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Read about Katie's trip
to Japan
I began
painting on silk in 2003, whilst working as a musician and singer.
Taught and inspired by Jill, I quickly developed my own style of
painting figures, sometimes using batik techniques to make sharp
contrasts of colour.
After
participating in the Venice carnival, I began to think about masks;
in particular, the way faces can conceal or reveal our emotions.
Jill and I launched vintagekimono.co.uk, and I began to experiment
painting geisha.
The
main challenge was how to portray character and feeling behind the
white
'mask' of a geisha's makeup.
When
I am not painting I regularly model vintage ceremonial kimono, as
well as studying Japanese dance, tea ceremony and origami.
I feel
these arts complement one another as they have a similar underlying
philosophy. In the future I hope to incorporate traditional textile
decoration and embroidery techniques into my paintings, and maybe
even design my own kimono.
Katie
Chaplin
»
Fellow Vintage Kimono artist Jill
Clay
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