Marbling Turnings

MARBLING TURNINGS

Fluid, Mesmerizing and Spontaneous MARY THOUIN

Getting started OODTURNING AND MARBLING are ancient art forms that Even if you are only interested in are both taking on new marbling wood, I can’t emphasize faces. If someone asked me if these enough the value of first becoming Wtwo crafts share anything else in com- proficient in marbling paper. There mon, I would answer “most defi- are good reasons for this. nitely!” I started turning in 1974 and A sheet of paper costing a few marbling in 1992. What captivated me cents gives freedom to learn and ex- with woodturning 27 years ago is the periment. It’s easier to discard 50 same essence that drew me to mar- sheets of marbled paper than to dis- bling. Their similarities? I view them card or strip marbling on 50 wood- both to be very “fluid” art forms — turned bowls! Your first trial sheets both are meditative, mesmerizing, will help you sort out the peculiarities and spontaneous. of paint chemistry, bath consistency, A simple definition of marbling is humidity etc. And, more important, that it is the art of floating paints on a these practice sheets help you begin thickened liquid or water, patterning to learn essential basics and to gain a design, and making a contact print. confidence and competence in con- A variety of paints and liquids or trolling patterns, color, and color bal- “sizes”can be used. In this article, I’ll ance. focus only on my materials and meth- After marbling your first 100 ods using acrylic paints and a size of sheets or so of paper you’ll be as- water thickened with carageenan, tounded at what there is to learn in which is derived from seaweed. this rich craft – and number 100 will Marbling is a beautiful, fascinating, be startlingly more beautiful than and surprisingly complex craft. It is a number one. (Caution: marbling balance and a blending of the marbler paper can be addicting, you might — and the process of marbling. You forget your original intention!) never quite know just who is in Marbling isn’t just for bowls and plat- Successfully marbling a three-di- charge — you — or the marbling! If ters like the ones on the cover of the mensional object is much more com- you can let yourself fall into and flow Journal, as you can see from the vase plex than marbling paper. You must with its magic, you will be well re- above and the photos on the following anticipate the way paints stretch and warded. There is no concrete set of pages. Photos by Dave Grondin. distort their patterns, and the way rules to insure success, only guide- they thin out as a 3-D piece is lowered lines. Any long-time marbler will tell turnings. I quickly found that mar- into it. Other aspects unique to wood you “what works for one person may bling on wood had it’s own addi- marbling are trapped air, wood as a not work for another — and what tional set of peculiarities. I also background, and finishes appropriate works one day, may not work the realized that there was minimal infor- for wood, which I’ll discuss later. next.” A marbler recently wrote to mation on wood marbling, which re- Setting up me, “Sometimes marbling is like try- quired me to pioneer my own way. ing to rein in wild horses — you may That was fine with me, as I have al- A fair bit of prep and set up is end up somewhere, but the trip was- ways seemed to find directions in life needed, so start a day ahead of time. n't what you had planned on!” Hang that challenge me. So, I dove in and It wouldn’t hurt to warn other house- on to your hats folks – it’s quite an ad- learned from the school of experimen- hold members that you will be taking venture! tation and self teaching. I will always over the entire room or kitchen and As I worked with my husband, be learning and I hope improving my all available horizontal surfaces! (And who was teaching himself to marble skills and techniques. I don’t have all perhaps some vertical ones.) Some papers, it was a natural progression the answers – I am happy to help oth- marbling techniques splatter fine for me to attempt marbling my wood- ers get started. drops of paint, so unless you want to

