UNION — Annetta Evans always had access to art supplies from her grandma, an art teacher.

“I’ve always loved art,” she said.

About 30 years ago, she saw a silk painting demonstration at a quilt show.

“I was intrigued, so bought supplies,” she said. “I really enjoyed the vibrancy of the colors and fluidity.”

Evans had to learn to let go as the silk paints seeped in a somewhat random way across the fabric.

“For me, a control freak, that was difficult,” she said.

Her art took a backseat when her kids were young, and in 2006 she moved to Union.

With a bit more time, she returned to silk painting, and started creating scarves. In 2014, she was invited to sell her scarves through Community Merchants in La Grande. Since then, she’s sold her creations at Art Center East’s Handmade Holidays market, and entered the yearly fiber arts show.

Along the way, she’s learned tricks to get more control over the color, such as painting the image with a resist that keeps the paints somewhat contained.

“It was a lot of trial and error,” she said. “It’s really challenging to make it work the way you want it to.”

Silk painting is a break from her regular routine.

“It’s so relaxing,” she said. “This is my respite.”

The last fiber arts show theme was poetry, so Evans worked on a project with her daughter, McKenzie Sheehy, who teaches English in Elgin.

“We decided to do Eastern Oregon themed pieces,” she said.

Sheehy wrote a poem inspired by her experiences of coming home after swathing. Evans’ silk piece depicts a golden field with Mount Emily rising in the background against a purple sunset.

“This collaboration with my daughter is the most favorite thing I’ve ever done,” she said.

Find her work at Community Merchants and Art Center East, or visit her Silken Ponies page on Facebook.