In the morning, we had plans to take the subway to Insadong to have a chop made for Josiah and pick up a few gifts. An then there was that little outstanding issue for me and Dan of finding just the right piece of art to remember this trip by. We had seen some things we liked, but not anything yet that was an instant "that's it!" for us. So we thought we'd spend a couple hours in the morning, while it was still quiet, in Insadong.
First things first, we wanted to visit the Buddhist temple there. Buddha's birthday is coming up in May and the preparations we've seen around the city have been really neat; brightly colored lanterns seem to be multiplying overnight! When we arrived at the temple, a service was underway and the chanting combined with the spectacle of the magnificent lantern display (still under construction) was a really neat experience.
I mean, really, can you believe how cool looking this is?!? Now imagine standing under this canopy and listening to the chants of the monks while the lantern tags blow in the breeze. Neat.
A group of ladies worked together to craft lanterns in front of the temple. They did every part of the process starting with bending the wire frame.
After the temple, it was chop time. Josiah really liked Kamron's chop and wanted one of his own. Dan decided to take a back alley to cut through to the chop shop when we came upon this fantastic little one-artist gallery. And there it was. The piece. The artist carves stone to make stamps and then does block prints of them. He sells the prints (they're gorgeous), but he also works a few of his retired stamps into wall hangings. And that's what caught our eye. The piece is a small piece of dark wood with a stone stamp set into it. The stamp is of two simplistic owls, one littler and one a tad bigger, and there is ink staining of blue and green on the stone stamp. And get this. I started talking to the artist about the piece and he said it was called "Owl Brother" and that owls mean good fortune in Korean culture. How perfect is that? So now that I've described it (ooooh, it is soooooo cool), I really wish I had a photo of it to put up. But it's sitting next to me bubble-wrapped to the max. I think I might sleep with it. Kidding. Well, kind of. :) So here's a photo of the artist by his shop. He is such a cool guy.
Now on to Josiah's chop. He and Lisa sat and watched the artist carve it and then Josiah got a lesson in using the ink properly.
That brush/chop shop is such a delight for a photojunkie's eyes. I mean, just look at these chops.
And check out these bunches of calligraphy brushes. Man oh man, I could have photographed in there for a while.
Remember when I wrote that we planned to be in Insadong for a couple hours? Yeah, well, Insadong is really cool. And somehow a couple hours turned into, oh, ummmm...all day. I think we all enjoyed the wandering and relative "down time" given our busy past few days. And you can't beat the street food options. Josiah, Nedy, Dan and I are ga-ga over these fried peanut butter and honey doughy things--sort of like a really hot greasy doughnut stuffed with peanut butter and honey. Had a few of those today. And Dan discovered a new favorite this afternoon in the form of some sort of bean paste fried dumplings.
Oh, and it happened again. I swear, Dan is a freakin' magnet for kids working on their English interviewing projects. It's hilarious, given that he's the shy one.
Before catching the shuttle back to the hotel, we stopped at Tapgol Park for a little stroll. Dan brought Nedy and Josiah here yesterday and they wanted to show us what they saw. See that stone pagoda? It's 500 years old and is a relic of a Buddhist temple that sat where the park is now. It is protected by this really modern glass structure; interesting.
I love these next couple photos--they're just so Ned.
So that's about it for today. Sorry for the abbreviated post, but it was just a relaxing, hanging out kind of day as we await that change that tomorrow brings...!!! Next post will be from a family of 4!
5 comments:
Okay, love the artist. I hope that we'll be able to find him when we travel. :-)
Thanks for sharing so many pictures. It's so exciting!
Hope the flight is going well! We're home all next week...M, too. If you need something, please let us know. :)
Wait, what/ You're in Korea already? I thought you wouldn't be going until May! Oh wow, I have a lot of catch up on:-) I'm so happy and excited for you!
I think we got E's name stamp from the guy who made your owl art! He looked so familiar, his shop/gallery looks so familiar, that framing style matches the framing style of the photos we have inside the shop... and when I compared the handwritten sign in his window to the website of the guy who made E's stamp, it's the same: http://blog.naver.com/stonehouse81/150103303367
Thinking about you guys a lot...hope all is going well. Happy Easter to your family of 4!
It is the same guy!! I went back and looked at our photos, and it's the same shop...the display set-ups are the same in the window, the decorative railing above the shop is the same, and the layout is the same (though when we were there, the bushes/trees outside his shop were A LOT more overgrown). Cool! He was a really neat guy...I can't wait to see the piece you brought home.
And WEIRD: The word varification word is mulvyhom.
Post a Comment