The Armchair Traveller

A few days before Christmas I got a phone call from my mum to inform me that her younger sister, my aunt and godmother, had been diagnosed with cancer. This was really upsetting news to hear especially because I am so far away from all my family. I am very close to my family and so in a situation like this I would go into support mode, but how do I support my aunt from the other side of the world?

I had some time to think about everything over the Christmas period while spending time with some close friends. One afternoon my friend and I sat down to make origami paper cranes from a kit she was sent by another friend of hers who was living in Japan and it was at this moment that I was hit by inspiration, I remembered the Japanese legend of making 1000 paper cranes and then making a wish so I did a little bit of internet research and this is what I found:

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years. In Asia, it is commonly said that folding 1000 paper origami cranes makes a person’s wish come true. This makes them popular gifts for special friends and family.

Hanging a Senbazuru in one’s home is thought to be a powerfully lucky and benevolent charm.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_origami_cranes

So, I had decided, I was going to make my aunt 1000 origami paper cranes (commonly referred to as Senbazuru) and make a wish for her recovery from illness. It was a big challenge but one I was determined to carry out. My ultimate plan was that I would complete the set and then send them to my aunt for her to hang in her home and know that I was thinking of her.

The first challenge was where to get enough Origami paper to complete this project. I ended up going to a London store called Muji where a purchased two packets of origami paper to get me started.

Once I had removed all the black and white sheets of paper out of these packets I worked out how many more packets I would need to complete 1000 cranes and I went back to Muji to purchase a further 9 packets. The girl in the shop gave me very strange looks as I went to pay and as she counted how many packets I had she asked me if I was sure I wanted 9 packets and not 10 as she felt 9 was an unusual number. I didn’t explain my project to her I just let her continue to look confused as I paid and walked out with my paper.

1000 paper cranes is a huge undertaking and I tried to be systematic about it so that I could keep track of how many I had done as well as be as efficient as possible. I created the cranes in batches of 10 and would record each completed crane on a sheet of paper counting down to 1000. On average I could complete about 50 cranes in an evening in front of the television, any more and I started to get concerned about repetitive strain injury on my hands from all the folding!

I was beginning to get concerned about whether I would be able to create 1000 cranes in a reasonable amount of time but once the first 500 were complete and I could see the riot of carefully folded colour sitting in the paper bag in front of me I was more determined than ever to complete the other 500!

Each evening when I came home from work I would sit down in the lounge after I finished dinner and start folding. I found it quite a relaxing experience, there is something very calming about the process of folding a piece of paper repeatedly to create something simple and beautiful like a crane. I very quickly got lost in the task each day and would marvel later at what I had done as I was in some other zone as I made them. In the back of my mind the whole time was my aunt and what she was going through and what I wanted these cranes to mean. Then all too soon (about 1 month later) I was finished, yes I had actually produced 1000 origami paper cranes!!

Now that I had made them I had to work out how to gather and hang them. Thanks to the internet I discovered that they are most commonly hung in vertical strings in groups of around 40 or 50 per string. the string goes through the centre of the body of the crane as they slot in one on top of the other. Once I had found a string I was happy with I began the task of threading each crane onto each string. I put 50 cranes per string so there were 20 strands all together.

Once they were all together and hanging in my lounge I fell in love with the vibrancy of these cranes and was really sad when I finally took them down to post to NZ. With 200 per parcel I sent my aunt 5 parcels over the course of 1 week with other little pick-me-up gifts to let her know I was thinking of her and sending my love and positive thoughts her way.

Whether you believe in the Japanese legend or not, this senbazuru which I created is guaranteed to make you smile at all those amazing colours and the peaceful repeated shape of the crane, and that can’t be a bad thing.

I had so much fun working on this project that now I feel a bit lost without it! Does anyone else want 1000 origami cranes? Let me know

“Everything is Going to be Alright” by Martin Creed – displayed on the outside of the Tate Britain

These are comforting words that I think everyone needs to hear every now and again! I know they brought me comfort yesterday when I looked up and saw them!

Yeasterday I met up with Rosie, Guy, and Jack and we headed to North London to the Business Design Centre to go to the London Art Fair. At the art fair dealer galleries present themselves and their artists to the buying public under one roof. It normally costs £15 to enter the fair but through Rosie’s art-world connections we had complementary passes to enter. The London Art Fair is all about Modern British and Contemporary art, both established and emerging artists, and prices ranging from a few hundred pounds to a few hundred thousand pounds. Everything you saw was available to purchase the the galleries use the fair as an opportunity to network and to bring in more new clients whether they be seasoned or first time art buyers.

As I was in no position to even contemplate buying even the cheapest of works I just enjoyed the experience of seeing what the different galleries had to offer and seeing how many of the galleries I recognised the names of and how many I had never come across before. There were big-named artists whose worked popped up in multiple galleries – for example Bridget Riley prints and paintings were a very common sight. It was also great to see so many emerging artists sitting alongside so many established artists, and the art dealers who were pushing these names onto the visitors to the fair with just as much enthusiasm as for the artists you might actually have heard of.

