Hanji Happenings

Korea is calling once again.  In just under a week I'll be heading off to Korea at the invitation of a TV production team to film a one hour documentary on Hanji.  It'll be part of a series of documentaries they'll be producing featuring artists who've been influenced artistically in some way  by Korea and it's culture. I'm truly honoured by this invitation and only hope that I can do it, and Hanji,  justice. As my mind drifts back to the wonderful things I've already been privileged to see and experience in Korea  I thought that I'd share with you just 10, of the many thousands of photos  I've taken over the years , that give a tiny glimpse of the people, place and spirit of  the country.  

What inspires us to make certain Hanji pieces? For me it's often  a dormant idea in my mind and it comes out years later when certain factors all come together.                        I took this photo many years ago at Haeinsa Temple just outside Busan. I'm not Buddhist but  when we lived in Busan I use to love going up to this hugely impressive Buddhist temple  because of the serenity of the surrounding hillside and the beautiful gardens. I could sit there for hours and just take in the views, peace and tranquility of the space. The biggest downside for me was that I wasn't always that fit and the Buddhist temples are usually set high up in the mountainside and require a lot of uphill climbing before you get to see the temple and the wonderful views.  In this photo I was looking back down the long, winding path I'd just climbed and it was ...

Over this last weekend the annual Seoul Lotus Lantern Festival was held in honour of Buddha's birth. It's typically held the weekend before his birthday which is May 25th so this year it was celebrated between May 15th - 17th. Seoul Lotus Lantern Festival continues the tradition of making and hanging lanterns as symbolic offerings of light, wisdom and compassion in the Buddhist traditions. About one-quarter of Koreans are Buddhists, and the Jogye Order is Korea’s largest Buddhist sect. As the festival hosts, they  start the annual celebration at Seoul Bongeunsa temple near the COEX Conference and Exhibition Center, with an exhibition of traditional lanterns made from Korea’s traditional paper Hanji. Since it's inception in 2009 there have been some amazing displays of lanterns made by both Korean and International artists along the famous Cheonggyecheon Stream in downtown Seoul, Jogyesa Temple, Bongeunsa Temple, and the Dongguk University areas...

 2015 is shaping up to be one of my most exciting Hanji years yet. I'll be holding a Hanji exhibition here in Adelaide entitled 'Hanji - from paper to purpose', from April 3rd to 26th at Mrs Harris' Shop Gallery in Torrensville, just 10 mins from the city of Adelaide. This means a lot of work between now and then as I look forward to making some new pieces of Hanji, including a new photographic collection as well as a Traditional Korean and a modern collection. I will not only display and have for sale pieces of my Hanji but also, I'll be explaining what Hanji is all about with posters and pictures of paper making, along with hands on demonstrations and an audio visual display. As far as I'm aware this is a first for Adelaide  and I look forward to including the Korean community in this event. After the exhibition I'll be heading to South Korea to attend the Jeonju Hanji Culture festival which is expected to take place on the first week...

In the last few weeks I've finally found the time to concentrate on setting up my Hanji business.  Unrealistically I want everything to happen at once. I'd like to find a place to conduct classes and to be instantly organised so that I can get started. My mind knew that it wasn't going to happen but my heart was really hoping otherwise. Despite my slight despondency I've had an interesting and very enjoyable week of networking with some of the local artists including painters, ceramicist and print-makers  as well as meeting up with a few of my neighbors.  One of them took me to look through a local warehouse that's currently being fitted out for an Aboriginal artist to hold exhibitions in and it'll also be occupied by a print-maker who wants a part of it as her studio but unfortunately, the rest of the space is already fully taken. This area of Brompton and Bowden has so many lovely old shopfronts that are not being used so I've knocked ...

I don't normally write about any comments I get regarding my blog posts but this week I had an enlightening comment from an Artist called Tahiti Pehrson. I must admit I hadn't heard of him before  until he saw the article I posted on Psaligraphy by Karen Bit Vejle and he commented, 'Beautiful work. I had never heard that word: Psaligraphy. Had no idea I was a Psaligraphist.' I was intrigued to see what he did so I checked out his website   and found his amazing work.  "Yes, you certainly are a Psaligraphist Tahiti", although the Dictionary definition for Psaligraphy is, 'the art of cutting silhouettes out of paper' which doesn't quite seem to explain the intricacies of your work in my opinion.  Tahiti is from Northern California and his recent pieces have explored the interconnectivity between the fragility of paper and physical structures. Many of his pieces can be seen at his exhibitions in the States and the UK as well as...

Waterlily with the light on behind it Ever since I visited Korea last year I've wanted to try a new technique of making flowers out of layers of paper. With my busy schedule it didn't happen straight away but finally, nearly 18 months later, I've found the time to experiment and produce something along similar lines. I first saw these flowers in OM's studio in Seoul where she'd made some exhibition pieces, lamps, cupboards, tables etc that were covered in flowers similar to these and they were amazing. She  really inspired me therefore I needed to try making them myself.   I've just finished constructing a large metre high, 6 sided lamp and so I thought that this would be the ideal structure for adding some of these sculptured flowers. I wanted to keep the lamp decorations simple and yet stylish, decorated and yet understated and I think I've been able to achieve that. It's taken me a while to get to where I'm happy with wh...

During my recent visit to India I took the opportunity to visit Kagzi handmade paper factory in the district of Sanganer, 16 kms south of  Jaipur in the state of Rahjastan.  It's famous for it's handmade paper industry, textile printing and for Jain temples. Around 10 handmade paper industries are present in Sanganer so I was interested to see the difference between how they made paper in India and the way the Korean 'Hanji' is made. The process of manually manufacturing handmade paper, in either country, has changed very little over the centuries, despite all the advances in technologies but it's useful to note, that paper making started in Korea somewhere between 200 - 500 AD whereas it was only introduced into India in 1728. Therefore, Korea has by far a much longer history of paper making. There are generally around five steps in making paper: 1. Separating the  fiber from the rest of raw materials. (e. g. cellulose from wood, cotton, etc.) 2. Be...

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...

Cardboard cameras by Kiel Johnson. If you've ever wondered what else you can do with your left over pieces of  cardboard then take a look at these amazing cardboard cameras.  American painter and sculptor Kiel Johnson crafts meticulously stunning cardboard recreations of every kind — from vintage Polaroids to 8mm, point and shoots, twin lens and SLRs.