Hanji Photographic Collection 2012 ....

Well I've almost completed my 'Photographic collection' of boxes, they're all ready to be varnished.

I've combined my love of photography with my love of Hanji and come up with something that I think is pretty unique.

For this first collection I've made all the boxes the same size but they could be made in any size and that would open up all sorts of possibilities for doing Hanji in the future.

You could make memory boxes for people you love and present them as a gift, you could make gifts to give away at weddings with the couples picture on them or you could just use your favourite travel photographs placed on a box to remind you of a special trip.

I've done one set in sepia, because personally I love the effect of the muted tones as it gives a timeless, classic look and the second set is done in colour with the photos complemented with matching coloured papers. All of the photographs were taken during my stay in Korea.

The photos were printed onto a special handmade paper and then used during the making of the boxes, just as any other Hanji paper.

I hope you like the new collection .........

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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 a...

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HANJI TRIVIA - Punjabi 'Hanji' .......

When researching about Hanji I've come across many sites that relate to the word 'hanji' being used in Punjabi, one of the Indian languages. There's a band called 'Cornershop' that made a CD in 1997 called, "When I was Born for the Seventh Time' and at the beginning of the song, which I believe was originally sung in Punjabi, they use the word Hanji. In Punjabi both 'han' and 'ji' mean yes. When talking informally to a person they use 'han' but if speaking to an elder or a person with a superior status then they put the two words together and say 'hanji'. You just never know when this word might be used ......

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