Yupha Mahamart - Printmaker

Me and Yupha Mahamart with her work.


This field is actually on campus, tucked away behind the gas station. If you look in the right direction it looks like you're in the middle of nowhere. I came to see this project around 5:45, just as it was starting to get dark. The light was really beautiful. From some angles you see the blue prints, and from others you see the blue sky reflected in the plexiglass.


The artist considers this project a sketch for a future, more complete piece.

Dogs in the Painting Office

Many local dogs wander freely in and out of the school - often stopping by for a visit in the painting office. Sometimes they sport stylish fashions.


Sexy dog with Kitti working at his desk in the background.

Pai

I visited Pai this weekend - about 2 1/2 hours from Chiang Mai. Somehow I didn't take any pictures in the town itself.


But I did take a picture of this sign - I love it!

Progress

Things From the Past that I Am Thinking About Now - Brent Green

Recently I have been thinking about the work of Brent Green which I first saw at Bellwether in 2007.
Links to Brent's Films on YouTube

Art Handlers

My students after the crit for "The Nude" in realistic painting.


This photo is of the same kids from a different angle.

Eating Lunch at Khun Churn

I love to go to the vegetarian buffet at Khun Churn in the Nimmanhaemin area of Chiang Mai. They have a wide selection of salad items and cooked vegetables that you can add your own sauces to (including delicious peanut sauce!), plus curries, brown rice, soups, dessert, and an unsweetened drink bar. Many of the drinks here in Thailand are too sweet for me, but at Khun Churn you can add your own sweetener to drinks like: iced tea, roselle, lemongrass, herbal black jelly, etc.



They also always have a deep fried vegetable with sauce - just in case you are feeling too healthy. Next time I'll take some pictures of the buffet too.

Songkran Soodham - Life and Chiang Mai Environment

Songkran Soodham, who also teaches in the Painting Department at Chiang Mai University, showed his paintings at the Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery. The show will up through December 12.


The artist with his work.



More photos.

More To Love: The Art of Living Together

A traveling art exhibition to fight stigma around HIV
Curated by Chattiya Nitpolprasert
with Hans Nefkens, founder of ArtAids
This show had an unexpected resonance to it - maybe because it was initiated by Hans Nefkens, who has been HIV positive since 1987. Not only is he deeply committed to HIV / AIDS issues, but he also has a genuine interest in Thai artists and plans to bring this exhibition to other countries to help their work become known outside of Thailand.


paintings by Nipan Oranniwesna


work by Arin Rungjang (nice use of suitcase)
on view until December 19, 2008

The Far Side of CMU Campus

This picture was taken on the Chiang Mai University Campus.

We Eat A Lot

On Monday night I went to a giant buffet restaurant with my Thai Language Class. I've been taking an intensive 3 hour a day class. Many of the people in my class took the Teacher of English as a Foreign Language class at CMU and are now teaching English or looking for a job. A couple people are working for NGO's, and a couple of people who don't live here are doing it for fun, which is pretty admirable.



The restaurant featured the most food I've ever seen. Each kind of food had its own area. There was an enormous amount of seafood, bbq meat on sticks, pork bbq rolls, a wide variety of seeds and nuts, soups, every fruit, every vegetable, many donuts, many cakes, ice cream with many toppings, thai jellies, etc.


We sat at table # 300


Of all the surprising foods, the most surprising to me was this happy little guy. He looks like he might be some kind of candy, but actually he's calamari.

More photos.

Look At This - Recent Paintings by Chatchawan Nilsakul

A new gallery is opening here in Chiang Mai, and the first show opens tomorrow evening. It is an exhibition of recent paintings by Chatchawan Nilsakul, who teaches with me at the Faculty of Fine Arts here at CMU.




Pictures from the opening.

