I have been involved in some sort of creative pursuit my whole life! My formal art training includes a B.F.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. I have also taken courses at Edinburgh College of Art in Edinburgh, Scotland and Ringling College of Art in Sarasota, Florida. For over ten years I worked as a graphic artist during the day pursuing a variety of artistic directions during my free time. While I appreciate the opportunity to receive formal art training, most of my art education comes from exploration sprinkled with a healthy dose of trial and error!

My latest marbled painting exploration started a few of years ago when I was looking for something new to rev up my creativity. And boy did it ever! There is what I call a traditional approach to marbling, which involves following concise directions that have been used for many years. And then there is the old "let’s-see-what-happens-when-I-try-this" approach. I prefer the latter and have come to amaze myself with the magically exciting results that spring forth comprised of layers of bright colors, design and patterns.

For a long while I have been agog over the art of quilting. My first project using my marbled fabrics was to make a wall quilt. Alas, my sewing skills have not advanced since that seventh grade home economics sewing class! The quilt is hanging there and looks pretty, if you don’t look too close. I rapidly realized I needed to find another way to display these magical pieces of cloth. Through my old trusty trial and lots of error methods, I eventually stumbled onto using gloss medium to laminate my marbled cloth onto stretched canvases. Soon I realized I could cut up different pieces of cloth to bring the contemporary quilting design approach to my pieces. The gloss medium over the fabric turns out to be an added bonus as it really intensifies the fabric’s color and design.

Finding the Dharma web site was a lifesaver for me! I use many of their recommended marbling products. Their methocel and alum are excellent and I have experimented with many of the acrylic paints that they recommend for marbling. Recently, I started marbling on Dharma's silk scarves. I was delighted with their quality and how well they accepted the paint.

Barb Loney
http://www.bloneyart.com