Hanji Happenings

How lucky am I !!  When the grandchildren come to visit they love getting up into my Hanji (Craft) room and making things.  I usually have some small kits they can put together and they love creating in a room especially designed for craft with everything on hand.             Last week I received a lovely surprise from Isaac, my six year old grandson. He loves drawing and doing craft with me so he drew a picture of us both working together in my Hanji room.  I'm sitting on a chair next to a green table and he's sitting next to me doing his craft work. When he and his sister visited us in the UAE last year they made a small Hanji pot each and he  decorated his with cut out soccer balls. He loves it and keeps it on his desk at home to keep his pens and pencils in one place.         His picture is precious and it just goes to show how special it is to ...

Just to update you all, I really haven't fallen off the edge of the planet !! I think this has been the longest break I've taken over the last 4 years, from writing my Hanji blog but, my Hanji interests are very much still alive and well. Since my return to Adelaide I've realized that I needed to take a step back from Hanji for a few months to decide exactly what direction I'd like my business to take during 2015 and beyond. Sometimes it's good to take time to reflect on what is important to us and certainly having  time back here in Australia with my family and friends, is one of them and setting up my Hanji business is another.  If it's of any help to those in similar situations, here are just a few of the lessons I've learnt over the last few months: 1) I've found that I can't just continue  where I left off in the UAE but instead, I need time to build local networks. (As I'm sure you're aware, doing Hanji outside of Kore...

Well here I am sitting at my computer in my Hanji room in Adelaide.  Joy for joy! I'm surrounded by all my lovely Hanji papers, cardboard, books, tools, worktables and, with a project underway I couldn't be happier. My computer and printer are now working so it's time to do a blog post after what seems like such a long break. It's been a while since I've had my Hanji things around me and have had a daily routine of creativity in my life. Its been 4 months and in that time Ron and I've packed up our 2 storey house in the UAE, including my studio full of all things Hanji, moved across the other side of the world back to Australia, organised and overseen the workmen to get our house in Adelaide renovated, unpacked around 280 boxes and had to find places for everything in a smaller, but very lovely townhouse.  We keep saying that we need to downsize as we get older and we've certainly achieved that with our new dwelling but it's all the th...

Over the last 15 years I've been fortunate enough to have traveled to many different countries with a wide variety of cultures, history and traditions.  I've lived in 3 of those countries for reasonable lengths of time and many people have asked the question, "Which is your favourite?" I ask, "How am I expected to answer that when each has had it's own unique attractions and influences on my life?"  Let me first define attractions, 'the action or power of evoking interest in or liking for someone or something'. These aren't necessarily only on the outside, which  most tourists get a glimpse of,  but when you're fortunate enough to live in a country for any length of time you soon find out that they each have many depths of character (colours) which include the geographical, architectural, cultural, societal, and religious aspects as well. This depth of character is what the country is really all about.               ...

Sadly I'll be leaving the UAE in a few weeks time to settle back in Australia. It's going to be a huge move for my husband and I after an absence of nearly 15 years from our homeland but one that I'm looking forward to as I'm reunited with my family and I start a new chapter of teaching and learning Hanji back in Adelaide, Australia. Sue Fine, Anna Bailey, Diana Johnson, Monica Sturgess, Tricia O'Shea, myself, Christina & Arlette Van Veerdegem Over the last few months here in RAK, and with the last of the Hanji classes  winding down, the students  had been thinking of what to do to as a final farewell before I leave.  Diana piped up with, 'Why don't we have a Hanji Exhibition?'. I thought about it  and very quickly decided that there couldn't be any better  way to celebrate the classes than by getting everyone together and showcasing the students' amazing achievements.    I ran it past a few people and they were excited at the id...

We all have people who inspire us, some closer to us than others but some, you just can't forget. A dear Korean friend of mine, Monica, gave me this tiny paper replica of a Korean Hanbok, delicately made by her out of scraps of Hanji paper many years ago and to this day it sits proudly on my pin board in my Hanji Studio as  a special reminder  of a lady who first helped me discover Hanji.  It's just one of those little things you can't throw away. When Ron and I first arrived in Korea in the year 2000 it was a time filled with excitement for  us both and especially for me as an Australian who'd been brought up in a country with a mere 250 year history and who was now being given the opportunity to live and work in  this rich culture with traditions dating back many thousands of years.   Once the initial excitement  of our move overseas had died down and the reality set in we initially found it quite challenging living and...

Luana Rubin, Pam Holland and myself Well I have finally stopped travelling for a while and I now plan on having more time to devote to myself, my family and to Hanji. I've been fortunate enough to have spent the last 3 months travelling throughout Europe, on holiday with my husband, then back to Australia to spend time with my three children and their families and on Saturday I returned from a 2 week trip to India with my sister, Pam Holland, and her friend, Luana Rubin. I have so many fresh ideas for what I'd like to achieve in the next few years that I'm feeling quite excited at what the future holds for myself and my love of Hanji. Before travelling I was wondering how I'd cope being away from my Hanji studio for such a long time and not being able to create something tangible everyday but in heinsight, I think it's done the soul good to redirect my energies and to can come back to what I love best, afresh and renewed. During my tr...

I'm always looking for places to put my spare rolls of hanji paper so now I have the answer to this problem.  For years I've had an umbrella stand sitting in my  entranceway and as we don't have any large umbrellas  here in the UAE because it seldom rains and when it does, no one seems to mind getting wet.  Until recently it was filled with all sorts of odds and  ends including squash raquets,  old rolls of wallpaper and shopping bags as well as hats.  I've commandeered it and now it sits nicely in my studio.  I've been designing another one for my upcoming class  and this time it's going to be for my daughter Laura. It's designed as an umbrella stand or a tall pot but it could have a variety of uses.  This one is more contempory with cats chasing the butterflies over a yellow background.  I've used two layers of paper on the pot, firstly a yellow then a very fine off white paper to give it more texture and to smo...