‘Every material is special’: Haligonians take part in Turkish paper marbling

People in Dartmouth, N.S., got the chance to see a new way of putting art to paper over the weekend.

Residents in Dartmouth, N.S., got the chance to see a new way of putting art to paper over the weekend.

A workshop took over the Craig Gallery’s waterfront studio at Alderney Landing to show people how to do Ebru, otherwise known as Turkish paper marbling.

Suheda Sahin, the workshop’s instructor, says she started the workshop to share the artform with new people.

“When I first came to Canada, I realized most people don’t know anything about marbling art. That’s why I tried to show people what is marbling art,” says Sahin.

Ebru is done by floating pigments onto water and transferring it to paper to create one-of-a-kind designs. The art is recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Sahin says the workshop takes lots of time to prepare, but she’s glad to give people their first experience.

“Our products are very special products. I prepare all products by myself. It takes a long time to prepare these products, and I prepared them two days ago,” she said.

Sahin says she focuses on giving people the best experience with the workshop, and that includes using the best materials, like paints made from natural pigments.

“Every material is special,” she said.

“That’s why I couldn’t buy in Canada, I brought everything from Turkey.”

Rhonda Findley, who took part in the workshop, says she could see the appeal of marbling.

“It just kind of lays on the top, you make your designs, and so when you’re happy with what you’ve got you lay the paper on top and very, very gently pull it out,” said Findley.

“It’s fascinating, I could see this becoming addictive.”

The workshop will take place at the Craig Gallery every Sunday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. until Feb. 15.

Registration can be done on the Alderney Landing website.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page