From paper marbling to pewtersmithing, Airbnb’s craft days are to dye for
Try your hand at an endangered British craft at a workshop by the Heritage Crafts Association and Airbnb
BEING a bit bonkers is all part of the job description for most art teachers.
Mine, an eccentric old magpie, would steal our best attempts at artwork, hoarding them in a home that must have quickly become the world's most naff art gallery.
So, attending my first art class since school, I was leery of what to expect.
Using Airbnb, I'd booked on to a paper-marbling class at Cockpit Arts in Greenwich.
The travel website, which sells experiences as well as accommodation, has partnered with the Heritage Crafts Association to promote workshops on traditional British crafts that are dying out.
The activities, run by master craftspeople, read like job descriptions from a Game of Thrones book. They include a pewtersmith, spoon-carver, wheelwright, weaver, paper marbler and tassel maker - all titles on a "critically endangered" list.
Thankfully, unlike my secondary-school art teacher, the lovely Lucy McGrath is a paper marbler who still has all her marbles.
The 30-year-old artisan talked us through the history of the craft before showing our class of eight how to make our own retro, patterned paper.
Paper marbling, she explained, began in Japan before travelling along the silk road to Turkey, then on to Venice and finally the rest of Europe.
Originally a book binder, Lucy hopes to open the ancient skill up to a younger audience.
She said: "I'm trying to move away from the association with dusty old books. I use vivid colours, like pinks and yellows, and always add some metallic paints."
Patterns are created by pouring paint on to a shallow tray of water. Like oil on a puddle, it settles on the surface as you build it up, layer by layer.
The soothing but addictive process meant our three-hour session flew by.
Included in the price, Lucy posted our prints to us, along with a notebook bound with our favourite design. And all without stealing a single page!
Airbnb's Heritage Crafts Association courses are from £45pp. See airbnb.co.uk/ wishlists/387625470. Check out Lucy's marbling work at marmorpaperie.co.uk.