Silk Diary

An Artists' Journey from Moscow to Mendocino

Enjoy rare art & adventure in Silk Diary

Moscow-born silk painter Natasha Foucault thrives on making choices with unpredictable outcomes.

Silk Diary is the story of Natasha's travels, loves, and adventures—series of escapades most armchair travelers only dream of.

Whether she is avoiding the unwelcome scrutiny of the KGB or being chased by a car full of Abkasian bandits on a lonely Belarus highway; Natasha delights in life, even in the face of hardship. After a life-threatening illness, the young artist could no longer risk exposure to the toxic materials of etching and ceramics. She turned instead to the liquid flowing medium of painting with dyes on silk. Fully aware of her own mortality, she began to live as if there were no tomorrow.

With co-author Jeanne-Michele Salander, herself an accomplished silk painter with a love of Russian language and history, Natasha tells the sometimes hilarious, often moving stories of her development as an artist and teacher.

Silk Diary contains 80 full color plates that richly display Natasha's unparalleled painting techniques. She generously shares details that will inspire artists in all media, and lovers of beauty everywhere. Natasha's prodigious output of paintings and wearable art pieces, and her amazing stories, reflect an eagerness to share her discoveries of beauty with the world.