A Silk Encounter
Marie Anne was first introduced to painting on silk during her studies for a Master’s of Fine Arts at the University of South Florida. It was love at first sight! Not having a frame on which to stretch the silk was not going to stop her. She improvised one using pool furniture on which she somehow managed to stretch yards and yards of silk, sometimes even half a bolt! The outdoor gas burner her Dad used for making Vidalia onion tempura was requisitioned for melting wax. She became lost in silk for days, the tjanting tool the extension of her hand; her only enemy, Florida rainstorms. The flow of color, its vibrancy, silk – her new silk ‘canvas’, took her breath away.
A Water Journey
Several lives later, in a different continent and after much reflection and practice, it’s the same feeling; her heart is ruled by her head. The technique has the same fluidity but this time it’s on a liquid. Creations with drops of paint, rhythms of the movements of her hand, expressions on a flowing substance, the ‘canvas’ is water. This journey is not for the faint of heart. Marbling requires patience, dedication and a willingness to start again and again. Self-learning, followed by classes from American, English and French marblers, led to the start of MDCreations, where this artist offers her creations and shares her passion.
What I Do
Unique Art Pieces
Each unique piece is created by gently dropping paint with brushes, droppers, or whisks onto a tray filled with thickened water. Instead of sinking or mixing with each other, the colors float and expand to touch each other. Technical gestures encounter the unpredictability of the movement of water. A slow ballet begins as if all size waterlilies stroked and pushed each other. At this point, the composition can be considered as finished. Depending on the thought process, the stylus can then take over becoming a pencil which moves the drops or ‘stones’ creating music with colors which end up in gorgeous designs. Increased intricacy may be reached by using combs to make the colors stretch even more, composing fantastic patterns. Paper or fabric, which has been treated to keep the paint, is placed very gently on the size, and in a matter of milliseconds, the artist’s thoughts are transferred from the water creating a one-of-a-kind piece.
Marbling is the dialogue of what the hand starts and water finishes.
Very short history
It is thought that floating paint on liquid had its beginnings in China in the 10th Century. It was referred to as ‘liu sha jian’ – ‘drifting sand’. In Japan, ‘Suminagashi’ – ‘floating ink’ dating from the 12th Century, was reserved exclusively to craftsmen of the imperial house to decorate poetry and calligraphy. During the 15th Century it is thought to have traveled through the Silk Road to India, Central Asia, Persia and the Ottoman Empire. This version known as ‘Ebru’ –‘cloud’, was used to illustrate calligraphy. It arrived in Europe during the 17th Century where marbled papers were greatly esteemed in bookbinding. The very few Master marblers kept their knowledge secret, with each apprentice knowing only one step of the process. To the Masters’ shock, Charles Woolnough, an English marbler, unveiled all in 1853 with his book The Art of Marbling.
This art form is referred as:
‘marbling’ in English,
‘papier à la cuve’ or ‘papier marbré’ in French (paper)
‘marmorpapier’ in German (paper)
‘papel jaspeado/papel marmoleado/papel de aguas’ in Spanish (paper)
‘marmorizzazione’ in Italian
‘marmeren’ in Dutch
‘marmorização’ in Portuguese
English 
Français 