FALL 2002 AMERICAN WOODTURNER 25 Copyright 2002, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org The author spreads colors on the bath of size, then manipulates the patterns until she has something that pleases her. The weed pot is dipped into the color pattern, as shown. A dowel, hot-melt glued to the bottom of the turning is used to immerse the piece into the pattern. change your decor to “Speckles,” sure to wear rubber gloves when ap- of them. Because of this, many mar- protecting surfaces is recommended. plying alum – it is aluminum based blers use distilled water to make the And perhaps scheduling ‘a dinner and is readily absorbed through the size and to thin their paints. out’ may win you a few points, as skin, as well as being cumulative in Your own water may work well, well. the body. but if you have problems, start again Paints: Basic necessary supplies I use acrylics for both paper using distilled water. I understand and wood marbling. Because they are that water from a water softening sys- Size: The size is a thickened “bath” especially opaque, I feel the acrylic tem can also cause problems. that supports the floating paints. The colors are particularly good for mar- Photo Flo 200: (Kodak) Paints two main choices for size are: bling on wood. I presently use the need to be thinned in order to float on carageenan or methyl cellulose. I pre- “Ceramcoat” brand of acrylics, or the size, and are first thinned with fer carageenan, an extract of a sea- “fluid” acrylics made by Golden. Cer- distilled water. If that doesn’t work, weed called Irish moss. Buy amcoat is a good choice for beginners, use a small amount of photo flo, carageenan that is made for marbling as it is inexpensive and works well. available from camera shops, along (non-food grade). Mixing is relatively Its disadvantage is that their paints with the water. Usually just a small easy — it is slowly blended into sometimes have small flecks of conta- quantity is needed. water. mination. The Golden paints are clean Paper: (for paper marbling): Ask Alum: Pieces that are to be mar- and have a nice clarity to them, but the people at the art store to sell you bled need to be alumed first, which is they cost more. what other local marblers use. A few essential for the paint to stick to the Distilled water: Water is used to paper choices are Classic Laid or item you are marbling. Use alum that mix the size and to thin the paints. Classic Linen 70 lb, charcoal and wa- is sold specifically for marbling – nor- There are a number of factors that can tercolor papers. You may have to ex- mally listed as aluminum sulfate. Be cause marbling failures. Water is one periment.

26 AMERICAN WOODTURNER FALL 2002 Copyright 2002, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org KEYS TO SUCCESS Cleanliness: Keep all containers, equipment and tools free of oils and Pans: I like white pans in order to soap residue, which can contaminate the bath and cause marbling failures best see the colors. For marbling and frustration. paper, use a pan that’s slightly larger Dust: Work in a minimal dust area – flecks of dust settling on the bath than your paper and about. 2-in. cause little areas not to print. This means no dust on your work, clothing, deep. or you! For marbling a whole turning, use Humidity, temperature, quality of ingredients: High humidity and a pan that’s deep enough for the piece lower room temperatures are desirable for marbling. Generally speaking to be totally submerged, without the – a temperature below 60° is too cold (the colors don’t spread well and size overflowing. The pan should be sink) and above 80° is too warm (the colors can spread too much and don’t at least double the diameter of the hold their shape). I find that 68° or so works well for me. It is also impor- woodturning – so that, as it is being tant to keep your paints and the size as close to the same temperature as immersed, there will be enough room possible – this is even more important than room temperature. If the for the paint to be drawn in from the paints and size vary greatly in temperature, it can cause the paints to sink. sides and cover the piece as you had In order to insure that you are buying quality ingredients, my best rec- intended. If you are marbling a rim of ommendation is to buy your supplies from a good art store or marbling a woodturning only, then you will supplier. only need a pan a little larger in diameter than the piece itself. which will resist the marbling. It’s 1.) The shape of the piece not al- Newspaper: This is used to clean also more difficult to apply a finish lowing the marbling to contact parts or skim the surface of the size. The evenly to softwoods. Also avoid Ex- of the turning. skin that forms on the surface after otics which are usually too oily for 2.) Air pockets. the size sits (even for a short time) good paint adhesion and coarse- 3.) The colors on the size rushing must be removed before colors are grained, large-pored woods, like oak into the inside of a bowl through cav- applied. Newspaper is also used to and ash, with bold grain patterns that ities and openings – thereby making a clean off remaining colors after a print fight the delicate look of the marbling. swirling mess of your carefully pat- is made. Cut newspaper in strips or Masking: I use liquid frisket or liq- terned paints. If you are wanting to have some the same dimension as the uid mask (used for masking water- marble both the inside and outside of marbling pan. color paintings) to protect areas that I an open bowl – you have to carefully Patterning Tools: These are a sty- don’t want marbled. immerse it from the side rather than lus, rakes, or combs. A stylus is a sin- Holding stick: Attach a dowel to from the bottom up, for the same rea- gle patterning tool such as a dowel the bottom or the inside of the piece son. However, realize that the colors or knitting needle. Rakes and combs with hot-melt glue to hold the piece will be thinned out on the last side to can be made from a variety of mate- as it is being marbled. be marbled. rials, and are made in different sizes Marbling in 3-D 4.)You generally do not want to for various patterning techniques. roll the piece across the surface of the Most marbling books have good in- The two important considerations bath, because that will give a broken, structions on how to make your own when marbling any three-dimen- hard edge where the pattern joins. rakes and combs. sional item involve both the aesthetics 5.) Color stretching: Central to the Paint Application: Eye droppers and mechanics of marbling the piece. difference between paper marbling or small paint applicator bottles First, consider the appropriateness of and 3D marbling – is that when a 3 work well. the materials. A woodturning should dimensional piece is immersed in the Supplies for marbling wood: be made especially for marbling. I see bath – it acts like a vortex. The mar- no reason to take a woodturned piece bling wraps up and around the piece Wood: In choosing wood to mar- that has beautiful or striking grain -– gathering, pulling and stretching ble, think like a painter — pick a and marble over that natural beauty. the colors. As the paint is being species that provides a homogeneous I turn forms and details that I feel will stretched, the color becomes diluted background like a canvas for patterns allow the woodturning and the mar- and loses its intensity. Take this into and color. bling to compliment each other. account when deciding which way to Good choices are fine-grained Second, before starting the mar- immerse the piece, and also in match- hardwoods such as maple, birch, bling process you need to plan how ing the size of the woodturning with cherry, walnut. Poor choices include the piece is going to be immersed in the size of the pan. Remember – the softwoods, like pine, that has resins the bath in order to avoid things like: pan needs to be deep enough to im-

