Hello.
Hmm.
Huh?
Look!
Oh!
Huh?
Whoa!
Hmm.
Whoa!
Huh?
Look!
Oh!
I'm Sally.
And I'm Possum.
Hello!
Ah.
Hello, everyone.
Possum is painting very carefully.
Look at the way he's putting those dots on the page.
Possum.
Mm?
Hello.
Hi, Sally.
Oh.
Hi, everyone.
You're being so careful, painting those dots.
It's so lovely to see.
Yeah, have a look.
I've made different shapes.
I had to make sure that I was putting the dots in the right place.
I didn't want them to become splotches, so I was being very careful.
Well, it looks lovely.
I'm just on my way to get some more tomatoes for a salad.
Did you see the postie come past on her bike?
Um… No, I haven't seen anyone, but I was so busy painting that I wouldn't have seen her anyway.
Oh, ok.
Do you want me to go and have a look?
Oh, yes please.
Could you?
OK.
Oh.
Mmm.
Mmm.
Uh…
Look Sally, look!
Look, it's beautiful writing.
Yes, it is.
Let's have a look who it's from.
Hmm…
Oh!
That's from my friend, Sumi.
Oh.
She lives in Japan.
OK.
I've seen some of her artwork, and the way she paints is so unique.
It's beautiful.
She paints by putting paint on the water.
Oh!
I'm hoping she sent me some of that.
Oh!
Why don't we go inside and open it and see what it is?
Ok, let's go!
Oh, that's beautiful.
Wow!
Oh, that's so lovely.
What a beautiful gift.
It's such lovely painting.
Oh, that's great!
Well, the box isn't actually the present.
Huh?
It's what's inside is the present.
Inside?
Well, let's open it.
OK.
Ah!
Oh.
Hmm.
Hmm?
This is a letter from Sumi.
She's written to me, saying she knows how much I love suminagashi, which is a Japanese word for marbling, a kind of art.
She knows I love it, so she's sent me some paint.
Oh!
Hmm.
So, she says I can try suminagashi, and she knows you love art, so you can try it too.
Oh, that's great!
Sally, did she send this from a long way away?
Oh, yes, she did.
Hmm…
Oh, is it further than Skip's house?
Yes, it's from a completely different country.
That country's name is Japan.
Hmm…
Sally, I can see very far from the top of my tree.
Would I be able to see Japan?
Oh, no.
There's no way you'd be able to see Japan from the top of your tree.
Australia is surrounded by sea.
How about I show you a map, so you can see how far away it is.
OK.
I'll go get it.
Hmm.
Oh!
Hmm…
Australia is here.
Mm-hm.
It's a very big country.
OK.
We are here.
Here?
Oh!
Is that where I am?
Your tree is here, and all you can see from the top of your tree is just a tiny little dot.
Oh!
Look at all the blue sea around Australia, and Japan is all the way up here.
See the four islands?
You can see the names of them, can't you?
J-A-P-A-N.
Oh, Japan!
Yes, that's right.
So Sally, let's pretend I got on a boat and sailed and sailed and sailed and sailed and sailed and sailed – would I go off the edge?
Oh no, not at all, Possum.
This is just a map.
Oh.
The world is actually round.
It's a sphere.
Mm-hm.
Hmm, but to make it easy to see as a map, it's been flattened out.
Oh, ok, because the world is actually round.
Right.
You would just sail round and round and round it.
It's like your soccer ball, but much, much bigger.
Oh wow, that's fantastic!
Yes, it is.
Oh!
Hmm.
Sally, I'm going to have a look.
Ooh, be careful.
Oh!
Oh, isn't that beautiful?
Yeah!
Oh, unwrap it carefully.
OK.
Sally, Sumi was very kind.
Oh, yes.
But…
But…it's so small.
Yes.
I can't do a big painting using this!
Oh, this is a very special paint Possum.
All you need are tiny amounts, and from just a small amount, you can do many, many paintings.
