Marmorino

Franco Saladino is a master plasterer from Italy. He came to the US for a week to do a plaster workshop in October. The students at ACBA were lucky enough to be able to work with him for a few days. Franco specializes in marmorino. Marmorino is a very fine plaster covering for walls. It’s made from ground up marble which creates a very fine powder to give it a slight shimmer to its final appearance. I loved having the privilege of working with Franco. He is so passionate about his work and that reflects in his products and his teachings. It was hard working with a language barrier but that made me appreciate my work more because it showed me how much I was able to learn by basic directions and a demonstration.

This is me putting on my first coat of marmorno. After Franco told Giovanna, his daughter, what to tell me, she translated it and was telling me to sharpen the angle of the trowel that I was holding. 

This is the final product of my section of the wall. 

There were a lot of steps to do the marmorino. There needs to be a clean and flat surface for the marmorino. Using a stainless steel trowel, the material should be applied in thin and random strokes. After the material is thin enough and evenly spread, you can take the clean trowel and run it along at a sharp angle to remove any bumps or scratches. This needs to be done while the plaster is still moist. After the base coat is polished, another coat should be added using the same technique from the first coat. After that coat is finished, it needs to be smoothed and polished using the trowel. Finally it needs to be brushed over in even, long streaks to give it shine and a smooth finish.