Bamboo, textures, Korean shapes and a tray .....

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 lined with a low wall that has the typical upturned Korean roof tiles on top and tall bamboo mixed in with the other leafy green trees.

I've always loved this photo because it not only reminds me of that wonderful place but also I see textures in it that incorporate typical Korean lines and yet they flow and they are softened by the bamboo and other leafy trees.

It never occurred to me when this photo was taken that I'd ever use it as an inspiration for a hanji piece but years later it's played a part in a my creative puzzle.

During my recent trip to Seoul I found this amazing Hanji paper that looks like leather. I've never seen any Hanji paper like it before and I felt so excited to be able to purchase a few sheets of this paper that is so unique. I then needed to decide what I was going to do with it and as often happens, ideas just evolved.

I wanted to combine organic textures, natural products , Korean shapes and bamboo. I used 3 layers of 3mm thick cardboard and glued them together then I turned up the edges to give it the Korean roof shape.

I then placed 2 thinner cardboard strips of 2 layers of cardboard underneath to make them into a stand for the tray. I covered the top of the tray with the textured paper, the ends with a mustard Korean linen to give the handles a good grip and the base in black.

I finished it off with a bamboo cutout and lacquered so there you have it, a unique Hanji tray inspired by nature, bamboo, textures and a photograph.

Comments

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 and its traditional religions. In both Confucianism and Buddhism

The Buddhist symbol, Hanji & Korean culture ....

When selecting designs for my Hanji pieces I tend to make stylistic choices as to what will look best on each piece but the Korean designs all have very deep symbolic meanings. None more than the Buddhist swastika (manja) design. ‘Manja’ (만, Man is “卍” and 만자, Manja literally means “letter Man”) is also called Srivatsalksana in Sanskrit. It is one of the thirty-two (32) marks of excellence of the Buddha and is said to exist on his hands, feet, hair and waist. For those of us in the West this is often confused with the German Nazi swastika symbol but in fact it's been around for about three thousand years. The swastika is an equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles and all in the same direction, usually to the right, or clockwise. It's a symbol of prosperity and good fortune and it originally represented the revolving sun, fire, or life. The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit swastika which means, "conducive to well

Online Hanji paper store, in English .....

I'm really pleased to be able to share with you this website where you can order a variety of Hanji papers from Korea and it's all in English !!! The store is based in Daejon, Korea. HAMINBRIDGE ( Thehanji ) was established by Moonyang Park in 1983. It's a family owned 2nd generation business and they have a factory in Junju. They also have a factory in China where some of the paper is made. The website is at www. thehanji.com and it provides a selection of specialty Hanji paper (Korean paper) and products. I ordered some papers from them recently to see what it was like and they were extremely efficient in dealing with the order and it was here in the UAE within 5 days so I was really impressed. The prices were good and they even have some on special, the paper is beautiful and the ease of ordering was amazing. They do sell rolls of paper, traditional papers and lanterns but overall I did think the range was a bit limited for what I wa

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