Me Musing . . . June 11, 2008 . . .

As I mentioned in my last posting of June 1st, I was headed to Eugene, Oregon on June 7th for a lecture and workshop on the traditional Korean Wrapping Cloths known as Pojagi.

While driving up that morning I listened to one of my favorite groups, Pink Martini . . . their album 'Hey Eugene' . . . (rather appropriate!)

I had never been to the Jordan Snitzer Museum of Art on the university campus there. Just the walk from the parking lot to the museum was wondrous with the green lawns and huge old trees and magnificent brick buildings. We had the grass and brick buildings at Ohio State University where I attended; however the trees weren't nearly as magnificent as those at U of O in Eugene.

The museum is not large; however, has an incredible gallery of traditional Korean objects and textiles . . . not to be missed if you are ever in the area. The 'changing gallery' was just finishing a small showing of a few Paul Cezanne oils and other Impressionist style painters. Sure an easier trip than heading off to Paris to see them!

As I sat in that area just absorbing the history that went with those paintings I could feel the energy of Mother and Daddy with me. And I smiled as I remembered the time they took the train to New York to see the Mona Lisa on exhibit. They would have loved this exhibit also!

I had only planned the trip the week before and the second motel I called had room for me. Those 'in the know' about Eugene things were dumbfounded that I could get a room at all since June is all about 'Track' in Eugene . . . as track and field hopefuls converge on historic Hayward Field there for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials!

For me, it is good NOT to know that things are impossible . . . just keeps the energies flowing and I end up where I should be at the moment I should be there!

The Pojagi lecture was quite interesting and the slides of the work, amazing. Most of the pieces were done in 17th - 19th century. The 'wrapping cloths' were made by 'unknown women' who spent most of their lives in their quarters just moving between there and the kitchen to prepare meals for the men of the family. Since the kitchen was separate from the rooms, a cloth was needed to cover the food while transporting, so the 'common' people used bits of leftover cloth to make these sweet 'wrapping cloths'. They also made special ones for gifts and to cover tables.

Pojagi for covering food.
The little tab on top is for lifting it off the food!
You can see the tiny little stitches used
and all were done by hand.

This one is my favorite. The ties at the corners were used for securing the bundle of clothing or whatever was inside. The dark lines are actually the shadows that the folded seams make on the thin, often translucent fabric.

Some of the designs reminded me of the Gees Bend quilts I saw in a show about 5 years ago. The Pojagi made with pieces of fabric were made by the common people, as the ruling class could afford whatever kind of fabric (usually silk) they desired, so no piecing was necessary. Many of them were also intricately embroidered.

Our instructor grew up in Korea and remembers her grandmother making Pojagi. She said one day the cloths just disappeared. No one really knew what happened to them. Wrapping papers and plastic began to seep into the culture, so the pojagi became almost extinct.

Thankfully, a man in Seoul began collecting them as pieces of art and had so many that he thought he should display them and opened a small museum just for that purpose!

Now, as with many 'made of the hand' items, there is a resurrgence afoot . . . and people of all ages are beginning to appreciate the specialness of such items.

'As we hold a hancrafted item
in our hands,
we realize how much our souls
long to be surrounded
by goods that 'remember'
the hands
and
the heart that made them . . .'

While at the workshop, I met two amazing women . . . one is an Associate Professor in the Art Department who creates gorgeous Shibori-dyed scarves and shawls. (Shibori is an ancient form of dyeing where fabric is stitched, bound or compressed so tightly that when dyed, the dye cannot penetrate those areas, creating an interesting pattern and design on the cloth)

While in the gift store at the museum, I happened upon one of her magnificant twice-dyed shawl scarfs and now it lives in Etna, USA!

This photo doesn't show the detail well
however, the golden colour is in the creases
of the tiny folds and the green on the edges.
It appears to have been sewn in sections
yet there are no seams . . .
it is only done from the folding before dyeing! Amazing . . .

In talking with Barbara, she mentioned she would be doing an afternoon Indigo Shibori Dye workshop on Sunday, June 29th . . .
of course, I filed that away in the 'possibly' place in my mind!

The other woman recently opened the Eugene Textile Center with a friend (it had been a dream of theirs for years and just came to fruition!). When I got home I decided to check out their website to see if something was going on at the Textile Center around the 29th and maybe I could include both!

Then I was reminded again the 'Track scene' was overtaking Eugene and that particular weekend was the first of the Olympic Team Trials so all hotels from Eugene to the Coast were booked.

I called Marilyn at the Textile Center and told her I was thinking of doing her Heat Transfer Printing class on the 27th and 28th and then Barbara's dye class on the 29th . . .

Total Immersion I guess you would call it!

She suggested a 'modest' motel down the street and when I called, he had a room, however 'modest' had jumped in price to $99.99 a night.

Marilyn, after hearing that, magically arranged for me to stay at the home of her friend!! Her friend and I talked today and she said she lived with an 'older gentleman' and I said, 'So do I!'

Then we discovered that on the dates I would be there, she would be in Florida at a Weaving Convention!!!!!!!! That did not seem to deter my staying there . . . as she said, 'He'll want to be sure he has dinner for you when you arrive and in the mornings before you leave for class, he'll want to fix you breakfast!'

Now . . . how wondrous is that !!!

Just another day in Paradise!

Until soon,

Che'usa

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