Japanese Marbling

This Easter I wanted to try something a bit different with my eggs. My friend Theresa Cheeck, from Texas sent me this lovely pear paperweight she made for Christmas. The pear had a paint technique that i had seen before but never had a clue how to do it. Theresa was generous enough to "walk me through " the process as if it were " Marbling for dummies" and gave me a link which is connected to the title of this post where I could buy all my supplies. I was set to try this wonderfully fun technique. I invited a few of my artist friends over and we marbled wooden eggs, trays, scarves and paper. The technique call "Sumingashi" is created by floating paint on water that has carageenan added to it. This bath now has a slickness to it that allows the paint to float on top. We then used a stylus to create patterns and designs in the paint colors. Our objects to marble were soaked in allum and then we dipped away. Our egges and scarves were really fun, the kids enjoyed watching the process. The fun thing about this is , the element of surprise, you really do not know what you will wind up with, but almost garanteed it will be beautiful! Thank you again Theresa!