Silk painter in Seville - Silvia Ramos López

Silk painter in Seville - Silvia Ramos López

Interview with Silvia Ramos López, silk painter in Seville

Trained as a chemist, Silvia has been painting silk for around 25 years. What started as a hobby is now her full-time job and she sells her hand-painted silk fans and scarves in her shop-cum-workshop in central Seville, close to the Setas (Metropol Parasol). The Cadiz native’s stunning designs, in bright colours and bold shapes, are inspired by nature, although she also does paintings and even makes fans for members of Semana Santa brotherhoods – both women and men

Andalucia.com: How long have you been working with silk?

Silvia Ramos: I have been painting silk for about 25-30 years. I studied chemistry, but I had a passion for painting. I started as an amateur because I liked learning all the different techniques - oil, acrylic, pastel. One day I went to a concert in Madrid by Turkish group, who had an exhibition of a kind of painting called ‘ebru’ (marbling).

AC: Why is your shop/workshop called Manos de Agua (Hands of Water)?

SR: It is named after the first silk painting technique I learned, ebru - I had my hands in the bath all day. The movement of the pigments in the bath is like waves.

AC: How/where did you train/learn? What brought you to this job?

SR: I am mostly self-taught: I did painting courses in Cantabria when I was living there in  2009-2012, and in Chiclana in around 2005-2007/8 . I did all the courses I could, in painting but not on silk, almost all oils. I experimented with silk, and read books on the topic.

AC: When did you start selling your hand-painted silk pieces?

SR: The first piece I sold was in Chiclana (Cadiz), with the association of artisans – they had summer markets in La Barrosa and Sancti Petri. It was a vest top [a floaty spaghetti-strap style, with a yellow, red and orange design]. I also sold in some markets in Cantabria, and had commissions in Madrid. But I didn’t go full-time self-employed until 2015, when I came to Seville and a temporary work contract finished. I decided to leave chemistry and dedicate myself to silk painting. I joined the federation of artisans, and sold my scarves in Christmas markets, and later experimented with making fans in my workshop during the Covid lockdown.

AC: What inspires your designs?

SR: I usually do my designs during the summer, while I’m on holiday. I take photos of nature – trees, plants, flowers, and fruit.

AC: Explain to us the steps in making a hand-painted silk scarf.

SR: Either I draw the design by hand, or more often these days, such as for a shal (large scarf, 180x 70cm), I get it printed in actual scale on a plotter printer from a design on my iPad. Once I have the design on paper, I trace it onto the silk with a special pen using gutta, a resin similar to latex from the Malaysian gutta-percha tree. As well as drawing the outline, this stops the dye from bleeding.

I use dye rather than paint, as it doesn’t stay on surface of silk, but penetrates into the protein, so it lasts for a long time.  To paint on silk, the fabric has to be stretched evenly, and held tightly in a frame and pinned down  with special pins so that it can’t move. You need to be very careful that it doesn’t rip – chiffon is very delicate, so it needs very small, sharp pins, while silk crêpe needs stronger pins as it is thicker and heavier. Afterwards, the ink-painted silk has to be set in a steamer, to fix the colours. The steamer is a long metal box like a pressure cooker. The silk is rolled up inside absorbent paper within a narrow metal tube – stretched very tight, with no creases, and carefully wrapped so that the water doesn’t touch it directly, to avoid it getting stained. Then it is steamed.

Afterwards I wash the silk to get rid of excess colour, and dry it horizontally on a towel, to absorb all the dampness. Then the scarves are ready for final stage, which is the edging, or hemming, by hand (crepe) or with a sewing machine (chiffon) . The mantónes [triangular fringed shawls] are sent to have their fringe added in Cantillana [a Seville province town famous for fringing].

AC: How long does it take to make a scarf?

SR: I don’t always know how long each design will take. I do the composition using an app on my iPad, and then try out colours for it, until I am happy with the definitive design. Then I adapt it to different formats, such as a scarf and fan. I need to adapt the design to different shapes and sizes according to their measurements.

For example, these scarves I am making now for a commission [an olive design, for a local olive company] are painted with gutta using a brush, which takes two hours, then stretched for two hours, then painted with colours, which takes another hour, and then steamed. I had to submit the design by a certain date, and then make 12 scarves. So the whole process was quicker, as I had a time limit.

AC: Tell us how you make a fan.

SR: Once the silk is set, washed and dried, I put it back in the stretching frame, and add synthetic starch to make it stiff. Then I cut out the piece into the right shape (a half-bagel), fold it into pleats [like a concertina] and press it in a mould [a contraption that looks like a press-hanger for trousers]. I leave it until the folds are completely flat.

After that, the bottom edge of the silk has to be trimmed to fit the lower part of the varillajes (fan frame). Next, I stick every two pleats onto a varilla (slat), followed by the two caberas or guardas (ends), and the last stage, when the silk is stuck down onto the slats,  is to trim the top edge when the fan is open. With the same gutta resin I seal this top edge so that it doesn’t fray.

