Yesterday I was so lucky to find this scaffold or theatre set piece or whatever – just the perfect foundation for a giant size accordion artists´ book for my next exhibition in July.

I have always dreamed of making a book so big you can literally walk into it. Here’s my chance to actually try it!

One of the days we made a tour to Jangjibang, a traditional Korean paper mill in rural Gapyong two hours from Seongnam. It was so nice to go from the very busy and crowded urban area into the countryside – seeing rolling green hillsides and pine forests and all kinds of fruit trees blooming along the roadside.

The paper mill of Jangjibang is a small family run company handed down from father to son for three generations.

Father and sons are skilled craftsmen creating the most delicious(!) hand-made papers; varying from skin thin folios to heavy leather-like, man-size ones.

 It was a great experience to watch the process - and we even were invited to try the noble art of papermaking ourselves.

 Not at all that easy I can tell; but with the most amazingly beautiful results.

 We were encouraged to go into the garden to collect flowers and leaves for embellishing our papers – and it worked out pretty well: Randomly scattered petals embedded between two layers of ultra thin paper mass - look like pure poetry!

We also attended a small workshop of traditional 5 knot book binding – and all ended up with the cutest and very individual notebooks.

One of the professors of Hongik University served all day as our chauffeur – so after Jangjibang we went straight to visit his printing classes in Seoul. Totally well equipped departments as far as I could tell though some of the material smelled somewhat toxic… (I’m not at all sure health and environmental thinking is so integrated in the Korean print teaching syllabus as it could be… Hopefully it will become a subject in a near future).

Anyway, at the faculty of Fine Arts one teacher(?) efficiently demonstrated his skills doing one of his prints, almost like a performance, with all of us and his colleagues literally hanging over his shoulders watching.

He was preparing his first solo exhibition - so no shaking hands!

The outing ended with a delicious dinner at local restaurant.

When we left the place - totally exhausted and filled up with impressions from the day – we met a group of school boys, age 15-16, waiting for their school bus 10 o’clock in the evening!!! Normal practice we were told!

Another unforgettable day!

Oh My God – where to start and where to end…??? After 10 days surrounded by Artists´ Books, book art, paper art, book-art-artists, related artists, staff people and an incredibly enthusiastic Korean audience…

I took more than 600 photos – here´s just a taste. If you like it you find some more here

I´m back home totally drenched - but happy - about my days in Korea. With me I bring a luggage of physically 47 kilo in my suitcases (cost me a heavy overload in the airport!) as well as uncountable moments of extraordinary experiences and people in my heart.

In 10 minutes I’m off for my first Monday morning teaching – though my feet still doesn’t really touch the ground. Wonder how I’ll manage my day today.

Anyway… here’s a work by Sangmi (book artist, organizer, guide, translator, wonderwoman!) I think illustrates very well such momements of transission: coming from somewhere – going somewhere else…

THIS IS great! I’m so dying to show you guys my photos from the Seongnam Bookart Fair – but I forgot to bring my uploading gear so you have to be patient a few more days…

Anyway, being here’s an incredible experience – and time just flies away! Every day has been strictly scheduled and occupied by putting up the individual booths for Artists´ Books, attending the official opening of the fair in the nearby “Childrens Bookart Park” – very formal – and magnificent(!), official dinner for all invited artists + members of the Korean Papermakers Association and official tea with the president of Korean Bookart Association, photoevents(!) and yesterday all the invited international artists had a one day outing to at a local (3.rd generation) paper mill, and a visit to the print art department at one of the leading universities of Seoul.

Today has been occupied by the four of us (Tara O´Brien, USA, John Brebner, Homeprint, Autralia, Anne- Maree Hunter, New Zealand and me) giving lectures on various aspects of Artists´ Books.

I think we all are totally overwhelmed by the interest and enthusiasm that embraces us from the Korean artists and audience. Also the organizers and staff are just incredibly kind, helpful and generous. I have never, ever, experienced anything alike!

My new business cards that’ll soon be handed out here.

Preparations for Korea include preparing a lecture on the situation of Artists´ Books in Europe – seen from my point of view.

An interpreter is hired to translate what I’ll be saying. Obviously not everybody in the audience is expected to fully understand English.

Usually I don’t speak from a manuscript; that´s not my way. I prefer to just have a disposition/ list of keywords on a piece of paper, but in order to oblige the translation this time I really try to work out a somewhat more extended list…

I’m also preparing a power point/ slide show – to support my statements by visual examples. Images have so much more direct appeal than just talk, talk, talk. Hope my Korean fellow artists and audience will agree in this…

Remember?

This year put an “X” in your calendar at 14.th June as you´re hereby invited to join the 2008 world-wide-knit-in-public-day (wwkip-day) in Aarhus. We meet at same place as last year - the Green Area in front of Aarhus´ Musikhus/ Concert Hall from 13 to 16. Back up plan if it´s rainy or windy: The southern part of the Musikhus´ Foyer. Just bring your knitting gear, friends and high spirits.

See you!

OBS: Enjoy more pictures here. If you don’t happen to live next to Aarhus check out here for local events.

Emptyness – can be the first step into creativity…

More than one year chief editor Jenny Doh from Stampington contacted me to know if I´d like to come up with ideas for this Somerset Workshop vol 4. We soon agreed on me doing a workshop teaching how to treat papers and fabric with wax and oil and how to use it for wrapping objects such as old letters, findings from nature etc and how to use wax for entirely embedding stuff.

I know it´s not nice to brag – but I do enjoy the result. Please have a look – and allow me to recommend chapter 3: Mummified Objects & Sealed Letters stepping out each technique in words and 8-12 instructional photoes. If you like my stuff - here ´s the possibility to have a real close look!