Painted on water,
lifted to paper.
Colour is dropped onto still water, raked into a pattern, and lifted onto a sheet in one pull. No two prints are ever the same — the water keeps no copy.
Floating colour,
caught on paper.
The pattern lives on the surface of the water — held there by size, moved by comb and stylus. Lay a sheet of paper down and lift it, and the whole pattern comes away clean, leaving the water blank. Scroll, and draw the print off the water.
Water, colour, and one chance.
The size
A tray of water thickened with gum tragacanth until colours will float and hold. Too thin and they sink; too thick and they will not spread.
The colours
Earth and mineral colours, cut with ox-gall so each drop opens into a ring on the surface without mixing. Drop within drop, the field is laid.
The comb
A stylus and combs draw the floating colour into feathers, waves and flowers. The pattern exists only on the water, only for a moment.
The pull
A sheet is laid to the surface and lifted in a single smooth pull. The pattern transfers whole; the water is left blank, ready for the next — which will never match.
Prints the water made once.
Marbled sheets and endpapers — combed patterns, floral ebru and stone marble.
A tray, a comb, and still water.
We marble paper by hand in the old way — colours floated on a gum-tragacanth size, drawn into patterns with comb and stylus, and lifted onto paper one sheet at a time. Every pull is a one-off; the water keeps no copy. We make small editions and bespoke sheets, and we sign every print.
Ask for a pattern.
Tell us the colours, the pattern and the paper — we will pull a sample and send a price.