Eumseong jiseung 2014 A visit to see three women who make beautiful jiseung objects, located full- and part-time in Eumseong (Chungcheong-do). The Korean countryside in Nov (2014).
Jiseung in the mts 2014 Three+ weeks of daily study in the mountains of Gangwon-do, making woven hanji objects using the jiseung technique. Oct/Nov 2014.
Calligraphy exhibit 2014 The first solo exhibition of my calligraphy teacher, Mr. Shim Hyun-seop. It was nearly sold out when I visited on the penultimate day of a week-long show. Dec 2014.
Washi classroom in Setagaya-ku Yamazaki Elementary School, a public school in Setagaya-ku in Tokyo, has an amazing washi classroom that was started by Ayako Yoshizumi. She is semi-retired now, but ran the washi program for 26 years and has worked tirelessly to teach children and community members how to make and use washi. Nov 2014.
Mungyeong Hanji 2014 A visit to Mungyeong Hanji in North Gyeongsang Province during the International Hanji Seminar. Mr. Kim and his father showed us their current paper mill as well as their old mill, now a museum, and the dak they had harvested and steamed outdoors. December 17, 2014.
Pyogu studios in Seoul 2014 Visits to two different pyogu (mounting) shops in Seoul. Mr. Doh worked under Mr. Lee for 18 years before opening his own business. December 2014.
Lacquer studio of Choi family A visit to the lacquer studios, classroom, and gallery of Mr. Choi Jong-kwan. His wife, son, daughter, and disciple all practice here in a building in Hongdae, keeping alive traditional lacquer work by making contemporary work. Dec 2014.
Kadoide Washi 2014 A visit to Kadoide Washi in Niigata Prefecture, headed by Yasuo Kobayashi, a venerated papermaking elder who has trained and inspired countless papermakers around the world. This visit came on the heels of the annual kozo harvest and also coincided with a group of Israelis traveling with Izhar Neumann, another papermaker who kindly interpreted throughout. Nov 2014. kadoidewashi.com/
Oguni Washi 2014 A visit with Hiroaki Imai, the head of Oguni Washi in Niigata Prefecture. He created an entire tour from Nagaoka City Hall, which uses Oguni Washi’s paper, to the Asahi sake brewery, which uses their paper for their bottle labels, to his kozo field, paper mill, and shop. Nov 2014.
Richard & Ryoko in Tokyo Two visits to Sind in Tokyo to see Richard Flavin (artist and papermaker) and Ryoko Haraguchi (textile designer). On the first visit, I also met Emiko Nakano, a weaver who makes shifu (paper cloth). Nov 2014. members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/sind/index.html emikonakano.com/
