Lucy McGrath

Marmor Paperie

Marbler

©James Winspear

©Jamie Trounce

Making art in water

Lucy follows the processes of Turkish marbling
Water is thickened with a seaweed known as Irish moss
Acrylic paint is applied to the liquid and manipulated into patterns

Always creative, Londoner Lucy McGrath initially wanted to become an illustrator, but during her time at Brighton University she realised it wasn’t for her. “It just didn’t click with me. What did click with me was making things,” she says. The university had a bindery, and she became fascinated with binding her own sketches into books. Later, while on holiday in Turkey, she took a workshop on Turkish paper marbling and fell in love with it. These two passions have come together in her own business, Marmor Paperie, which sees Lucy making her own marbled papers and using them to create bound notebooks, guestbooks and other products. As one of the few marblers in the UK, Lucy aims to show that this ancient craft can used in a thoroughly contemporary way.

Interview

©James Winspear

What do you love about marbling?: You can’t really control it, you can only guide it and nudge it and the marbling water does the work. I really love that, it’s so freeing. It can be frustrating if you are trying to achieve a particular thing, but it’s nice just to be open to what’s going to happen. A lot of my colourways have happened by accident.
Does it feel important to continue a rare craft?: Definitely. One of the reasons I do twice monthly workshops is to pass on the skills. If I hadn’t gone to Turkey and tried out a workshop I wouldn’t have started marbling, so I like to think that someone might find their way to my workshop and then become a marbler.
What's great about teaching marbling?: People turn into the child versions of themselves when they get a brush in their hands and I really like how excited they get. A lot of people that come to my workshops don’t have a creative background, but they discover that maybe they are creative, and that it’s really fun to mess around with colours.
What’s the key to the future of marbling?: I really love experimenting, particularly with materials, making ceramic things and using cork fabric and wood. I think that’s going to be the future of marbling, taking a step away from books and publishing and towards beautiful objects, furniture and decorative items.

Lucy McGrath is a master artisan: she began her career in 2015 and she started teaching in 2017