Day 4.....continued

Ok, last night I was searching around on the web....looking for something creative to inspire me.  I love doing my hats.....everyone of them is different.  But, it seems like it is the same thing over and over, just different fabric or different colors. So....I went to http://www.dharmatrading.com/ to look thru thier catolog.  I was wanting to order some dye to color the white hats I ordered last week.  I came across the marbiling section......it took me back to my college years.  We did this project working with floating paint and size.  It was a blast.  I still have the marbled papers we did.  I love to paint!!!  This combines my love for painting and my love for coming up with creative things to wear...of all ages.  Then I came across the section on batiking.  I love this idea!!!  I love both..........so..........I am going to blend my hat making with Marbling and Batiking!! See what happens.  I did order some blanks for me to try new things on!!!
I am excited - my head is whirling with ideas!

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History of Marbling:
Marbling originated in Japan in around the twelfth century. Some believe it was discovered by accident by someone in the Japanese imperial family who submerged sumi ink paintings in water, watched the inks float to the surface, then put a piece of paper on the floating ink, lifted it up and preserved the image. This technique was termed suminagashi, or "ink floating."




Another type of marbling, Ebru , Turkish for "cloud art," originated in Turkey, Persia and India in the fifteenth century. The Turkish marblers used thickened water, which was similar to the marbling solutions of today. So, detailed combed and flowing designs were possible.



During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries marbling spread to Europe, but the trade secrets were kept that way by only a handful of people. They named patterns after their countries: i.e., Old Dutch, French Curl, and Italian Hair Vein, which are still used today. Apprentice marblers were taught only one step of the marbling process, and some were actually forced to work behind wooden partitions to keep the other workers hidden. Most marbling was used for decorative bookbinding.



Finally, in 1853, an Englishman, Charles Woolnough, revealed the secret in his book The Art of Marbling. Two years later, Josef Halfer of Budapest published Die Fortschritte der Marmorierkunst, which was translated into many languages and came to the United States as The Progress of the Marbling Art, which redefined and simplified the marbling process and created a growth spurt of marbling in Europe and the U.S.



By the time bookbinders got their hands on these coveted recipes, book production had become automated with machines and fine craftsmanship was not valued over high volume. Marbling became much less popular until the 1970’s, when crafts and handmade books emerged and helped renew this old art form.



Today, marbling is going strong with thousands of masters who explore and revitalize the traditional methods, bringing new ideas to this wonderful form of expression.

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History of Batik:
Even though its exact history is uncertain, fragments of batik’s projected origin dates back to the first century where it was discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs. Evidence of early Batik has also been found all over the Middle East, in India, Central Asia and Africa. By the nineteenth century, after the importation of more finely woven cloth from India and Europe, it became a highly accomplished art form in Java and Bali in Indonesia. Recognizable motifs, patterns and colors were developed and designed to identify one’s family, social status and geographic origin. Some experts feel that it was originally reserved for Javanese royalty on that island, and possibly a pass time of the princesses and noble ladies of the time. The word Batik seems to come from an Indonesian word 'ambatik', a cloth with little dots. In the seventeenth century as the world grew smaller, batiking was introduced to Holland and other parts of Europe. In the early 1900’s, batik fabrics became very fashionable in Germany. Later on, Europeans and Americans traveling and living in the East rediscovered the ancient process and brought it back to their homelands. Today, art schools across the United States offer batik courses as part of their textile curricula.