Summer's after glow,
Petals as sweet as love,
Beneath the early autumn sky,
The Thoughts you bring to me...
You are just too sweet for words.
Sep 24, 2012
Sep 17, 2012
What is 和紙(Washi) ?
It has been a month since I started my love affair with 和紙(washi) by attending the ちぎり絵 (chigiri-e) lessons.Briefly, ちぎりmeans 'To tear' and 絵means 'Picture'. The instructor has been lecturing me about how I should tear the 和紙 gently and not just pull the paper into bits and pieces. It was indeed an amusing scenario. I feel like a little girl being nagged by a mother when I recollect the instructor's words. To be honest, I am not very skillful with my fingers. Yet, I swear I am not wrenching off the paper violently. Although I am still clumsy in tearing the 和紙、I love the paper with all my heart. I love the texture, the colours and by all means, the rich history of 和紙.
The art of paper-making was brought to Japan from China by the Buddhist monks in 610AD. By 800AD, Japanese had developed the extraordinary skill of papermaking which contributes to a variety of colour, texture and designs. Now, known as 和紙. It was not until the 13th century that the knowledge of papermaking reached Europe, approximately 600 years after the Japanese had begun to produce it. By late 1800's, more than 100,000 families were making the paper by hand. However, with the westernization from Europe, productions declined, causing less and less families to practice this craftmanship. Today, the remaining families struggle to compete with handmade papers from India, Thailand and Nepal, as the production costs are cheaper.
Nevertheless, during our classes, we use 和紙 from Japan. The traditional 和紙 for our lesson is known as 'Unryu' or 'Cloud-Dragon Paper'. I didn't know this fact. I will make a note to ask my instructor about this. The most appropriate explanation for the nickname, 'Cloud-Dragon Paper' is probably due to the long strands of texture on the 和紙from the mulberry tree pulps. In essence, the texture, weight and thickness of the 和紙affects the look of the finishes artwork.
There are so many reasons why you should love the Japanese papers and chigirie lessons...From far, the art looks like delicate watercolour painting, however, watch it closely and you see many tiny bits of torn papers glued to form a picture. With much patience and creativity, one produces the one and only chigirie in the world as no chigirie art is ever the same. It is just so amazing how much fun one can do with papers. Who needs video games when you can tear your heart out when you are angry and still be ingenious with the paper?
The art of paper-making was brought to Japan from China by the Buddhist monks in 610AD. By 800AD, Japanese had developed the extraordinary skill of papermaking which contributes to a variety of colour, texture and designs. Now, known as 和紙. It was not until the 13th century that the knowledge of papermaking reached Europe, approximately 600 years after the Japanese had begun to produce it. By late 1800's, more than 100,000 families were making the paper by hand. However, with the westernization from Europe, productions declined, causing less and less families to practice this craftmanship. Today, the remaining families struggle to compete with handmade papers from India, Thailand and Nepal, as the production costs are cheaper.
Nevertheless, during our classes, we use 和紙 from Japan. The traditional 和紙 for our lesson is known as 'Unryu' or 'Cloud-Dragon Paper'. I didn't know this fact. I will make a note to ask my instructor about this. The most appropriate explanation for the nickname, 'Cloud-Dragon Paper' is probably due to the long strands of texture on the 和紙from the mulberry tree pulps. In essence, the texture, weight and thickness of the 和紙affects the look of the finishes artwork.
There are so many reasons why you should love the Japanese papers and chigirie lessons...From far, the art looks like delicate watercolour painting, however, watch it closely and you see many tiny bits of torn papers glued to form a picture. With much patience and creativity, one produces the one and only chigirie in the world as no chigirie art is ever the same. It is just so amazing how much fun one can do with papers. Who needs video games when you can tear your heart out when you are angry and still be ingenious with the paper?
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