Hello, I'm Rachel Maiden and I am the artist and owner of Maiden Marbling. 

I live in Chester, Cheshire and I work as a designer and producer of marbled papers and textiles. I work in a small studio at my home, of which I am steadily growing out of!

I didn't really consider an art & design business until a chance meeting with a bookbinder. My earlier education at art college focused on design with my interest lying in textile and surface design. After raising a family and moving on from my work in primary education, I spent some time assisting in a bindery. Stumbling across the old books I discovered the marbled covers and end papers. I was fascinated and marvelled at this traditional craft which dates back to the 12th Century. I have always been happiest when my hands are creating and had felt that my artistic side had been pushed to the wayside. Finding myself in the right place at the right time I set out to master paper marbling. Discovering very quickly that there were very few practising marblers or books on the subject, I realised that in part I would have to teach myself. For a while I was just researching how I would begin, but soon I was practising with hundreds of sheets of paper and at first this was from my kitchen table! You can imagine how much paint and mess there was, my family were very patient! I took some courses, one being with an established practising U.K marbler and began working in a studio at home. 

A number of years on, I now produce designs and licences for publishers, graphic designers, interior designers, as well as artists and craft makers who require bespoke original papers and textiles to be incorporated into their work.

I have been marbling for about 7 years, producing traditional paper, creating art and designing for projects.  My history and interest in education, also extends to my work, and I occasionally host both one-to one and group marbling workshops. Historically, marblers were very secretive about their work, but I am keen to share this wonderful craft with others who are interested in learning it. Marbled paper is still used today in book-binding but the traditional methods of producing it can be applied to many more surfaces such as fabric, leather and wood. 

Take a look at some past workshops, and don't hesitate to get in touch if you are interested in marbled papers, a marbled project or attending a workshop. I also encourage you to have look at my photos from recent projects to understand a bit more about how marbled paper & textiles can be applied in a variety of ways.