A Centuries-Old Art Lives On In Hanapepe

Becky Wold spent most of her life searching for a place she could call home and when she put her bags down on the island of Kauai five years ago, she knew she had found it. “I was in the bookbinding business in Colorado when a friend suggested I take a marbling workshop,” says Becky. “I began marbling on books and loved it so much I tried fabric. It was beautiful.”

A program she’d set up teaching marbling in a juvenile corrections center was running well on its own. She was in her late forties and the time seemed ripe for a change. “I’d lived in Hawai’i for two years as a child and always wanted to return. The people are wonderful and Hawai’i has beaches from every Hollywood movie I adore. I love that luscious feeling of the Hawai’i air hitting your skin.” Becky set up shop in Hanapepe, and shortly after met her business and life partner, Rob Beder, a woodworker with whom she opened a gallery. Becky remains the only artist who does marbling in Hawaii and one of the few worldwide who makes a living at this centuries-old art.

Marbling, or Ebru, is the art of printing multi-colored swirling patterns on paper or fabric. Colors are floated on a liquid surface and paper or fabric placed on top, absorbing the color. Other flat-surfaced materials such as leather, tiles, and wood are sometimes used. Marbling originated in Turkey about 1,000 years ago and was used as background on documents to prevent forgery, or as decoration. The Crusaders brought it to Western Europe where it flourished in the 1600s in France and the Netherlands in family guilds that worked secretly at night to protect the art. Traditional marblers often used “combs,” sticks with needles or nails, dragging them through colors to make a pattern.

Becky’s version of the process uses local Island materials. “I mix carrageenan, a thickening agent from dried seaweed, with water,” says Becky, “and pour it into a shallow tray. Then I sprinkle colors on the surface, and the first color is pushed into little veins of color as more colors are added.”

The unfolding artwork is sometimes surprising, but .always Hawaiian “The colors of Kauai, the blues and greens with a splash of violet, the hills, the swirl of the ocean all inspire my work,” Becky says. “I never know exactly how it will turn out. Sometimes I expect colors to break up, forming a smooth surface; instead they’ll resemble shattered glass. The pattern evolves as I’m working on it. I like to do less traditional patterns sometimes using chopsticks to create a swirling or spider web-like design. Some patterns evoke Hawaiian flora, like a floral ‘lei’ across a body of green, or earth tones -- but there is a mystery to it. I go with the flow and let each piece be. It’s almost a Buddhist thing.” When the fabric, which is treated with alum to bind the colors, is added to the tray, the pattern is transferred immediately. The printed fabric is rinsed to remove the carrageenan and alum, softened in a fabric softener, dried, ironed and ready for display. The whole process can take a week.

Becky imprints her designs exclusively with silk, explaining that marbling deserves the best fabric and that silk drapes wonderfully and feels delicious when worn. Visitors love Becky’s marbled fabrics because each unique piece evokes the feel of the Islands, yet they are equally appealing at a New York opera.. “The colors blend well with different complexions, they’re a real winner,” says Rob.

In Becky’s gallery, pareos hang from the gallery ceiling on bamboo poles, or are draped over a box with Rob’s bowl, the silk folds creating a three dimensional look. “I don’t do garments as such,” says Becky, “because my fabrics are so versatile. The pareos can be wrapped around the waist as a skirt, higher up they’re a dress or shawl, at the beach a towel or blanket. The black silk ones are beautiful. I’ve had people buy the fabric and wrap it around themselves in a breathtaking way, or make an aloha shirt for a man. When I first started out, I thought of them strictly as apparel. Then customers returned, saying I used it as a tablecloth or pillow cover. One male customer stretched a large piece over canvas as wall art. It was stunning.”

Stepping into the gallery is an encounter with Becky and Rob as well as their work. “We generate a special energy; we have a story to tell,” she explains. “It’s not like going to Costco and picking up a scarf. I want people who come in here to know what marbling is, that it’s been done for centuries. People come back to see us when they return to the Islands. They want to know how we’re doing, the Island news. We become part of their trip. Last week a couple, who were here last year, came back and bought a couple of scarves. ‘He’s been talking about it since we got off the plane,’ said his wife. The first time we just talked about who we are, what we do. When somebody asks how your trip to Kauai was and you say I stopped into this really cool store, then I’m happy, whether or not you buy.”

Prices range from $40 for a scarf to $350 for a silk charmeuse. Most items come with matching marbled boxes. Anyone considering the purchase of a marbled piece by Becky must visit the gallery in Hanapepe and view the current selections. There’s no website and no mass production; each piece is labor-intensive and just keeping the gallery stocked is a full-time task. “And we want to keep it small and personal,” says Becky, underscoring the personal connection with customers that she and Rob value so much. “Each piece is contemporary art, an expression of the energy and feel of Hawaii. It’s for somebody who wants something unique, that shows they are a ‘one-of-a-kind’ person, and that will remind them of what it felt like to be in this magical place.”

Becky J. Wold,
The Art of marbling on paper and Fabric,
P.O. Box 398
Hanapepe, Hawaii 96716
(808)482-1472