The first thing that struck me upon entering the art fair was the building itself and how it was arranged. Spread out over three floors and divided into little gallery spaces for each gallery with lights shining down on each space, all sitting under an impressive Victorian-styled arched ceiling reminiscent of many old train stations here in London. Another interesting observation was the sheer number of people walking around. The fair had been open for three days already before we visited and it still had another two days to go and there were people everywhere actively engaging with the artworks, the dealers and with each other. There were also an awful lot of red dots next to pictures, which, for those of you who don’t know, indicate that the work has been sold, so it would seem that people were spending their money and getting themselves some very nice works indeed.

Since I wasn’t spending I felt like I could just soak up the environment and take the opportunity to observe those around me. It is always interesting to hear what people are talking about as they walk around:

A Picasso? 7 grand?! That’s nothing!

Overheard a man with a very posh English accent saying this to a couple of other people he was standing with.

At least we know she’s full of milk…

Overheard a man saying this to the woman he was with as they walked by me pushing a grizzly sounding baby in a pram.

Maybe one of these days I might be able to afford to buy at art fairs like this but until then I will continue to enjoy the experience of attending as a keen art lover and observer of everyone else who is buying

We have had snow in London recently. London looks rather magical in the snow. I like it.

What I don’t like, is the ice that is left behind when the temperatures drop below zero and the snow stops falling…

Another year has come to an end; a new year has just begun. This time of the year is always an opportunity to look back on the year that has been and look forward to the potential for the year ahead. In 2009 I have had more travel adventures than any year previous; I finally saw my family homelands of Croatia and Poland; I met family I have never met before; I got a permanent job in a company I love working for; I said farewell to some friends who headed back to NZ and welcomed other friends who are just starting out on their OE adventures; I read a lot of books; I got back in touch with my crafty and creative side; I made new friends in this country; I survived another year away from my family.

This New Years Eve I opted to stay at home by myself, make myself a nice dinner and watch a DVD or two. What I ended up doing was making a nice dinner for myself, start watching a DVD and then stopping the DVD in order to chat on Skype to my aunt and uncle and a couple of my cousins. Thanks to the wonders of webcam we were all able to see one another as well. After I finished talking to them I saw that my mum was on-line as well so I began a Skype video chat with her. During the conversation we were inching closer to my midnight in London which was lunch time in Wellington.

My mum then got a phone call from my Grandmother and 10 minutes later I was also chatting on video Skype with my grandparents, my other aunt and uncle and another cousin who had turned up at my mum’s place just to say hi to me! Being in NZ they had already done the countdown to 2010 12 hours earlier but they counted down with me just the same and cheered loudly when I finally joined them in 2010!

I feel so far away from my family most days but through such amazing and readily available technology as Skype I feel lucky to live in an age where I can share my new years eve with my family on the other side of the world – I can be so far away and yet still see the smiles on their faces, the love in their eyes, and feel like we are together even though we can’t physically touch.

As for looking forward to what 2010 has to offer, there are great challenges facing at least one member of my family but if my new year Skype experience was any indication then one thing that can be counted on in 2010 is the love that we have for one another which transcends distance and time. The challenges faced by one will be supported by us all to ease the burden as much as we can. I have an amazing family, we are a large family and yet so close, we are there for each other through the good times and the bad even if we can’t be there in person we are there by phone, Skype, email and even Facebook! I know that no matter what, my family are always there for me, supporting me in their own way and in turn I support each of them as well.

I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2010 full of LOVE!

xx

For as long as I can remember I have loved to dance. I started ballet when I was three and I continued until I was in my 20s and only stopped because I couldn’t juggle ballet and university any more.  However just because I stopped taking classes didn’t change my love for ballet. I still put on my pointe shoes every so often and dance around the house and I still have all my favourite costumes sitting in my wardrobe (most importantly my first proper tutu!)

My mother was never a big ballet fan and I think it always amused her just how passionate I was about it when she hated ballet herself as a child. She was always an amazing support though and over the years she grew to love watching ballet as much as I enjoyed performing. Mum’s favourite part of any ballet performance is the costumes, in all the years I danced my mother sewed all my costumes for every performance (and occasionally the costumes for other girls in the shows) she even designed a few costumes for a few recitals over the years; I think my ballet teacher really loved my mother’s help.

Anyhow, mum’s passion for the costumes extended to me and as much as I loved them before I have become much more appreciative of them when I see a ballet show.  Since moving to London I have taken any opportunity to attend performances by the Royal Ballet company which was once the company of my dancing hero Margot Fonteyn (as well as other great artists like Rudolf Nureyev, Ninette de Velois, Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Lynn Seymour, and Robert Helpmann). The performances are held at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and I have enjoyed every single one I have attended. they are magnificent.

The costumes in the many shows I have attended are always beautiful and often there is an exhibition in the foyer of the Opera House displaying various costumes from past performances. Last week when I went to see a performance of Mayerling I came across a cabinet which held five miniature replicas of tutus seen in Royal Ballet performances. Each mini tutu was available for purchase for an average of £1,400 but I was more interested in the intricacy and delicacy of each miniature piece and thinking about how much mum would love them. The five costumes from left to right in the picture above are: The Snowflake from The Nutcracker, Carmen from Carmen, the Lilac fairy from Sleeping Beauty, Odile from Swan Lake, and the Spring Fairy from Cinderella.

Ballet is about so much more than just the dance, it is the music and it is the costumes. When mixed together correctly ballet is magic!