Mini Asiatopia in Chiang Mai

This Sunday in Chiang Mai was Mini Asiatopia, a mini version of the full-size Asiatopia that has been happening in Bangkok over the past few weeks.
It was organized by CMU Painting Department Chair Padungsak Kochsomrong and Monthatip Suksopha.
With performances by:

Kaori Haba (Japan)
Fabien Montmartin (France)
Gertrude Moser-Wagner(Austria)
Barbara Sturm (Swiss)
Valentin Torrens(Spain)
Dan Mckereghan(USA)
The Wandering Moon performing group and endless journey (Thailand)
And 3 artists from The 4th Mekong Performing Arts Laboratory (Mekong Countries)


Above:
Dan Mckereghan(USA)


Above:
Fabien Montmartin (France)


Performance by artists from The 4th Mekong Performing Arts Laboratory

More Mini Asiatopia Photos here

Loi Krathong

Last night I went to the river for the loi krathong festival. Krathong are these banana leaf rafts with incense and candles. Mine was very generously made by one of the teacher's wives.

Here is my krathong floating away on the river...

People also light fires in the bottoms of these hot air lanterns - hundreds of them float in the sky. This morning the old ones were laying around my neighborhood like sad ghosts.

On Sunday we will have a small portion of Asiatopia, a performance arts festival that is mainly in Bangkok. Some of the artists are already here so we all went together.

Performance artists light the lantern.



Japanese artist Kaori Haba releases her krathong.

Loi Krathong

A short video from Loi Krathong

Realistic Paint

One of the classes I'm teaching is Realistic Paint, for second year students. The first week we had still life, and last week portrait.



Things are pretty much the same as they are in the U.S. (for this class) as you can see from this photo.



I made a demo painting...

Wat Umong

This sign is posted outside of Wat Umong.




This week two German artist who have been teaching for a semester in Bangkok came up to Chiang Mai for a few days. The graduate students from the new media department took us to feed some scary fish. There's a video of them on my flickr site (the fish, not the artists).



Then we visited Wat Umong, a 14th century temple a couple miles from the university. There is some wall painting in the tunnels at the temple - rare for Thailand - the moisture destroys paintings very quickly here. Even these examples were barely visible.





German artists feed Thai art.

Some Country Bike Rides

Yesterday and today were cooler than normal (around 85 degrees, instead of 95) so I took the opportunity to go on some bike rides out of town.



Behind my house I found this little pond with a couple of guys swimming in it. A small paved path headed out past the pond - it was perfect for biking through the lush surroundings. Until it ended unexpectedly with this pile of wet papers and a wall.





Yesterday I found this lake with a restaurant with little seating areas that extend over the water. I'll have to go back and try it later.


I also found a small lot for old shrines.

Black Jelly

I try to keep up with 22 year olds.
These are some seniors from CMU - 2 of them are my students. All four of them are going to Virginia Beach in March for a work exchange.



I try to eat this.
It is some very firm black jelly bits with some softer white jelly bits and chips of ice. It has a kind of herbal taste. It is a dessert. Even though it doesn't taste bad, texturally I just can't do it.

Some New York Activities

If I was in New York, I would definitely be attending these events. If you are there check them out:


Artists' Books Conference - It's happening right now! No guarantee that Dave and Emily will wear matching outfits - but one can hope.



Unbreak My Heart - curated by Brent Burket (check out his blog - link to the right) at Pluto in Brooklyn. This show includes work by
rosanna bruno
ej hauser
robert schatz
luke whitlatch
kate gilmore
and my friend Beth Gilfilen The image above is a studio shot from Beth.
It opens November 1.

I would also check out:
Lisa Sanditz at CRG Gallery - I loved her last show.
And Roger White at Rachel Uffner - closes November 2.

My House on the Farm

This is my house:


I live on the second floor - the landlord has an office on the first floor, but he is rarely there. The house is in a group of houses that all share one driveway and a really nice party / bbq area. It feels like a camp, or a rustic resort. One of the things that I love about Chiang Mai is how quickly it changes from city to country. I'm only 2 miles out of the center, but it is literally like the country, or even like the jungle. When I ride my bike at night I can hear the woods teeming with life. There are cows, dogs, chickens, exotic birds, lizards, and every kind of bug large and small.



I set up a little studio here - it is still unclear whether I'll have a space at the University. I have also been painting out on the balcony.



This is the party area with Kitti, who I met at Vermont Studio Center in 2003, his wife Maew, and my landlord. I took this photo when I first went to see the house. This complex is where James and Gaby lived when they lived in Chiang Mai.


More photos here.