Another baby into the world

[Minah's samples of varied Chinese, Korean, and Japanese papers.] Last year, I proposed to Minah that we teach a hanji class together, something that would cover both artistic and conservation aspects of Korean paper and books. This weekend, the continuing education dept of NBSS hosted our very first stab at such a workshop.

We think it went great! I covered the first day, and she did the second. Today after lunch, she showed us samples of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese books, as well as prototypes that included a Mongolian manuscript and palm leaves inscribed in Tamil (to the right of the book pictured above).

Here, Minah is starting to strain paste, which I finished up for her and put into those four tiny containers, from the dollar store!

She is showing us paper twists, the way I learned to make paper nails in Korea from my hanji teacher. These get lightly pasted and hammered. Always so satisfying; brilliant way of keeping the text block together before trimming, piercing, and sewing.

We had lots of hammering and banging away today. The whole first half of today was devoted to a great presentation of images and videos on Eastern papermaking history, chemistry, and techniques. We got to handle her precious collection of paper samples before lunch, and then the books after lunch. The rest of the afternoon went to binding a traditional Korean book in the seonjang technique. To me, it seems so simple, but the subtle details (waxing and burnishing covers, folding leaves with the smooth side of the paper facing out, cover turn-ins and paste downs, etc.) are easy to dive deep into, to savor.

In the end, the result is simple, but also elegant and functional when you use the RIGHT PAPER. So it always comes back to quality hanji (though this teaching sample comes from my stash of more affordable sheets for beginners, teaching, and so on).

This is Bill's completed book. Silk thread, covers dyed with gardenia (I THINK; I don't have the handout on me) by Minah, all the hanji from Shin Hyun Se Traditional Hanji, formed webal style. I didn't shoot any pictures from my class, but hope the students feel they went home with a LOT after this packed weekend. I do!