The varillajes can have 14, 22 or 28 slats, always in even numbers, plus the wider, thicker ends. I usually do 14 slats. The frame is made from a single  piece of wood, so the fewer slats it has, the thicker and stronger they are. I mostly use Spanish pear wood; my fans have the “Abanico Español Artisano” stamp, which means “Fan hand-made in Spain”. The sizes of fans are mini (16cm), handbag (19cm), medium (23cm), medio-pericón (27cm), and pericón (29-30cm).

I don’t make them one at a time. I make one big piece of silk for around 10 fans, spending a week only making fans – about 40 hours in total.

I spend the first day painting the whole piece of silk. The next morning, I fix the piece in the steamer, which takes about two hours.  Then I wash and dry it. In the afternoon, I stretch it out and apply the stiffener. Third day: I start to cut out the silk and put the fans together, which takes the rest of the week.

AC: What are the different types of silk that you use?

SR: All the silk that I use comes from China. The various types include sheer chiffon, heavier crepe, [lightweight] habotai silk, and [soft, smooth] pongee. The most expensive and highest quality is crepe satin, known as piel de angel (angel’s skin). This type of silk has lots of body, and drapes beautifully.

AC: What are the most important qualities of a good fan?

SR: I look for the AEA stamp. You can also get older fans that don’t have the stamp, which are good quality too.  The fan must open to 180 degrees, opening smoothly, though this depends on the material; lace doesn’t open as easily. Fans open better after being closed for a while. I always close my fans on a Saturday, when I leave the shop, to protect their folds, and leave them for the weekend. Then open them again on Monday. It is very important that the fan lines up straight when closed, without any pleats protruding. Also, the slats of the fuente (the wooden part that you can see, which you hold) must overlap, but only a little.

AC: How many new designs do you produce? And do you have a favourite?

Every year in September, I do about four new designs each of fans and scarves from the photos I took while on my holidays, and then three or four more in spring, of fans with matching scarves. My favourite is one based on Astarte, the Phoenician goddess [of war, passion and sex]. It was inspired by a 3,000-year-old gold coin with her image found on Santa Maria del Mar beach in Cadiz city, which symbolises the mother deity in all her feminine power.

AC: Do you make some pieces to order? For whom?

SR: I’ve made fans for Semana Santa brotherhoods in Seville and elsewhere, for men – in plain colours, to match their tunic, such as black, with the brotherhood’s insignia. These are usually bolso size. I’ve made fans for about eight brotherhoods, including for men in San Pedro and for women in Esperanza de Triana, in green with the large version of the insignia. Also white fans for brides.

AC: Are there any other handmade pieces you would like to make?

SR: I would like to have more time to do large paintings, which is what I really enjoy. I had an exhibition in a town in Palencia, of marinas in Santander and in Cadiz city – which is where I am from. I’ve sold all of those paintings – the last one was of La Caleta in Cadiz. 

AC: How long have you been in this workshop/shop?

SR: Since 2019.

AC: How important is social media for your work and your shop?

SR: I’ve been working with Ignacio [who does my SM] for about 1.5 years. I had an Instagram account for a long time but I was not active on it for quite a few years. Now there are lots of videos showing how pieces are made and there is plenty of engagement. People from Seville come to the shop after seeing them on Instagram. I’ve also had a website and online shop since the beginning of this year.

AC: Do you like the Setas area?

SR: Yes, this is a good area to  be in, as lots of sevillanos who are walking past come in, as well as tourists going to the Setas. This street [José Gestoso] has a friendly atmosphere – there’s a mix of traditional family shops, and other new creative shops like the ceramics one [El Patio de la Loza].

AC: Do more tourists or sevillanos come here? How do their tastes differ?

SR: We do get tourists in the shop – in spring quite a few come in. September was really busy, though it’s getting quieter now [mid-October]. We get lots of French, Italian, and Americans in the summer, and some British. They tend to prefer the fans, especially Flor de Azahar (orange blossom), Limonero (lemon), Buganvilla, Flor de Pasion (Passionflower) and small Cebra [multi-coloured striped design]. My most loyal customers, who have bought several pieces, are sevillanos.

AC: Are you from Seville? If not, how long have you been here?

SR: I’m from Cadiz city. I’ve lived in Seville since 2015.

AC: What do you like most about the city?

SR: I like going out for tapas. I would love to have more time to go to places in Seville like the Giralda – I haven’t been there for many years. I went back to the Torre del Oro recently, and the Alcazar about two or three years ago – I love to go every so often, also the Casa de Pilatos.

AC: What is your favourite Andalusian or Sevillian tradition/custom?

SR: I love going to the Feria and dancing sevillanas – my husband has a caseta.

AC: What is, for you, the best time of the year in Seville?

SR: Spring.

AC: What is your favourite bar in Seville?

I like going out for tapas in Los Remedios and Triana, near where I live: La Montanera and La Maceta, in Los Remedios, Bar Amarra on Pages del Corro for fried fish and prawns, Las Golondrinas [on Antillano Campos] in Triana. Also El Bacalao and Santa Marta near here [the Setas].

AC: Do you have a favourite Andalusian ingredient or special dish?

SR: I love spinach with chickpeas and pescaito frito, especially cod.

AC: Tell us five words that describe what Andalucia means to you.

SR: Alegria, luz, familia, raíces, mar (happiness, light, family, roots, sea).

Follow Silvia on Instagram