Day 1: We will begin by prepping all of our papers with alum (a mordant that allows the paint to stick to paper). Bring any papers you wish to marble the next day so that we can coat them with alum solution and allow them to dry. We’ll flatten our papers when dry and seal them in bags so they are ready for the next day’s marbling session. While our papers dry, we’ll view a slideshow demonstrating how ordinary watermedia paintings can be transformed through marbling and overpainting.  After lunch, you’ll get a quick marbling demo so that you’ll know what to expect on Day 2. We’ll have a discussion of methods, materials and tools used in marbling. The instructor will demo how the methocel size is mixed to create the liquid mixture that we’ll be using to float color onto. Then we’ll do a bit of practice painting on small pre-marbled papers provided by the instructor (a preview of Days 3 & 4 where we develop our papers into paintings).  

Day 2: We will spend all of Day 2 marbling papers (including old paintings) so come prepared to have fun.Wear old clothing that you don't mind getting color on (aprons are recommended). Wear nitrile gloves if you don’t want to get paint on your fingers, and comfortable shoes as we will be standing for long periods of time.  

Days 3 and 4: Now we move on to the PAINTING part of the workshop where these marbled “starts” (or any other painting start you'd like to work with) take shape and become paintings. Liz will demonstrate how to select papers/paintings to further develop using acrylic paints and approaches to deciding on subject matter.