Pattern/Technique: Intro to Fabric Marbling taught by Pietro Accardi at SF Center for the Book
Materials: Agar, Surfactant, Marbling paints
New skills: Fabric marbling, use of marbling combs/rakes
Lessons/Notes: This was an incredibly cool class! The marbling process starts by mixing carrageenan powder into a large tray of water (requiring approx. 20 min of whisking) then letting the tray sit for ~2 hours to allow the carrageenan to thicken. This creates a kind of “thick water” on to which you apply your marbling paint and surfactant—the high viscosity of the water causes the pigment to float on the surface. Before applying any pigment (and after every print) a piece of newsprint is dragged across the surface of the water to pick up any dust, lumps, or carrageenan skin from the surface of the water.
The pigment (an acrylic-based paint from Pro Chemical & Dye) is applied using pipettes of paint mixed with surfactant (which causes the paint to spread out on the surface of the water). I found that using very free form shaking motions caused a nicely chaotic pattern of pigment splatters (for more deliberate placement, I used the pipette as intended). As I practiced, I found that there’s a “sweet spot” where you apply enough pigment to the tray to get bold, saturated colors, but not so much that the pigment begins to sink to the bottom.
Once the desired quantity of pigment is applied, one can either lay a piece of fabric (which has been scoured, then treated with an application of alum mixed into water—Pietro uses pimatex cotton which is pre-scoured, then applies the alum solution to it) on top of the surface of the water (holding the ends of the fabric such that the center of the fabric touches the tray first) to pick up the splotched design—in the marbling world, this design is referred to as “stone pattern.”
Alternately one can use a set of combs (essentially a piece of wood with nails/pins attached) to “pull” the paint in different directions to create more elaborate designs.
Once the fabric is laid on the surface of the paint, it’s lifted up from one end, then run over a metal drying rack to remove the excess water (our racks were placed in plastic tubs to catch the drips) and hung up with clothes pins to continue drying.
What I’d do differently: I really enjoyed learning how to marble—something about the process allowed my brain to let go of any perfectionist urges and sink into playful experimentation. I’d love to continue the exploration—Pro Chemical has a PDF of marbling directions (saved to personal Drive) whenever I decide to have another go.
Care: The Pro Chemical instructions indicate that the dyed fabric doesn’t need additional heat treatment to fix the marbling pigment—after leaving the fabric pieces to cure/dry for 7-10 days, they can be washed in the washing machine to remove the alum and carrageenan.
