Long before I became aware of print day in May, I had planned to take a Marbleizing paper class with Cynthia McGuirl. And I am so happy that I did.
Her beautiful studio is in Thomaston, Maine, which is about 3 hours north of where I live. But is was a lovely day for a drive. Cynthia had prepared at least 8 varieties of paper with alum so they would be ready for printing. She made a water and methyl cellulose bath as the printing surface. And every color in the rainbow of paint for making “modern” marbleized paper.
We experimented and printed for hours.
The process is very addictive. It is so easy to learn form one print and say, “just one more” And the one more, and one more and before you know it the whole day has passed.
I like the non-traditional shapes and big patterns. But it is hard to just stop dropping more paint on the surface.
We used big and little eye droppers, fan brush and pointy sticks and straws to move the paint around the surface.
Now the challenge may be what to do with some of these prints and papers. For now I am just going to admire them.
So if you are intrigued by this experimental printing process then check out Cynthia’s website and workshop schedule. She hopes to offer this class again this year.