Hello workshop lovers and non-workshop lovers, gallery Dorei Mihotei here. The last installment of the " Touring the House" Hwasetsu exhibition report!

As usual, a review of the 'Touring Home' Hua Xue exhibition.

Niigata Eya. http://niigata-eya.jpで6月10日まで行われた書家華雪さんの展示です.

(Hua Xue's website http://www.kasetsu.info )

• All of them are the character for 'house'. (I enjoyed imagining a concrete house from the characters, which I think is a very interesting idea).
• It changes your mind about how expensive 'calligraphy' is.

Next, a review of the workshop 'Writing 'trees' and creating 'forests''.

• After Hua Xue explained how a 'tree' is formed, everyone tried to become a 'tree' using their bodies.
• Practise on newspaper before writing on a very long piece of paper.
• The children had a story to tell about the 'tree' they were writing about.

So, after the drafting of the newsprint, a long paper appeared!

First, Hua Xue will write the word 'tree'.

You can't see it in the photo, but he's writing vigorously, pushing the brush against the paper with a gulp. And like last time, this is a tree that is swaying in the wind, but the trunk is solid and reminds me of a sandbreak pine forest. (For me, that is. What kind of tree do you think it is?) The same 'tree' as last time, but a different 'tree' is born!

Then the children start writing too.

Cardboard paper is somewhat popular. Is it because it is an unusual material?

She applies plenty of ink to her brush and writes the character 'wood' with all her might on the edge of the paper with an imposing thickness.

Here is a quiz. How did she write the right hand side after this?

One more thing: how would you write?

The correct answer is... there are no pictures, so you'll have to imagine it again in conversation. Ha ha.

Mihotei (Mi): Huh? The left branch is long, but the next one on the right is short. And this one is blurred.

Child: Only this one has shorter branches.

Mi: Why is it short?

Child: hmm...

Mi: Did it break?

Child: It could be.

Now, the second question is for you to think about.

Now, the trees are growing a bit more.

Eventually, there are trees all over the place..!

The staff then displayed the three large sheets of paper that everyone had made.

Hua Xue gathered the children and asked them which of these 'trees' they were interested in. She also asked them to tell her why they were interested in them, and a time of dialogue with the children began.

 華雪さんは子どもの選んだ「木」を探して、どうしてその「木」がいいのか聞いていきます。子ども達は恥ずかしがりながら、発表していきました。

Finally, it was time to end. At the end, Hua Xue said, "It's going to be night now." And then...

The character for 'tree' that everyone wrote there came to life! When the lights are dimmed and a black light is shone on it, it looks like this. Children and adults alike all exclaimed, "Wow! and shouted with delight. It's fun to do things you can't normally do in a workshop, things you can only do with a large group of people, and unexpected surprises. The children seemed to enjoy themselves until the lights came on.

The workshop is over. And now comes the last big job for the staff. Clean-up! I was endlessly washing brushes and brushes. (Laughs)

When the brushes were finished washing, the hall had just been cleared and the artwork was on display.

A 'forest' has been created in the Hall of Light and Sound!

There are so many different kinds of 'trees'. They can be big or small, straight or crooked, slanted or slanted. They grow in different ways. How a certain 'tree' grows together with its surroundings is also different. It is really interesting to observe.

This was really the end of the workshop.

Thank you to Hana Yuki, Niigata Eya, Tebe, Ikutopia Shokuhana Children's Creation Centre for all your hard work. And thank you very much.

Finally, here are some details about the exhibition of artworks.

• Period 10.6.2014 - 30.6.2014.
• Place: Ikutopia Shokuhana Children's Creation Centre http://www.ikutopia.com