Irvine Korean Cultural Festival

I was invited to the 7th Irvine Korean Cultural Festival and flew down to SoCal. I knew that TSA would open my luggage because of my tools but I even packed my iron in the case :) 2 pairs of scissors, 5 of stick magnets, assortment of rulers ( 4" square to 18" long one), 150 sewing needles and cut fabrics.... 

When I arrived at Irvine civic center the day before the event, crews were busy setting up stage and speakers. 

There were many other activities and demonstrations and the city hall was packed with people all day long. I saw some visitors during the day. Leon who is costume designer in MLU visited and we talked about bojagi and hanbok. Livia and her husband ( they both took 3 workshops at LACMA 2 years ago) came to the festival and Livia stayed all afternoon to help my table. thank you, Livia! And my old friend, Sue and Bill surprised me all the way from Boston! Their son, Charles and my Jenn are frinds since first grade. The family moved several times and now they are in Boston. They came to LA to visit Charles in UCLA. And Sue decided to drive an hour to surprise me. Yep! you succeed to your mission and I was so happy to see you, Sue! And Kyungsu unni came to visit and spend time with me. Her husband and my husband went to the same elementary school and they live in Irvine. Thank you to everybody who came to visit me! I really appreciate it!

And here is beautiful Amy, one of the organizers for this wonderful event. I'm already looking forward to go back next year with another fun project!

Where my April went?

Where did my April went? May is around the corner.... I didn't just being lazy in April but time was faster than I moved around. I went to Mt. Tam quilt guild in Marin county for Bojagi talk and met wonderful people there. I also went to EBMQ ( East Bay Modern Quilters, Stitch Modern) to share bojagi. Their wonderful quilts are showing at the Piedmont  Center for Art right now. If you haven't seen their annual quilt show yet, you have time until May 8! Don't miss this! I enjoyed every single works there. https://eastbaymodernquilters.com/

I met this wonderful quilter at the talk and inspired. Here's Sujata Shar's blog page. http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/

It was very interesting to see how someone's artworks reflects the culture and tradition. From my bojagi and from Sujata's quilts!

Everyday is happy day because I learn about something new that I never imagined. I am looking forward to my happy May!

Sweet surprise

We made this segment 2 years ago and I was very happy to be a part of this quilt community. I got a copy of whole 17th season, 13 episodes on four DVDs! Thanks Alex and Ricky!

Creative distraction

One Sunday afternoon, I treat myself with this fun workshop taught by Kristine Vejar. (She is very cool!)

And I spent a fun afternoon at the Botanical Garden in Berkeley with other people who are eager to dip their hands in this indigo vat.

I got some interesting fabrics with resist marks and a scarf. Last year when I took a shibori workshop from Ana Lisa Hedstrom, she taught how to use machine stitches to make a resist pattern. So I did my homework before I left home. I machine stitched on silk+wool blend scarf. And toss it into a boiling black tea. Then I stitched little more to keep that tea color. And I put this into the indigo vat.
Voila! Here's my cool scarf~

At home, I tried to make my own indigo vat and dyed more fabrics. Some worked well but not everything turned out great.... I will have to try more!

Despite the weak indigo vat, I got another scarf to my wardrobe. Now I need to start a new bojagi project using my indigo dyed fabrics. No more distraction until I finish this project!

Weekend in beautiful Mendocino

I packed and checked my list twice and drove to Mendocino on Friday morning. It took me good 4 hours to get there. Anticipation worked like strong coffee :) 

Mendocino Art Center is located in this beautiful coastal town.

I was staying in the RAC's housing and enjoyed my surroundings.

The textile studio was well equipped (even though I didn't need all those wonderful equipments for fabric dye....) and well lit with natural light.

I unpacked my stuff to prepare 2 days of fun workshop.

I met very artistic group of people and we enjoyed each other's company and I shared my passion about Bojagi.

At the end of the day, I walked down to the place that I can see sunset. It was another grateful moment. I love what I do and that leads me to another path always. Next, where should I go and who will I meet?

Asian Art Museum 50th Anniversary part 2

It was a pouring Saturday but 50th anniversary celebration was making the Asian Art Museum very festive and alive. I was there to lead/ help growing our community bojagi. 

Do you remember I started this project last fall? You can see how this bojagi is growing and holding more happy thoughts from museum visitors. 
During Saturday and Sunday our bojagi was fast growing and next time when I come back with this, you will see the finished one!

Empty Spools Seminars

Leaving home for 6 days to attend the Empty Spools Seminars was a big adventure that I was waiting for! My friend Carlene came all the way from Hawaii a few days prior to the event and we started our journey together on Sunday morning.  

This time, I was taking class about bojagi from well know art quilter/ teacher, Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer. Her workshop was "Sheer Play: Painting, Designing and Constructing with Translucent Fabric". The most interesting thing for me was that she is going to use Bojagi techniques! I know how to do bojagi technique but curiosity was leading me to this wonderful teacher and I am so glad I signed up her class and get to know her! 

Fabric painting, fusing and designing with my fellow fabric artist classmates were FUN! I enjoyed every moments in the class room and had a taste of my goal-getting free from my own limits and set rules. Making bojagi with non-Korean traditional materials was my first attempt to getting out of the box. Second attempt was making irregular shaped bojagi. And Jeannete's class made me feel that I took another step to a freedom. Finally! 

Another thing that I enjoyed a lot was making friends. Camaraderie, curiosity and creativity made us have strong bond and I am so happy and grateful. You only see a few friends here but I made more :)

When I have a gut to share my 6 days of creative design attempt, I will post pictures of them. Someday~

Oh, I am so spoiled! I lived without making meals for almost a week and now it's time to go back to the reality..... What's for dinner, honey?