In May of 1962 my wife Gigi and I were in Montreal at Cramer’s Magic Shop. Gigi bought me Rice’s Encyclopedia of silk Magic, Vol.3 for my birthday and at the same time, I purchased a 3 ft. x 6 ft. used blendo silk. I do not recall the price of the book but I do remember paying $6.00 for the silk. I guess it is a habit with magicians buying things and not knowing just how or when we will incorporate them into our act.
Well, fear not readers, we all wake up sooner or later.
How did I use that silk, you ask? Well, I will tell you. Over the years I have come up with several ways of producing a red, yellow, green and blue silk 18"” silk. They in turn were placed into a Crystal Silk Cylinder, and you know the rest . . . Voila a huge 3' x6' blendo. No muss, no fuss, no hand sleights BUT what an impact on the audience. Yes, for years this effect has played an important role in my act and it always got a big “Oh”. I have made changes to the effect over the years . . . for the better. The 1962 silk sure saw better days and it is this tattered silk that got me into “Silk Painting”. A distant cousin of mine, Virginia Daoust, was in business for herself designing, creating and painting silk scarves, blouses etc. for women. One day I happened to ask her if she could do the same work for me but in more vibrant colours, rather than the pastels for women. Well, before I could say “Legari”, I was down the stairs and back up with my tattered silk.
A few months rolled by and Virginia appeared with a gorgeous 3' x6' blended silk and four 18" silks to match. She told me that I should give some thought into doing my own silks. I then registered at the Fleming College of Fine Arts in Haliburton, Ontario to learn painting on silk. I was very fortunate to be a student of Marsha Gettas. Marsha has a list of credentials that is longer than your arm. She teaches, lectures and has an international reputation in the world of fashion and design. She was responsible for all the silk shirts that were worn in the production of Miss Saigon that was presented in Toronto, Ontario. After completing that course, I returned the following year to learn how to paint on fabric, again under the watchful eyes of Marsha Gettas. The following year, Virginia and I traveled to Toronto to have some private tutoring with Marsha on a new technique in the art of silk painting. I consider myself fortunate in having the opportunity of studying under Marsha as her time is very precious. I then set out to do some work for sale. This was in the line of women silk scarves and cotton aprons.
However, before going public with goodies for magicians, there was still answers I needed to some of my problems. One more trip to Toronto, with my note pad and recorder I set out for an appointment with my silk Guru. The one important answer I needed was to come from me, I had to ask myself, “What is going to make my silks different from the rest?” The answer was simple . . . the will be HAND PAINTED.
My session with Marsha the Summer of 1994 was the icing on the cake. In October of 1994 I presented my lecture “The Christmas Magic Show” at NYCAN in Syracuse, New York. A few of the effects in my lecture highlighted some of my silk artistry. Within seven minutes, all of my stock was sold. If I had more, it too would have been sold. This was a definite indication that my work was appreciated by the magicians present. Needless to say, this was motivation.