It's been done for centuries in Asia, it's been big in Europe for years and now painting on silk is becoming very popular in the U.S. Partly it's because silk is such an amazing fabric and more available now than ever before. But much of the interest is due to the French serti technique for applying the dye to the silk - it has everything going for it - it's easy, it's clean, it's fun, and you get startlingly beautiful results.