Oxford Summer School

An Introduction to Marbling

Thursday 8th August 2024 for 2 days — Cost: £120

Tutor: Janey Whitehorn

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Come and learn the centuries-old art of marbling, an ancient technique where inks float on the surface of a liquid and then manipulated to create intricate patterns. Marbling is renowned for its meditative qualities and has been proven to lower stress levels.

This fantastic introductory course is for anyone who likes to get lost in colour and design. It is suitable for beginners and improvers alike.

The course will take you through the history of marbling and give you an introduction to the tools, such as brushes, rakes and combs and how they can be used to make different designs that have been used for hundreds of years.

You will learn on your own marbling tray throughout the two day course.

On the first day you will learn how to mix your own dyes and try different designs by marbling onto small paper samples. You will progress over the two days to produce a collection of 5 larger sheets (A4 size) which can be made into cards, framed or embroidered into.

On the second day you will learn how to scale up your designs, mix your individual dyes and progress to marbling on silk. By the end of the day you will have created and dyed your own unique hand marbled silk scarf.

Students can bring their own small samples of silk (no bigger than A4 size) on the first day which can then be prepared for dyeing on the second day, although, Janey will provide a small silk sample to practise on, but these will not be bigger than A5.

Please bring with you:

  • Apron
  • Latex gloves if you have sensitive skin
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick
  • 3-4 clean jam jars for mixing dyes
  • Any colour references for your silk scarf. ie: magazine cuttings, photos, swatches of fabric etc.

The tutor will provide:

  • All materials for marbling including: dyes, tools, trays, carrageenan
  • 5 x blank cards and envelopes per person
  • 5 x larger papers which could be used for framing, covering books, stitching into
  • 1 x plain white silk scarf approx: 28 x 114cm
  • I will also bring a small number of jam jars, glues, scissors, pencils etc.

Materials Cost

£25 per person