Hanji Happenings

On the Melbourne Korea Week program there was a fabulous fashion show by fashion designer Hanbok Lynn who'd come from Korea to showcase her beautiful hanbok creations.  They weren't made of Hanji but they were stunning.  Here's a glimpse of the creations and the details that I was able to capture.  The children were adorable...   Then there were the details ......   Beautiful .....

The Melbourne Korea Week Festival for 2016 has now come and gone.   Life has been pretty hectic since I was contacted about 3 weeks ago by the Korean Consular General's Dept. in Melbourne  and asked if I'd be interested in exhibiting some of my work and if I so wished,  selling some pieces. I was taken aback at first but thought, what a great opportunity to get more known about Hanji and to introduce the fact that this Australian lady loves doing a traditional Korean craft.  I didn't have many small pieces left in my studio so I worked really hard over the ensuing weeks to get everything done in the time frame I'd been given, and at the same time, making sure I had pieces that would travel well as I had to carry everything in my personal luggage on the plane trips over and back. I photographed everything, packed them up very carefully and I, along with Ron my trusty husband and helper, headed for Melbourne on a 6 am flight last Friday, with o...

I had another interesting experience last week when I was contacted by Hyun Ju Park from the Korean Cultural Centre in Sydney to say that SBS Radio would like to interview me re my Hanji interests.   Here in Australia  the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)  is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio, online, and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society". I was taken by surprise but I guess my interest in Hanji could have been  intriguing to the  Korean Radio audience and therefore the reporter, Clara Kim, sent me some questions that she wanted to ask and, I duly responded with my answers prior to the recording.  It seemed quite strange writing answers to questions rather than responding spontaneously but this was a little different ...

Paper and textiles ....... these words don't automatically go together and yet we are seeing more and more sophisticated fabrics being produced using a mixture of fibres, including Hanji (paper), which is producing some  stunning fashion designs.  I'm no fashion guru but I know what I like and even though I've been using Hanji for my 3 dimensional craft  I was blown away by the beautiful creations I saw recently on the catwalk at the Opening ceremony of the Hanji Festival in Sydney. Seeing the beautiful outfits being modeled defied everything I've ever thought of as paper. In the past I've purchased a few small pieces of Hanji fabric but what surprised me was the range and colours of fabrics I saw on that night.  Some of the clothes had a real silky glow and they looked soft and comfortable whilst others, although they looked a little stiffer and you could definitely tell they'd been made out of paper, they'd been beautifully crafted into wea...