Marbling Madness

The best workshops are the ones that leave you feeling completely exhausted, both physically and mentally. I had the pleasure of taking just such a workshop this past weekend at the Morgan. I had long been interested in learning how to marble paper, so I was excited to take a two-day workshop with master marbler Steve Pittelkow. We had a big group-13 people, so we had to share vats, but it was nice to work with a partner. Working so closely with other people means getting to see all the fantastic results others are getting, which is one of the best parts of the workshop experience.

I really enjoyed learning how to marble. It's a very accessible medium, something you can do in your own kitchen without a lot of specialized equipment, and easy enough to do, although I suspect lots of practice is required to do it well. I left with a huge stack of beautiful marbled papers and, as a reward for assisting with the workshop and scrubbing out the vats at the end, Steve was nice enough to let me select two sheets of paper that he marbled himself. He also let me take some of the leftover marbling supplies and paper so I can continue marbling at home. Once I get some more practice in, I'm hoping to try marbling on fabric, as well. In the meantime, I have all these lovely marbled papers to play with.