The drops of paint will float on the water, and that's all you need.
Then you take your paper, lay it on top of the water and when you take it off, the paint has covered the paper.
Huh?
Paper?
On top of the water, but wouldn't the wind blow it away?
Oh, that is good thinking, Possum.
Yep!
Actually, before the artists put the paper down, they will often blow the paint drops to make patterns.
Oh!
Or they might use a paintbrush to move the paint around to make patterns as well, or a stick.
Oh!
Wow!
Then they lay the paper down to make the picture, and each time they do that, the picture is different.
Oh, wow!
Why don't we watch some children learning about marbling?
Yeah, let's watch!
Oh!
Oh, that looked great!
So much fun!
Oh, yeah!
I loved how careful they were when they put the colours in and they swirled them around, and then they got their piece of paper and made beautiful pictures.
Oh, yes!
Why don't we try doing the same thing?
Oh, yeah!
I'll put the map away.
Oh, and I'll get this.
Sally, I was watching those children.
When they put those drops of paint on the water, I thought they'd sink but they didn't.
They stayed on the surface and spread out.
Yes, it was strange, wasn't it?
Great, what colour are we going to start with?
Um…blue.
Blue?
OK.
Ha-ha!
One drop.
Ho-ho!
Oh!
Ho-ho!
Hmm.
Wow!
Oh…
Ah…
Hmm.
Ohh…
Oop!
Oh, that is beautiful!
Oh, wow!
Wow, put it in there.
OK.
Oh, that's great!
Pop that down.
Oh!
Wow!
Oh, can we do another?
Yes, try again.
Oh!
Ha-ha!
Hmm.
Now..
Oh…
Ah!
Ha-ha!
Ha-ha…
Oh!
Ohhh!
Wow!
Oh!
Oh, they're lovely!
Oh, yeah, they are, aren't they?
Yes.
Now we have to pick one to give to Sumi as a thankyou card, for giving us those lovely paints.
Oh, yeah, that'll be great!
Then I'm going to go give it to her myself.
Uh Possum, do you remember where Sumi lives?
Hmm.
It's a very, very, very long way away.
Ah that's right, Sally.
We will need to say, "Thank you for sending us the paints", and we can write that in there and sign it, "Love from Sally and…"
Would you like to sign your name?
Oh, yeah, I can do that.
That means she'll receive the card knowing that it's from both of us.
Sumi will just love this card!
She'll be so happy.
Oh, yes, she will.
Oh, this is lovely.
Well, Sally, why don't we wait for these to dry?
Oh, yes, we should.
Should we clean up?
Oh, what a good idea.
Would you like to write your name here, Possum?
Oh, yeah.
Hmm.
Done.
Oh, great!
Ha-ha!
This is the card that we're going to post to Sumi and when she opens it, she'll love the marbling we've done, and she'll know that we really enjoyed making this piece of art.
Oh, she'll be so touched.
Yeah and Sally, thank you so much for teaching me about this new art of marbling.
I've really enjoyed making all the different patterns.
We could make a really big one and use it as wrapping paper.
Oh, yes, we could!
Great.
The paint bottles are very tiny but you get plenty of paint out of them and we can make lots of art and I'm sure that every time we use them, we'll enjoy it.
Oh, great!
Sally, does that mean every time we make a picture, we have to write "thank you" on them and then send them to Sumi?
Oh, no – we won't need to do that.
We'll just send her the one thankyou card.
It's important to say thank you to people who give you presents.
That way, Sumi will know we've appreciated it.
Oh!
I think I might go and post this at the post office, so it finally gets to Japan and to Sumi.
Oh, great!
Ooh, Sally, I'm going to make a card for you to say thank you for teaching me how to make these beautiful pictures.
Oh why, thank you Possum.
That's very nice of you.
Well, our time is up.
Thanks for watching.
See you next time.
Bye!
Bye.
Now…
OK.
Let's use this one.
Mm-hm.