‘I found my voice’: Turkish artist brings traditional water marbling art, or ebru, to Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Outside of the Mitchell Street Arts building, the sounds of the city are loud and constant.

But inside, the noise fades into something softer — brushes tapping on glasses, water gently rippling, and the quiet concentration of a woman practicing a centuries-old craft.

Vesile Yilmaz and her family came to Wisconsin years ago, originally from Istanbul, Turkey.

Now she considers herself a “modern-day caravan”, teaching the ancient art of ebru to people in southeast Wisconsin every other week.

"It's such a unique form of art, and it's quite different than what we know as art,” Yilmaz told CBS 58’s Ellie Nakamoto-White. "You just follow your intuition.”

Ebru, or traditional Turkish water marbling, dates back thousands of years to Central Asia and, according to Yilmaz, is recognized by UNESCO as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Its roots run deep — and so do the meanings behind its name.

“Eb means water, ru means surface like surface of the water, you're working on the surface of the water,” Yilmaz said. “And ebru means cloud-like because every piece you make is unique, resembles clouds in the sky.”

It starts with hand-grinding pigments that she brings back from annual trips to Turkey.

Then, Yilmaz mixes a red seaweed extract into her water bath, essentially creating a texture she describes as skim milk so that the paint can float on top.

"Marbling art is very temperamental. The air humidity, air pressure, even environmental factors, everything impacts the quality of your work,” Yilmaz said. "You cannot really give a certain formula because everything is changing. Everything is depending on external factors.”

Once everything is set to her liking, Yilmaz takes a brush made of rosewood and horse hair and dips it into the paint before lightly tapping drops of it onto the water bath’s surface.

"When you first watch the paint spread on the water, you can't believe that it's real; it looks so magical, so mesmerizing,” Yilmaz said. “It's very open-ended, it's very forgiving, it's all about the process and not the product, and it takes out the stress of creating and just lets you work with colors and paint and water.”

From there, it’s all about the imagination.

"Usually, you just get started, and then you let the water take control of the rest of the process,” Yilmaz said. “After you do it once, you get really hooked because it's so captivating.”

Once the paint is down, Yilmaz will use other special tools to draw designs on top of the water’s surface.

Then, she lays a piece of paper onto the water, and seconds later, the paint design is transferred.

"It's all about the process, embracing the unknown, and letting go of controls,” Yilmaz said.

Every other week, she teaches ebru classes at Mitchell Street Arts to spread her knowledge and culture in southeast Wisconsin.

"Creating Ebru art makes me feel like I'm in my home,” Yilmaz said. "Ebru is just like our mother tongue. When we start marbling, it just connects you, and people are curious to learn about Turkish culture and history."