Hanji Happenings

  K- Paper (Hanji) Culture Festival   from 15 Feb - 29 Feb, 2016 at the Korean Cultural Centre, Sydney, Australia more information at info@koreanculture.org.au Ph: 02 8267 3400 15 Feb.               - Opening & Hanji Fashion Show 15 Feb - 29 Feb - Hanji Craft Exhibition 15 Feb - 16 Feb - Workshop experiences 15 Feb - 16 Feb - Paper Market I'll be there as I've been asked to be involved in the Festival, so as the only non Korean  I feel extremely privileged that they will have 5 of my pieces at the exhibition for the 2 weeks of the festival. I'm delighted and I can't help but reflect on what a wonderful way to help improve relations between Australia and South Korea by being able to appreciate the respective Cultures and their Arts. 'People can only live fully by helping others to live. When you give life to friends you truly live. Cultures can only realize their further richness...

During my recent stay in Korea I found a few books on Korean Crafts, Arts and Culture in English that I'd like to share with you. The first one is ' Treasures from Korea, Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392 - 1910 '.   This book was produced to coincide with an exhibition of the same name which started at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in the US in March 2014 and ended up at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston in January of this year. It isn't about Hanji but it does give a good insight into the life and times of this era and I was especially interested in the paintings that  are often incorporated into Hanji pieces. Here's an example:  .  'Tiger under a pine tree' printed onto Hanji paper Tiger under a pine tree used on a Hanji lamp Next is ' Korean Handicrafts - Art in Everyday life'   which is jointly published by the Korea Foundation and Seoul Selection to give  international readers a ba...

I took the opportunity of having some free time whilst in Korea to visit the N ational Museum of Seoul over the weekend and was  enthralled by its size, airiness and beautifully displayed items from both Korea and around all of Asia. There was a  special exhibition of paintings by well known Polish Artists on display but I was so engrossed in the Korean paintings and artifacts that I had to forgo that one for another day.                                     I was however very excited when I stumbled upon a painting, 'Portrait of Song Siyeol ' which was painted on silk in the 18th century. It was this portrait that I'd printed on to Hanji paper and put  onto a box that was in my recent Hanji exhibition, so to see the painting up close was amazing. This painting is considered to be one of the best ...

The City of Jeonju  annually holds the Jeonju Hanji Culture Festival along with the National Hanji Craft Contest to promote the excellence of it's paper. In 2015 it's celebrating it's 19th anniversary and I've been fortunate enough to visit  the Festival after an absence of almost 12 years.  The last time I visited was when I was living in Pusan and Teaching English as a Second Language to students at the National University. I was encouraged to make the trip  by my Korean Hanji teacher who was adamant that Jeonju Hanji was the best you could buy. Jeonju is the centre of Hanji production in Korea and the base for 50% of the domestic Hanji manufacturers, and they currently account for 80% of the Hanji production in the country.  Hanji has always been famous throughout the Orient.  It was one of Korea's top exports during the 11th Century and a lthough it's been used as long-lasting paper for over a thousand years, it's more recently bee...

As I've often mentioned, it's almost impossible to get books in English or in Korean on Hanji crafts  therefore, on my recent trip to South Korea it was one of my goals to source as many books as I could from the home of Hanji.   Over the years I've been looking both online and in book stores all over the world for any Hanji books I can find in English  and unfortunately, I've only come up with a very small selection thus far. During my trip to Seoul earlier this month it was important for me to go and check out the largest book store in Seoul, Kyobo, to see what they might have.  Finding the shop after so many years was quite easy  and the taxi driver knew exactly where to take me so once in the store I rushed up to the English counter and after some communication problems it was finally decided that there was nothing on Hanji in English. Plan A had failed but it really wasn't a total let down as I suspected this is what might happen but I guess...

Hanji Doori is a shop and it also has a great online web page(in Korean) where you can order all of their supplies.  The shop displays a large range of Hanji craft supplies and on this trip to Seoul I found it tucked away on the 3rd floor of a building in Insadong. You can  buy, papers, cutouts, molds, hardware, kits with paper, kits without paper, brushes, glues and electrical fittings for lamps. As is often the case, these shops are discovered by word of mouth amongst the expat community and I became aware of its location through the networking I was able to do at the presentation 'Hanji - After Korea' in Seoul, last week.    It was great to walk into the shop and find a lovely lady, Catherine, who spoke very good English because she had spent some time in New Zealand, and she was able to answer all my questions about Hanji.  The shop has a great range of neatly set out products and a workroom where students can take 3 months cours...

I've just returned from a very successful trip to South Korea where I was asked to give a talk titled, 'Hanji - After Korea' which was a presentation on how to continue doing Hanji once you've left and moved overseas.  At first I was quite apprehensive but I felt that I'd learnt so much myself over the last 12 years since leaving Korea that my journey was worth sharing if it was going to help others who wanted to follow in the same path.                             People are creative in different ways and expats in Korea are no exception therefore some decide to try   Hanji crafts during their stay in the country. Why? Because its different to anything they've ever done before. It looks beautiful, it's practical and it's a part of the traditional Korean experience. That can be difficult in itself as getting a Hanji teacher even in Korea, that they can communicate easily with and ask questions about...

Happy New Year everyone and may 2014 be a year of making more time for yourself and exploring your creativity !!  I 'm excited to be beginning a New Year that I know is going to be full of promise and  a year of challenges both on a personal and an artistic level. After over 13 years of studying and making Hanji craft pieces  in many different countries I'm looking forward to setting up my own Hanji art business operating here in the UAE, Australia, Korea and online.  Along with all this I've given myself the challenge of writing a book in English on Hanji arts and crafts, teaching Hanji classes as well as  continuing to develop my own creative style of the art.  Don't forget to keep checking out my  blog posts, along with browsing my website and Facebook page (please press 'like') to see what's happening in the world of Hanji in 2014.  If you know of any Hanji events, workshops or artists of interest and would like to shar...

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...

Karen Bit Vejle or Bit , as she's commonly referred to, is Danish and she's a paper cutter who explores the world of psaligraphy . It all sounds very simple doesn't it but her pieces are intricately magnificent and her works have been exhibited all over the world.   As Bit says,   'If my art can make you stop and wonder for just one instant, I think that would be wonderful'. Psaligraphy is a very slow art that is achieved with paper and a small pair of scissors.  It's a precise art where even the smallest of mistakes can  be disastrous and it's also a fine art that is linked to the past, even right back in the 1st Century when the Chinese invented paper and started cutting it before they used it for writing. The art of paper cutting is especially popular in Asia and one of the areas known to me is in Korean Hanji. In Hanji we use a small knife rather than scissors and trace over patterns but, as far as I'm aware, with psaligraphy it...

For all my Australian Hanji friends  there'll be hanji classes  held at the Sydney Korean Cultural Office in the middle of the year.  This Korean Cultural Office was e stablished in April 2011, the Year of Friendship between Australia and Korea. It was established to bring Australia and Korea even closer  in what marked the 50th anniversary of relations between the countries.   They'll be providing both Beginner & Intermediate classes  over  twelve weeks and are heavily subsided by the Korean Cultural Office.  So, if you want to learn something new this'd be a great way to do it.  You can fill in an online form on their website . When : May 7 - July 23, 2013 (12 week program) Where: Classroom @ Korean Cultural Office Cost:   Beginner $40              Intermediate $80