CHUEN JIE CRAFTS. A lively group of people gathered on a recent cold and foggy Portland Saturday at Multnomah County’s Northwest Library to create red fans for the Lunar New Year. Two more workshops are scheduled — January 25 at the Fairview-Columbia Library and January 26 at the Hillsdale Library. (AR Photo/Julie Stegeman)

From The Asian Reporter, V19, #3 (January 20, 2009), page 14 & 21.

By Julie Stegeman

A lively group of people gathered on a recent cold and foggy Portland Saturday at Multnomah County’s Northwest Library to create red fans for the Lunar New Year. The event, under the direction of artist Cindy Lommasson, was geared toward the younger crowd but attracted creative Portlanders of all ages, with parents and other adults enthusiastically decorating fans alongside small children and youth.

The library event was held in anticipation of the Lunar New Year, which this year rings in the Year of the Ox and will be celebrated in many countries, including China, Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere. According to the Chinese calendar, the Lunar New Year festival traditionally begins with the new moon on the first day of the first lunar month and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The date of the Lunar New Year on the Gregorian calendar varies yearly, falling sometime between January 21 and February 20.

The two-hour event was "drop-in" style; people could arrive at any time and stay as long as they wished. Craft participants received a fan, pre-made of wood and red paper. Ms. Lommasson encouraged participants to be creative in decorating the fans by gluing on thin strips of origami paper, stamping them in gold or black Chinese characters or letters from the alphabet, applying glitter glue, or using markers or hole punches. She gave instruction where needed, but let participants run wild with their imaginations, offering much encouragement and heartfelt praise. Many meticulous participants decorated both sides of the fan, creating elaborate works of art.

Lommasson is an artist who specializes in Chinese brush painting. She conceived of the red-fan event as a fun way to celebrate the Lunar New Year with a craft project. She chose red fans because red is an auspicious color in Chinese culture — symbolizing good luck and happiness — and elegantly decorated fans are associated with China and Japan.

The Red Fans for Lunar New Year workshop is offered on two more dates, January 25 and 26. The Monday event is held from 2:00 to 4:00pm at the Fairview-Columbia Library (1520 N.E. Village Street, Fairview, Ore.) and the Tuesday workshop is scheduled from 3:30 to 4:30pm at the Hillsdale Library (1525 S.W. Sunset Boulevard, Portland). To learn more, visit <www.multcolib.org/events>.