With a degree in Visual Arts and as a member of the Farfelu Westmount Gallery cooperative for 20 years, Sylvie has also been a teacher at the Centre de recherche et de design en impression textile de Montréal for 10 years. Indeed, during the last 25 years, her works have been much sought after and appreciated all across Canada, particularly during Toronto's popular annual event, the One-of-a-Kind Christmas Show.
It is in the peace and tranquility of the charming hamlet of Mystic, Quebec, that Sylvie finds a rich source of inspiration and creative energy. Her creativity manifests itself in the following ways:
Textile Painting on Silk and Wool
Pure white wool or silk is first carefully stretched on a wood frame so that the fabric is held taut at the required tension. Sylvie then draws and paints directly on these 'blank white pages', designing forms and shapes and improvising at whim. The quality of the works is based on meticulous control of advanced reserve techniques including serti lines, false batik and block printing. By using several reserve layers she paints directly on the fabric surface using a wide range of dyes, colouring agents and brushes, starting with the lightes tones and working towards the darker tones. Once designed and painted, the woolen and silk pieces are rolled up in white paper and placed in a steam fixer. This steam sterilisation process not only makes the material permanently colour fast but also gives the colours a vibrant luminosity.
Textile Construction & Felting
While painting on muslin wool or light chiffon silk, Sylvie gets her inspiration from the subtle colouring of the wool fibres which will serve to thicken the base material according to the nuno felt technique, which consists of lightly felting carded wool through the fabric. This unique treatment of painted and slightly felted surfaces offer an almost infinite range of possibilities, a large array of textures and multidimensional forms which are transformed into scarfs, shawls, kaftans, jackets, kimonos and ties. All of these creations can be hand-washed or dry-cleaned.
Recently, Sylvie has started offering courses in painting on fabric as well as textile construction in her studio, Design Mystic, located in Mystic, in the heart of the Brome-Missisquoi region, about 75 kilometres south-east of Montreal.
She is at the 2011 One of Kind Show Christmas Show at Exhibition Place, Toronto, from November 24 to December 4. The DESIGM MYSTIC Booth No. is Y32.
Enjoy your visit! Enquiries about the availability of Design Mystic creations are always welcomed.