Ebru "Water Marbling"

In 2010 I met two beautiful women in NY. They are teaching Water marbling. Next year in January I want to attain water marbling classes. Here are some information:

The word ebru (cloud, cloudy) or abru (water face) means in Turkish the technique of paper marbling. The term is derived from the word ebre which belongs to one of the older Central Asian languages and it means the "moiré, veined fabric, paper" used for covering some manuscripts and other holy books. Its origin might ultimately hark back to China, where a document from the T'ang dynasty (618-907) mentions a process of colouring paper on water with five hues. Through the Silk Road, this art came first to Iran and picked up the name Ebru. Subsequently it moved towards Anatolia. Specimens of marbled paper in Turkish museums and private collections date back as far as the 15th century, but unfortunately there is no evidence to show at what date the art of marbling paper first appeared in Anatolia.

Around the end of 16th century, tradesmen, diplomats and travellers coming to Anatolia brought this art to Europe and after the 1550s, booklovers in Europe prized ebru which came to be known as "Turkish Paper" or "Turkish marbled paper making". In the subsequent centuries of modern times, it was broadly used in Italy, Germany, France and England.

Many specimens in European collections and in the several album amicorum books are visible today in various museums. Early texts dealing with ebru, such as Discourse on decorating paper in the Turkish manner, published in Rome in 1664 by Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), helped to disseminate knowledge of this kind of marbling art. There is agreement amongst scholars that the so-called Turkish Papers has a colourful influence on the book arts of Europe.

In the early examples from the 16th century in the Ottoman-Turkish era, ebru appears in the battal (large) form, namely without any manipulation. Interestingly, several variations developed over time, giving us types such as gelgit, tarakli, hatip, bülbül yuvasi, cicekli.