colors. With few exceptions, very detailed and colorful artwork will need to be made in larger sizes.

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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.

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Silk Art is the art of painting with a needle and thread. The stitching is done by hand using silk thread on silk fabric. Silk Art is highly prized in China, recognized as the art of Emperors.

In the west, we learn about Van Gogh and the other great western art masters growing up, as part of our cultural heritage. Chinese children learn about Silk Art. Silk Art’s ancient traditions come from the royal embroiderers, families placed in Suzhou, China over two thousand years ago by the first Chinese Emperor to embroider his robes. The artwork produced by these families all belonged to the Emperor, hence the art of King’s, and our name King Silk Art.

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Backgrounds are different
One very easy way to spot the difference between a handmade Silk Art and machine-made embroidery is to look at the back of the canvas. The back of handmade Silk Art is irregular and loose. You can see and feel the knots. Each piece of thread is no more than two feet long and so there are knots when a new piece is started or when the artist changes colors. The stitching at the back of machine-made embroidery is very tight and neat, every stitch is perfectly identical to the next. There are no knots on back of machine-made embroidery, because they don’t need to change thread. Machine thread is very long; each spool is a few miles long.

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Not surprisingly, a major difference between handmade Silk Art and machine made embroidery is in the stitching process. Handmade Silk Art allows for a variety of stitches in varying thicknesses of thread, every work is unique. Machine made embroidery is completely uniform; every piece is virtually identical to the next.

Handmade Silk Art begins with stretching the fabric tightly over a wooden frame. The artists use a fine needle and colorful threads to sew each stitch by hand. Machine made embroidery is computer generated and fabricated. Pre-made patterns are input into the computer that controls the sewing machine to make the embroidery.

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1. Artistic Talent – The individual skills and development
Professional Silk Art artists go through a lengthy learning process to develop theirskills and talent. The very first lessons begin on grandma’s knee. For Silk Art families, teaching our children about the family legacy is a centuries old tradition.For those with talent and an interest, formal training starts in their late teens.

Artists must spend ten years as a student and another eight years as a teacher in order to meet the time requirement to be a Master Silk Artist. After five years as a Master Silk Artist, an artist may apply to become a Grand Master Silk Artist. These are general guidelines. Time alone does not necessarily make you a Master or Grand Master. Talent and skill must be demonstrated as well.

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In 2004, when we first introduced our handmade Silk Art in Canada, we were thrilled by the response. As the years have passed and we’ve visited new countries and continents, we continue to be delighted by the universal admiration for the tradition that is so dear to us. In the future, we hope that more and more people will have a chance to appreciate the beauty of this ancient fine art.

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King Silk Art is a completely holistic family business. The House of Zhang in Suzhou, is managed by Mei Zhang. The House of Zhang cultivates silk worms, produces silk thread, dyes the thread and weaves each canvas. Our skilled and talented artists use these proprietary raw materials to create handmade Silk Art.

Once the Silk Art is perfect, King Silk Art takes over. Forest Zhang, Mei’s brother and President of King Silk Art, travels the 21’st Century Silk Art Road, paving the way for our Silk Art. Like two members of the same family, The House of Zhang and King Silk Art are separate entities, but forever intertwined.

King Silk Art is a completely holistic family business. The House of Zhang in Suzhou, is managed by Mei Zhang. The House of Zhang cultivates silk worms, produces silk thread, dyes the thread and weaves each canvas. Our skilled and talented artists use these proprietary raw materials to create handmade Silk Art.

Once the Silk Art is perfect, King Silk Art takes over. Forest Zhang, Mei’s brother and President of King Silk Art, travels the 21’st Century Silk Art Road, paving the way for our Silk Art. Like two members of the same family, The House of Zhang and King Silk Art are separate entities, but forever intertwined.

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