My fan collection

My collection of fans is something that happened quite by accident - in fact until I gathered them together for these photos I had no idea I had quite so many! But I suppose that 4 trips to Asia, where they are a natural thing to buy as a souvenir, and the others that have been picked up along the way, all add up! Since they were spread around the house, either as decor or in places they might be useful, I didn't realise how many I had.

And this is not the whole collection, because I have at least one in my drawer at work! It's a purple Spanish one that I bought for practical reasons at the local charity shop on a very hot day!

My most recent fan purchase, from Vietnam, is another one that was bought because it was a very hot day!

Free fan from a play at the Edinburgh Fringe by a Japanese group, and a secondhand woven fan.

 

The other side of the free Japanese fan

Found this fan when clearing my Gran Reid's house. The paper on it was completely falling apart so I replaced it with this wrapping paper.

This was bought from a craft centre in Kyoto on my first trip to Japan.

A brush-painted fan I bought in China

 I think I bought this at a museum of traditional crafts on my second visit to Kyoto

I love this old fan that I found in a charity shop. It looks like someone has been practicing their signature on the back, or maybe repeatedly writing the name of the person they love, but I can't make out the writing very well. My best guess is J Currie.

Folded paper fan from a dollshouse magazine

Blank fans for future craft projects!

Decorate your travel journal pages

When I started going on far-flung holidays, I had a great plan that I'd spend time each day doing a drawing in my travel journal. Unfortunately I always seemed to find myself either too busy or too tired to do this (sometimes it was all I could do to jot down the day's events before nodding off!). So my journal pages turned out looking a bit more boring and text-based than I'd intended.

Here are some ideas that I've used to make my journal pages more interesting, which don't impinge on my time having fun (or sleeping) when on holiday.

My travel journals are all Moleskine Japanese albums, which are a single long piece of paper folded into pages. This makes it more fun as my design can extend over the whole journal. And they have a useful pocket at the back where you can store all the little items you pick up along the way, from luggage labels to autumn leaves.

1. Stamping

This is a great idea if you've already written in your journal and want to spice the pages up a bit. Use a light-coloured or transparent ink if you're stamping over your handwriting, so that you don't obscure it. Here I've used pale pink and gold stamps over my writing, and also stamped some examples of the stamps that I bought on one of my trips to Japan.

2. Pre-drawn pages

This is one of my favourite ways of adding interest to my journals. I read about the country I'm going to, draw some relevant images through the journal, then when I go on holiday I write around the drawings. I used this technique on my trip to Peru and my second trip to Japan.

3. Local stamps

This is something that is particularly found in Japan, but other countries have them too at tourist attractions (I found one at Machu Picchu for example). The temples, shrines and other visitor attractions in Japan have a rubber stamp (and ink pad) so you can stamp in your journal to celebrate your visit.

4. Glued-in items

If you take a glue stick or tape runner with you on your trip, you can quickly and easily stick receipts, labels and other small items into your journal when you get back to your hotel room.

5. Leaving space

If you visit somewhere that you'd really like to draw but don't have time, how about taking a photo instead, leaving a space in your journal, and drawing it when you get home.

6. Quick sketches

Try drawing a very quick basic sketch in your journal, then you can perfect it (or add colour to it) when you get back home.

7. Coloured ink

To make your handwriting more interesting, use different colours of ink. Often I'll use a new colour when starting a new day's entry in the journal, as it makes it easy to see when one day ends and another begins.

I'd also suggest that if you're on a trip where you are doing lots of different things each day, take a little time during the day to jot things down in your journal rather than trying to remember it all when you get to your hotel!

Have a look at last month's post on how I decorate the outside of my travel journals!

Chinese drummer

I started this drawing on Sunday and finished it today. I did a slightly different method from usual - this time I printed a faint outline of the picture on the paper first so that I could get the proportions right. It felt a bit strange at first doing it this way - it felt a bit like cheating, and a bit like painting by numbers, with not as much creativity in the early stages. But I'm pleased with the finished effect, it was much easier to get the details of the face right this way, so I'll try doing some other drawings this way.

Mr Chin

This is Mr Chin (or more correctly King Chin), one of a set of two fridge magnets by Alessi in collaboration with the National Palace Museum Taiwan. I've been a big fan of the Chin Family range for a while, so I was delighted when my parents got me these magnets.

