The Ebru Sheikh

“Ebru” has long been the name given to the original Turkish art of “paper marbling” and to the “marbled” designs transferred to paper or fabric produced by Ebru artists. Classical ebru is produced in a rectangular trough filled with water mixed with a mucillagenous solution, traditionally prepared using gum tragacanth. The colors, made of natural pigments mixed with ox-gall, are sprinkled over the surface of the water with brushes made of rose stalks and horse hair.

Pins, needles, and combs are used to swirl the colors into one another, thus producing a design on the surface of the water. Paper or fabric is laid carefully on the design, and as the paper is lifted from the surface of the water, the design transfers completely to the paper. “Ebru” has been used not only for fine works of art displayed in homes and galleries worldwide, but also for backgrounds to caligraphy, borders for inscriptions, and endpapers in finely bound books.

My friend and Ebru artist  Garip Ay introduced me to this fascinating art. After graduating from Diyarbakir Fine Arts High School he graduated from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Traditional Turkish Arts Department. Besides calligraphy he majored in Ebru (marbling) as student of Hikmet Barutcugil. He was an assistant of Hikmet Barutcugil and worked in his studio from 2007 until may 2011. He has received the diploma from his ebru master in 2011. He attended several exhibitions and seminars Abroad. Also he developed several projects such as “Drawings on Barut Ebru”.
Some of his workshops are:
• 2009 Turkish Cultural Association. Malmo, Sweden
• 2009 Turkish Cultural Association. Copenhagen Denmark.
• 2010 Aramco Exhibition and Workshops. Dammam, S. Arabia.
• 2010 4. International Islamic Arts Convention. Kuwait.
• 2010 Turkish Cultural Fest. Lisbon Portugal.
• 2010 Kazan Ministry of Culture. Kazan Russia.
• 2010 Turkish Products Exhibition (ITO). Damascus, Syria.
• 2010 International Forum for Islamic Arts‏ (Kuwait)
• 2010 Emirates Palace (Abu Dhabi / UAE).
• 2010 Yetenek Sanat Evi Gallery
• 2010 Gallery Kazan Kremlin (Russia).
• 2011 Matka Tourism Fair. Helsinki, Finland.
• 2011 Turkish Products Exhibition (ITO). Tirana, Albania.
• 2011 Chicago Turkish Festival. Chicago, USA.
Some Group Exhibitions

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llLlFcq3K3U]