FALL 2002 AMERICAN WOODTURNER 27 Copyright 2002, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org The marbling for this piece, begins with applying colors on the thickened size and allowing them to spread, above, then manipulating the colors with a stylus. After creating a small indentation on one side of the circle, below left, the author makes a contrasting figure on the other side, below right. The variety of colors and patterns that can be used is almost limit- less. The author recommends you experiment by marbling paper and trying some of the patterns demonstrated in the books she recommends on the following page.

merse the entire piece, without the it works well to attach some sort of machine on slow speed and then size flowing over the top of the pan. “holding stick” to the piece. Decide slowly start adding a portion of the Wood Preparation: which way the piece will be im- carageenan until mixed. Pour mixture mersed in the bath and hot glue a into the marbling pan. Repeat this After turning a piece, I sand it to heavy dowel onto the piece where until you have used up the measured 400 grit – then I wet it to raise the there will be no marbling. amount of carageenan. You can then grain, let it dry, and re-sand it using The piece is now – FINALLY!! – add any extra water to the mix: 600 grit. Re-sanding the raised grain ready to marble! there’s no need to run a gallon or eliminates problems such as tiny air more of water through your blender. pockets or bubbles that would show Mixing alum and carageenan: The carageenan size should be about up on the finished piece as little un- the consistency of cream. Allow the printed circles. Carageenan: I use two tablespoons size to stand 12 hours before marbling If you want to protect any areas carageenan to each gallon of water. in order to “cure.” Keep the size cov- from paint, now is the time to mask Carageenan must be mixed in a ered to keep out dust. them off with the liquid frisket and let blender or a food processor. Put a Alum: I use a weaker alum solu- 1/ it dry. The piece is now ready to be portion (about 3 of the blender ) of tion for wood than for paper. alumed. Before you alum it however, the water into the blender, start the For paper marbling, I use four ta-