A day in Durham

Yesterday I spent the day in Durham. I've been meaning to go and visit the Oriental Museum for a few years, and I finally got round to it. I got up at 6am and caught the train just after 7, arriving in Durham at about 10. It was the first time that I had travelled first class on the train! The journey was really interesting, and I saw things like Holy Island and the Tyne bridges along the way. The approach to Durham was quite spectacular with the view of the cathedral.

It didn't take long to walk to the Oriental Museum, and there were lovely views of the cathedral and the river along the way. When I arrived at the museum, the woman at the desk was very helpful and explained the layout of the collections. The Chinese collection was amazing. It was spread out over two floors. I particularly liked the traditional Chinese bed, which was more like a whole room. The display downstairs of all the different types of Chinese ceramics through the ages was very interesting. The Japanese collection was not as large, but the objects they had were very interesting and beautiful, in particular a large screen showing the Toshogu Shrine at Nikko in detailed embroidery. There were also some spectacular painted kites. The gift shop was good, and I bought three types of Japanese incense in beautiful paper boxes. I really wish that there had been a book of the museum's collections, because I would certainly have bought it. There were so many beautiful artifacts, and not enough time to draw them all (especially not the embroidered screen) and photography is not allowed.

After leaving the museum I wandered back towards the city centre, and found myself heading towards the cathedral. I discovered that it is a spectacular, awe-inspiring building, especially inside. It has a wonderful atmosphere.

I then had lunch at the continental market, including my first taste of baklava and another lovely pastry called boukage, before having a look at the indoor market. I then wandered round the shops. There is a wonderful Oxfam bookshop over three floors which has lots of comfy chairs to sit and read in. A few doors away is the first Oxfam Boutique, which has vintage and designer clothes, but it was a bit expensive for me! I also discovered a lovely shop called The Renovation Store which had beautiful home accessories spread over three floors. Durham is a really interesting place, full of bridges and steep narrow cobbled streets.

I caught the train home, and discovered I was at the wrong end of a very packed train. I had to clamber over people and luggage to get to my seat. I got back just after 7, just in time to meet some friends at the pub.

Warrior woman continued

I've had a few problems with this drawing of a woman making miniature terracotta warriors. I've found her half-shut eyes difficult to draw, and I got a bit carried away with her hair and carried on into the area of her hand and sleeve.

My first lino prints

This was my first attempt at lino printing. I had everything I needed except the lino, so I got a couple of small pieces last week and made these at the weekend. It was a lot easier (and less messy) than I had expected, and now I have lots of ideas in mind for when I get more lino.

Drawing in progress

This is a drawing I am working on, of a woman making miniature terracotta warriors.

A little teapot

I bought this little pot in China. It is filled with water through a hole in the base, but when it is turned upright it does not leak.

Olympic snowballers

This is my main Christmas card design for this year, inspired by the cuddly Olympic mascots I bought on holiday in China. I made four individual handmade cards for my family, each with one of the mascots on it, and had the rest of the cards printed by Moo from my collage showing all the mascots. I'm really impressed with the print quality of the Moo cards, and when I had a tiny problem with damage to one of the first set of cards they had sent, they printed me off a new set for nothing!

Chinese tree

I decorated my Christmas tree today using some of my souvenirs from China: the Olympic mascots and some cloisonne bells.

A Glimpse of the Floating World

Yesterday I went to Perth to an exhibition called A Glimpse of the Floating World at Perth Museum and Art Gallery. Although the exhibition of Japanese art and objects it was quite small, it was well organised and interesting, and the accompanying book with photographs of many of the objects in the exhibition was well produced. There were some items of clothing to try on, so I tried walking in geta sandals for the first time and was pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to walk in. Upstairs there was another interesting exhibition, of paintings by Professor Xiaoyu Zhou, a Chinese artist, mainly of rural people in traditional costume.

Photo coasters

I bought these coasters at the pound shop last year, not necessarily to use as coasters, but to create a photo display that I can rotate between the four images. These are just some random photos from my China trip, but I may print some photos in sepia to go with the ones of my Japan trip I have on the wall.

Chinese headdresses

This took me almost a month to draw - I think my next drawing will be something a bit more simple (and without so much black)!