Christmas Party 2010

Christmas Party 2010

The Champagne Class of 2010 were met at Yoko’s door by husband Mike and her dog  Yoshi who loves company. Because of the sudden change in weather, a B.B.Q. was definitely out so we were treated to a wonderful banquet of Japanese food … yay!

Looking out at Yoko’s lovely garden, sipping champagne and feasting on freshly prepared goodies from her vegie patch, we enjoyed a fitting end to our year of classes. Yoko had quite outdone herself … and  just when you thought it couldn’t get better!

Helen matched the entree and first course … and  in doing so won first prize for dessert. Her meringues with huge chocolate dipped fresh  strawberries couldn’t be beaten. Well done ladies.

We passed a thoroughly pleasant afternoon sipping tea and swapping  presents. In the course of the conversation we planned our  next year’s exhibition item. It was decided to try our hand at painting fans. Plans were made to check out the various places to buy them. Will’s Quills have some on line at a reasonable price. Can’t wait to try it. Finally we got back in our cars and headed home. A fitting end to an interesting year.

U3A Washi-e Exhibition 2010

We breathed a joint sigh of relief at the completion of this year’s Washi-e exhibition. As some of our group were away at the time things had become hectic and there was a mad rush to get everything together from the various artists before opening day. Although only running over a couple of days, the number of visitors had increased from last year mainly because of the longer opening hours. It had been decided to keep the exhibit open until 6 p.m. which meant that family and friends had the chance to visit and view the display. Many thanks to the  people responsible for manning the display and making it all happen … it was much appreciated.

With only one day left in the year for the group, it was decided to hold our annual Christmas Party at Yoko’s home in Leura again this year. Yoko has invited us to an “Aussie style” B.B.Q  and the group is to pool our resources and bring dessert, although it will be hard to beat last years delicious Japanese banquet that she prepared for us …yum!

Upcoming Exhibition

Here it is nearly the end of October … hasn’t the year gone quickly! Work is currently underway preparing for the end of year exhibition for 2010.

There have been a few “ups” and “downs”, what with Yoko recovering from her injuries and many in our class spending a lot of time traveling this year. Luckily our plucky teacher is much better and now able to complete her projects herself.

So it is heads down and on to business for the students. Clearly this is the time to panic …. with only a few weeks left to achieve our “works of art” there is a mad scramble to finish off our major works and organise our sumi-e examples. Phew!

This year some members of the new Penrith group have expressed an interest in coming to our exhibition … looking forward to meeting them for the first time. It will be fun to share our experiences and swap notes. Roll on the end of the year…

Different Uses for Washi-e

Here are some examples of the uses of Washi-e - serviette holders, cards, wine glasses, boxes, paintings ... all items made by Mikki McIntosh

A Run of Bad Luck for Yoko

Last month our teacher Yoko was injured in a car accident and  since then has undergone surgery to her right hand.  It has made life very difficult for her but even with her arm in a sling she has  returned to teaching our class. She has called upon her students  to help her complete her major works of washi-e. A  brave woman indeed! We all wish Yoko a very speedy recovery.

More from Yoko

"Waterfall" by Yoko Mulligan

Our First Group Project

This was our first group project. Yoko insisted that we attempt it for one of our early exhibitions. We all thought she was crazy but as usual she knew our capabilities better than we did. Taken from a photograph of a park in Japan famous for it’s cherry blossoms, we enlarged the original to A3 on a photocopier then cut it into equal parts then further enlarged each of these to A4 for each student. Although we each had different styles even then, I think the end result  worked well. We presented it to Yoko at the end of the exhibition.

Hard at Work in Class

Ann waiting enthusiastically for our coffee fix.

Did someone say coffee?

More Artwork

"Garden Steps" by Yoko Mulligan

"Lady of the Camelias" by Yoko Mulligan

Learning New Techniques

"Trees" by Helen Muir

"Landscape" by Mikki McIntosh