She trained at the École du Louvre, he trained at the Beaux-Arts. Juliette Paillou and Guillaume Scoazec-Etcheverry are a couple of artists who “were looking to escape Paris”. In 2020, they bought an old carpentry near Royan, precisely in Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan (Charente-Maritime), which they transformed into an art workshop. In this vast space bathed in natural light, they practice, among other things, ebrû, or marbled paper, a technique founded in the 15th century in Turkey and classified as a UNESCO intangible world heritage site in 2014.
Used in particular for book bindings, it consists of… painting on water. “We fill a tank with a liquid mixture, composed of water and algae, which infuses for 24 hours. This viscous water provides a fatty substance, which will give a cellular appearance. Then we spray paint pigments onto it using special brushes before transferring the patterns onto paper. It’s easy to understand, but there are gestures to have,” describes Guillaume Scoazec-Etcheverry.
“We must tame chance”
The result is a unique piece of colored paper with varied patterns. This know-how was taught to them orally in Paris by Baykul Baris Yilmaz, trick art master. “He is the only reference marbler in France,” explains Juliette Paillou. Little practiced in France, this technique is nevertheless experiencing “a new craze at the moment. We are few in number, but we are not the only ones to have been trained. Here we try to break down this old technique, dust it off, make it more refreshing with our art prints, our handmade wallpapers or even our textile prints,” underlines the artist.
The duo likes the “large element of randomness” of the ebrû. “We work with liquid matter, we have to tame chance. There is always a magical side! It was really a form of abstract art before its time,” adds Juliette Paillou. Her partner praises the “very soothing” aspect of this technique, which according to him also offers the advantage of “giving a result right away. » From spring to the end of autumn, one and a half hour initiations are organized in their workshop, accessible to everyone, from 8 years old. “It works well, we have people who come from very far away,” assures Guillaume.