Meanwhile

While I was occupied with the epic commission project for Moen I was also quite busy with my own side projects. At the time It was unable to share, but now I have the time to do a recap.


Be aware of now.

I was actually just finishing this project when the Moen gig started. However this is the first time I am able to talk about it.

My intention was to create an image of a monk praying with his Mala(prayer beads) and opening his third eye. But first I had to stretch a screen.



Then I started by cleaning up a sketch on the computer. I printed it out then I outlined the image on to the screen I stretched.



Painting in the design on the screen took a couple weeks. But before I knew it I was ready to print.


Give it a pull.

Once again I combined layers of masked marbling with screen printing to achieve my finished look. But this time around I went one step beyond. I used liquid frisket to paint a lotus design that would reveal itself through the layers of marbling without the outline of a screen print to define it. This was my first attempt at utilizing hand painted frisket instead of hand cut paper masks. In the end I am ecstatic with the results.


Peace comes from within.

Many times I find myself creating small projects to break up the bigger projects. So while I was creating intense amounts of blue paper for Moen I was also knocking out little pieces for local group art shows.


Bill Murray Show, at Good Gallery.


Bling Show, at Splendaporium Gallery.

I even broke new ground by starting to marble old vinyl records. I marbled a small stack of vinyl and painted Mudra hands on a couple of them with acrylic paint.


Vinyl Show, at Future Shock.

Creating and showing artwork wasn't all I was up to.

I also hosted two sold out ebru workshops.


Paper Marbling at the Loaded Brush.

The first workshop was a paper class. It was a blast as usual.

The second workshop was a silk scarf class. I had four full scarf sized trays in operation at this workshop. Thats a lot of liquid size.


Silk Marbling at the Loaded Brush.


More silk Marbling at the Loaded Brush.

So that about sums up my hectic fall/winter. I am just now starting to catch back up with the world. I will be starting new projects soon, and I have a couple more workshops on the horizon.

In Other News
----Workshops----

I have my second paper marbling workshop at the Spark Arts Center in NE Portland, Oregon. Coming up on February 13th 7-9pm. We will be hand marbling paper to the theme of Valintines Day while enjoying sips of wine. It's a date!
*sign-up for workshops in advance.

I also have a paper marbling workshop coming up on March 15th at the Loaded Brush in SE Portland, Oregon. It will be fun for all!.

Are you interested in commissioning custom art or booking an ebru lesson, workshop, demo, party, or performance? Contact me at art@dannyebru.com

Peace & Love,
- Danny

September Slam

I have come to notice that every September I get really busy. This year seems to follow suit.

I started the month with an instal at the 77 Salon in the Pearl Art District of Portland, Oregon. My Ebru art will be there for the Month of September. I also helped Chelsea Rose hang her solo art show at Future Shock. We decided to displayed all her collaborative art pieces too, including the piece she made with me.


Our piece is in the middle, "Wormhole".

Once I was done with hanging art around town I switched focus to workshops.

I hosted an advanced ebru workshop for a small group of Oregon based paper marblers. I passed on techniques like the Spanish wave, the ripple, and the drag, along with some other tricks that I favor when in the studio.


Fresh papers drying on the line.


The group hard at work.


Contemplating the possibilities.

The advanced class was fun, but the fun was just beginning, because a couple days later I held a workshop at OMSI(Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) during the 2014 Mini Maker Faire. The Mini Maker Faire brings in kids of all ages to get hands-on with all sorts of DIY projects. I enjoyed introducing paper marbling to some of the Mini DIY enthusiast.


Started the workshop with a group demo


Then I let the kids play.


Helping the little ones.


Dapper Maker cat 2014.

While at the Mini Maker Faire I was visited by Oregon's Marbling bigwig, Peggy Skycraft. We had fun talking shop and comparing methods. Maybe we will get together and do a project in the future.


Marblers unite.

I still have one more workshop to go this month. Next week I will be teaching at the Loaded Brush. We will be marbling silk scarves on September 21st, 2-5pm. We made a short video mash-up of me doing some ebru designs at the Loaded Brush to help entice people into giving this ancient artform a try.


Caught in the act.

If your interested in a workshop at the Loaded Brush, follow this link.

----Workshops----

I have a silk marbling workshop coming up on September 21st at the Loaded Brush in SE Portland, Oregon. We will be hand marbling silk scarves and sipping wine.

I have a beginners adult paper marbling workshop coming up on October 24th at the Spark Arts Center in NE Portland, Oregon. 7-9pm We will be hand marbling paper and book pages while enjoying a sip of wine.
*sign-up for workshops in advance.

Are you interested in booking an ebru lesson, workshop, demo, party, or performance? Contact me at art@dannyebru.com

Peace & Love,
- Danny

Seriously Strange Spirals

I have been on a major spiral kick lately.
I'm having far too much fun in the process.


A vibrant bold triple spiral.


Doubling up to the hexagonal spiral.

Playing with spirals isn't all fun. The hard part is making all the spirals look unique, not repetitive. Color and design go along way to add distinction among the spirals.


A hint of 3D in this one.


Down the rabbit hole we go!

As you can tell, I still jump at the chance to create optical illusions. Nothing is what it seems. Trust not your eyes.


The rainbow bridge, Antahkarana.

No spiral collection is complete without an illustration of the Golden Ratio. Known as the Golden spiral, or fibonacci numbers, my rendition leans more toward an abstract image, but keeps true to the 1/1.61 sequence.


Mystic golden spiral.

