Floating Colors : Children’s Paper Marbling Workshop

In this class, taught by Kate Hargrave, we are painting on water! The art of paper marbling is the practice of manipulating floating ink on the water’s surface, an ancient art form with historic roots in Asia, India, the Middle East and Europe.  We will appreciate many beautiful examples of the technique and view a demonstration of the traditional Japanese method, sumi-nagashi.  Children will then experiment with their own shallow vat of water, choosing colorful inks, wooden brushes, combs and fans to design pictures of their own. We will learn to transfer the work onto various paper to create one of a kind prints. In this process, children will practice considering choices for their design carefully and with intention, and also delight in the element of surprise as the ink drawings take on a life of their own in the water.  Building a collection of painted paper the children will fashion the pages into “books of friendship,” a 17th century European tradition – an autograph album for collecting the signatures of all of their friends.  Each child is also encouraged to bring a small treasured book to cover (not exceeding 5″x7″).