Technology & worksheets ....

During my time in Korea I attended several weekly hanji workshops that lasted from around 10 weeks up to 6 months in length.

When I went to make anything the instructions were all in Korean and I relied heavily on my Korean friends to translate and to pass on the directions of the teacher.

Over the past 10 years I've developed a variety of worksheets on how to make a box, lamps and small cupboards. Each was a page or two long with a small picture and some very broad steps for instructions.

Way back then was the time I was resistant to all things 'techie' and very new to using a computer. I knew very little about where to start, the software available and it was quite difficult to produce the results I wanted.

My, how things have changed !!!

I love technology these days and love to keep up with the latest gadgets and programs, when time permits.

I've received many emails over the last few months asking for more instructions in English so I've been working on putting together some comprehensive English instructions on how to make different hanji articles. You'll be pleased to know that my computer skills have improved somewhat over the years.

It's been fun working on, constructing, photographing and writing up how I made this 3 D box (3D is just my description of it). It's one of the easiest things to make with just 5 pieces. The box was made in the colours and designs that appeal to me but you can be as creative as you like.

The worksheets now have about 5 pages and include:

1) Materials needed for the project
(once you have these you can do many different projects)

2) Instructions and sizes for cutting out the cardboard

3) Cutout designs to go on the box

4) Step by step instructions with photographs, of how to made it.

Here's a sample:

I'll soon have a place on the blog where you can buy them for a small fee and I'll be expanding the worksheets available over the next few months so if you like the idea of doing Hanji and you're wanting to try your hand at this craft this could be a way of doing it.

Comments

Lotus symbol in Korean culture .....

In traditional Korean Hanji art you can see many different designs of plants, animals, letters and insects. I'm sure you've wondered what they all symbolise as they are repeated so often and in many different ways. In this post I just want to take a brief look at the lotus plant and what it symbolises for the Korean people. I've used this design on a few articles but I never really knew the full meaning of what it represented until I started doing some research for my book. Even though many of us aren't Korean we can still use these designs and in so doing, translate a deeper meaning to our articles. Here are a just a few of my favourites from the easiest to the more difficult to cut out. The lotus flower symbolises creation, birth, liveability and reproduction and therefore it's one of the most important symbols in both Korean culture and its traditional religions. In both Confucianism and Buddhism

The Buddhist symbol, Hanji & Korean culture ....

When selecting designs for my Hanji pieces I tend to make stylistic choices as to what will look best on each piece but the Korean designs all have very deep symbolic meanings. None more than the Buddhist swastika (manja) design. ‘Manja’ (만, Man is “卍” and 만자, Manja literally means “letter Man”) is also called Srivatsalksana in Sanskrit. It is one of the thirty-two (32) marks of excellence of the Buddha and is said to exist on his hands, feet, hair and waist. For those of us in the West this is often confused with the German Nazi swastika symbol but in fact it's been around for about three thousand years. The swastika is an equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles and all in the same direction, usually to the right, or clockwise. It's a symbol of prosperity and good fortune and it originally represented the revolving sun, fire, or life. The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit swastika which means, "conducive to well

Online Hanji paper store, in English .....

I'm really pleased to be able to share with you this website where you can order a variety of Hanji papers from Korea and it's all in English !!! The store is based in Daejon, Korea. HAMINBRIDGE ( Thehanji ) was established by Moonyang Park in 1983. It's a family owned 2nd generation business and they have a factory in Junju. They also have a factory in China where some of the paper is made. The website is at www. thehanji.com and it provides a selection of specialty Hanji paper (Korean paper) and products. I ordered some papers from them recently to see what it was like and they were extremely efficient in dealing with the order and it was here in the UAE within 5 days so I was really impressed. The prices were good and they even have some on special, the paper is beautiful and the ease of ordering was amazing. They do sell rolls of paper, traditional papers and lanterns but overall I did think the range was a bit limited for what I wa

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