----Workshops----

I will be hosting an all ages workshop at the OMSI Maker Faire this September 14th at OMSI in SE Portland, Oregon. We will be hand marbling paper and bookmarks.

I have a silk marbling workshop coming up on September 21st at the Loaded Brush in SE Portland, Oregon. We will be hand marbling silk scarves and sipping wine.

I have a beginners adult paper marbling workshop coming up on October 24th at the Spark Arts Center in NE Portland, Oregon. 7-9pm We will be hand marbling paper and book pages while enjoying a sip of wine.
*sign-up for workshops in advance.

Are you interested in booking an ebru lesson, workshop, demo, party, or performance? Contact me at art@dannyebru.com

Peace & Love,
- Danny

Busy Bee

This Spring and Summer have been super busy. But I finally have a moment to share what I have been up to.

In May I had an awesome group of people in my marbling workshop at the Loaded Brush. Everyone in the group picked up the technique quite quick and started turning out some great pieces.









I have been doing some vending whenever I can. With Summer finally showing up I was able to get out to the Last Thursday Artwalk on Alberta in Northern Portland's Alberta Arts District. Since the art walk is in danger of mayoral disruptions, I chose to do a minimal display. I managed to do pretty well despite the small set-up and looming police presence.



I have also been doing the big art and craft market around town, the Portland Saturday Market. Don't let the name fool you, I only sell at the market on Sundays.







I also recently released a new ebru video onto youtube. The camera is underneath the tray shooting up through the liquid size. I demo the first two base patterns of ebru and follow that up with a bit of a freestyle pattern.



On the 21st of June I will be hosting a live demo at the Lake Oswego Festival of Arts. Stop by and check out all the different artist Oregon has to offer, and don't forget to swing by and say hi.

Are you interested in booking an ebru workshop, demo, party, or performance? Contact me at art@dannyebru.com

Peace & Love,
- Danny

Portraits and Workshops

Lately I've been trying my hand at portraits.

I started with ebru silhouettes. A simple nostalgic design defined in ebru.


Silhouette profile portrait.


It's good for pets too.

Silhouettes are fun. I can make you a custom one too. Check out the listing in my etsy shop.

I have also been working on stencil portraits based on photos.


The lovely artist Miss Chelsea Rose.

They say all artist paint themselves. So here is a couple of my self portraits.





I can make custom portraits too. Go to my etsy shop to learn more.

- In Other News -

Marbling workshops are going great. I had a good time with the group at Catalyst in Westminster, California.





Plus there are two more workshops scheduled in the portland area that are coming up soon. I have a paper marbling class at The Loaded Brush on February 16th and a fabric marbling workshop for April 12th at The Village Gallery Of Arts.
*sign-up for workshops in advance.

Are you interested in booking an ebru lesson or workshop? Contact me at art@dannyebru.com

Peace & Love,
- Danny

Ganesh And The Flower Of Life

My latest project is a three headed Ganesh with marigolds.

I started this project in September during Ganesha Chaturthi and spent three months working on it. This is the second Ganesh design I have made. However this design is much different then the single headed full body image of my first Ganesh.


Ganesh is hailed as the mover of obstacles, patron of the arts, and protecter of the downtrodden.

The project required many steps, starting with a large ebru mono-print that covered the paper.


This freeform marbling will become the background.

While normally I save the screen printing for last, this project required a change in process. I needed to screen print at this point of the project so I could have a guide when placing the mask over the four big marigold flowers.


Marigolds are known mostly as a symbol of creativity and passion. However Marigold also helps with herbal healing, and is a botanical protector in the garden.

I glued paper cut-outs down over the screen print. Then I went back to the tray for a second layer of ebru.


The paper mask protects the covered area from the second layer of color.

I remove the mask during the rinse the paper receives after I pull it from the tray. Once the paper dries it's finished




But there is more!

I also finished a second version of the piece.

This second piece took three times longer then the first to produce. The reason being, I decided it is time to take my work up to the next level. I am attempting to do so by embellishing the second layer of ebru with a masked pattern.



I appointed the flower of life pattern for this piece. This popular sacred geometry pattern of unity contains all the fundamental forms of life.


Sri Ganesh!

- In Other News -

I have scheduled a fabric marbling workshop for April 12th 2014 at The Village Gallery Of Arts. *sign-up in advance.

Are you interested in booking an ebru lesson or workshop? Contact me at art@dannyebru.com

Peace & Love,
- Danny

Triangle Time

Take a look at some recent work of mine. It looks like my latest trend is triangles.

This first piece is my favorite of the year so far for two reasons. One, I love optical illusions. Two, the ebru came out nice and clean with lots of contrast.


Handmade psychedelic 3D illusion.

The impossible triangle is made up of four separate ebru prints on this one piece of paper.


not so impossible after all.

This next piece is made of triangles linked together to form a tetrahedron knot design. This piece has a natural glow to the warm colors, and a dark velvet feel to the cool colors. The ebru patterns used are rather simple, but rich contrast of color really draws me in.


How many triangles do you see?

This third piece is covered in triangles. Although the focus of the piece is really on the abstract ebru-scape background. The idea behind this piece is based on old cottage window designs, and the amazing fictional landscape outside my window.


Window with a view?

- In Other News -

I recently had the pleasure of hosting a workshop at a new facility, The Loaded Brush, in SE Portland. It was a beginners workshop that started out with paper marbling and evolved into canvas marbling. The workshops went so well we are arranging more for 2014.


Widening the circle.

Interested in booking an ebru lesson or workshop? Contact me at art@dannyebru.com

Peace & Love,
- Danny