28 AMERICAN WOODTURNER FALL 2002 Copyright 2002, 2016, American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. www.woodturner.org blespoons alum to 4 cups water. I heat has already been thinned with dis- already there. In so doing, the the water to dissolve the alum, then tilled water. If that happens, that is strength of each color changes as well. let this cool before applying. Alum so- when I add a little photo flo. The colors that were applied first, will lution may be brushed on – a foam Individual paints and colors react be the most condensed and the bold- brush works well. Allow the paper to differently, so you must learn to work est colors - the paints that are applied dry under a press to keep it flat. with the individual nature of each last will be a lighter shade. 1/ For wood, I use 4 cup of alum to color, in order to get the colors to 1/ Patterning: 2 gal. of water. I mix enough alum spread evenly. The object is to have so I can dip the marbled piece. Allow the paints float on the size and spread In learning to predict and control the alum solution to dry on the piece evenly into a circle without the color patterning, you are developing a before marbling. sinking, or spreading out of control. “working vocabulary” of the craft – The marbling process: Some colors float and spread at a rea- while at the same time – learning sonable rate, others sink more readily, about color, color balance and har- At this point your size is mixed, and others spread so wildly that they mony. These skills are integral in pro- cured and in a pan. Your paper or can ruin the pattern you are working ducing quality marbled pieces. your woodturned piece has been on. The colors that push wildly, I refer Printing the piece: Once you have alumed and is ready to be marbled. to as “hot” colors. The colors that do applied colors and developed a pat- Preparing and applying paints: not spread well, I refer to as “cold.” tern that you like, you then take the Colors that were a little on the piece, with the holding stick attached, Paints generally must be thinned “cold” side may need to have addi- and immerse it onto the paints and to the consistency of milk or light tional dispersant (photo flo) added to into the bath. After the piece is fully cream. Thin them, initially, with dis- them in order for them to be able to immersed and printed – you slowly tilled water. Test each color to see push against the colors that are there. pull it out of the bath. As it’s being how it reacts on the size. Sometimes a This is presuming that distilled water pulled back out of the bath – it will particular paint will still sink when was used and is still not doing the job. have a slurry of extra color and applied to the bath, even though it Be careful in using “hot” colors. There carageenan on the piece. Do not are some that are always difficult to worry about this – bring it over to the READING LIST control – when I get to know which sink and with the least amount of Here are several marbling ones they are – my method of control- tepid water coming out of the faucet books that I know of: ling them is to control drop size by as possible – slowly and carefully let using a smaller applicator for a the water wash off the carageenan – Marbling Techniques by Wendy smaller amount of paint. leaving the printed pattern. The mar- Addison Medeiros If photo flo is needed, I have differ- bling is quite vulnerable at this stage– Marbling - A Complete Guide to ent mixes I use. I have a jar mixed your hands rubbing on the wet mar- Creating Beautiful Patterned Pa- 1:10, 1:25, 1:50 ( photo flo: distilled bling can easily smear or wash off the pers and Fabrics by Diane Vogel water). Begin by using a drop or two marbling. After rinsing, set aside to Maurer with Paul Maurer of the weakest solution in the needed dry. Marbling Paper and Fabric by paint . Increase the amount and This is the moment you have been Carol Taylor strength as necessary. waiting for – the grand finale!! Hope- The Art of Marbled Paper by Applicators: Whisks, eye droppers fully.....your labor of love will be Einen Miura and dropper bottles are three choices breathtaking. Marbled Designs by Patty and to apply the paint. Whisks are used to In my next article we will talk Mimi Schleicher make a “stone” pattern. Eye droppers about dyeing your work to create a Traditional Marbling by Iris or bottles are used to apply paint in background color, critiquing your Nevins circles – usually concentric – but work and finishing. Meanwhile work Marbling: Easy and Elegant sometimes individually. on those 100 pieces of paper and try Projects for Paper and Fabric by It is important to be gentle when out a few turnings. Laura Sims applying paints – just touch the sur- Any of these books should help face of the bath. If using a whisk, use you learn more about the topics a light hand. As the paints are applied Mary Thouin lives in Leonard, MN and techniques discussed in this and begin to spread, they will also and demonstrated marbling at the AAW article. — M. T-S push and condense the colors that are Symposium in St. Paul, MN.