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Designer Florence Saumarez – who is using traditional techniques to breathe new life into the endangered craft of marbling and specialises in handmade papers and products at her Bath-based design firm Inq
Florence Saumarez shares the magical process used to create her unique hand-marbled papers
Tell us about your background.
I have a degree in architecture, which gave me some fantastic training in aspirational thinking. Strangely, I emerged knowing very little about how to construct a building but a good deal about design and concept development. Since then, I’ve been a maker of one sort or another.
Where do you seek inspiration?
Aside from the bottomless pond of colour and beauty that is Instagram, I don’t consciously look for inspiration, although going anywhere with an eager eye will always be rewarding. Often a piece of clothing or a painting will make me want to experiment with new colour palettes, or I will see something incorrectly out of the corner of my eye and it will give me an idea for something entirely different.
What techniques, materials and equipment do you use?
I use largely the same materials that have been employed in marbling for hundreds of years. I flick droplets of paint into a metal tank containing carrageen fluid. The carrageen comes from an Irish seaweed and when diluted forms a thin gel that holds the paint on the surface. I manipulate the paint into patterns and lay paper on the surface of the tank to capture the print. It is quite magical and every piece produced is unique.
Can you describe your studio?
My studio is in a little mews building in the centre of Bath, about a fourminute walk from my front door. One side of it is wet and splattered with paint; my tank, spray booth, hanging rail and pots of colours are along this wall. The other side is dry and clean and here I store my blank papers, guillotine, foil press and tools. At the end of the room is a double plans chest, where I keep my marbled papers and make up my shades.
What’s a typical day like for you?
My weeks are lacking in routine at the moment as I’m dividing my time between my work for 8 Holland Street in Bath, developing products for Inq, building our new home from a barn, and a bit of parenting on the side! I’m in a busy phase of life, but I’m dreaming of the highly efficient routine that one day will be mine!
What’s been the biggest success story of your business so far?
That’s hard to answer as I feel I’m still on the starting line. I’ve enjoyed some wonderful collaborations and licensing projects, and my paperweights are about to be stocked in Liberty, which is a great honour.
And the most challenging aspect?
My biggest struggle as a creative business person is that I’m a people pleaser. This is not pleasing to me at all. I allow myself to be steered off course in order to meet others’ wishes; I need to work on sticking to my path.
What’s in the pipeline for this year?
Projects involving digitally printed marbled wallpaper along with plaster lamps and mirrors. My marbled lampshade range will be returning alongside bold screen-printed designs. I’m always plotting and scheming – so there is no shortage of ideas, just a shortage of days.
Any advice for people who want to pursue a career as a designer?
I’d recommend not taking business advice from me! I simply do what I enjoy and thankfully the things I make are appreciated, but I don’t think that adds up to much of a business plan.
Did you have a career plan B?
Being a designer is my plan B. I wanted to train in medicine but my parents were against it and in a weak moment, I relented and applied to study architecture. I’m enjoying my career and by my bed is a stack of books on neurosurgery and pathology, so I live my other life vicariously.
@inq.ink | inq.ink
“THIS YEAR, MY MARBLED LAMPSHADES WILL BE RETURNING, ALONGSIDE SCREENPRINTED DESIGNS. THERE IS NO SHORTAGE
OF IDEAS, JUST A SHORTAGE OF DAYS”