Hanji Happenings

Since my visit to South Korea last year with my Hanji friends and seeing how cutouts are being done on laser printers, I've contemplated the thought that a mini version would be handy to use for small scale projects. I still believe that cutting out the Hanji paper by hand gives so much more satisfaction on personal pieces but, I know that there have been times when I've conducted classes and needed to cut out 20 or more small designs for others to use and thought, if only ....... I was told about a paper shop that sold cutters in different designs so I went to investigate furthur last weekend and came across what I'd been looking for. It's not a bulky, expensive, laser cutting machine, which is what I'd been looking at but, it's a cutting machine which  has a tiny blade and is small enough to fit on the side of my desk with a  connection to my computer and, it didn't break the bank.  The software has a huge range of different patterns and designs to ch...

I've finally found time in my busy work days to finish my large pot/Umbrella stand.  I've learnt so many lessons along the way and I now know what I'd do better next time and what I wouldn't do at all.  I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at using this embossed effect on articles and I'm looking forward to getting the chance to try this technique on bigger pieces of work. Details of the cutouts around the top Two quite different looking Umbrella stands

'What cardboard shall I use for the cutouts'? 'How thick should the cardboard be'? 'What knife shall I use'? 'What Hanji paper shall I cover it with'? and most importantly, 'What will it look like? These were some of the questions going through my mind as I began a new project this weekend. For many years I've been admiring  pieces of furniture in Hanji that display an embossed effect. I first saw some at the Jeonju Hanji Festival back in 2001 and I loved the subtle effect that it gives to a piece and have been curious as to to how it's done. I've also seen it in some Korean  Hanji books  and It looked so simple and so I thought it  was  time to give it a try. I'd made up a tall Umbrella stand and I decided it was a good base on which to apply this technique. The first challenge was deciding what cardboard to use for the cutouts so I went with 1mm thick and cut out the designs. This was quite a challenge to say the l...

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

The inside of the drawers I've just completed another interesting set of classes where the students have amazed me with their  creativity,  imagination in paper choices and ability to read and interpret my worksheets. Carol cutting out her base After the initial cutting out and putting together of the item the fun began.  The students decided on the colours and patterns of the Hanji paper they wanted to use for their pieces as well as the designs that were to be put on them. They always vary. Sometimes they choose darker colours that make the items look like wood, othertimes traditional patterned papers and designs and then occasionally someone chooses the bright & the bold .  I surmise that paper choices show a lot about a person's personality and moods. I know in the past I've tended to go for more subdued colours and patterns in my favourites of browns, greens and yellows but just now and again I have that urge to make somethin...

I just came across this old photo of myself and two other hanji crafters taken in the year 2000 in my tiny apartment in Andong, South Korea. It must have been taken in the very early days of learning how to do Hanji and I'm ashamed to say I don't remember the other ladies' names but I do believe that  one of them use to teach English at a local High School. I wonder if they're still doing Hanji ? I remember those days fondly when my Korean friend and neighbor Monica first  introduced a small group of us to Hanji and how do make different things out of cardboard and paper.  If she wasn't sure of what to do herself she'd get on the phone to her sister who lived in Wonju and she'd always be able to help us out. In my spare time I'd spend hours searching the backstreets of Andong and Pusan trying to find Hanji  shops and different papers for a variety of projects.  It was great to be able to wander into a shop and thumb through hundreds o...