Citylights 2

"Citylights 2"
6x12 Oil on Panel
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This is another scene from wonderful Koh Samui. Oh, how we loved it!

One of the luxuries of living over here is that you meet some fascinating people that have truly traveled. They know the nooks and crannies and some have lived in crazy places I can only imagine. Yesterday the AWA (American Women's Association) held a coffee at a collector's house. She is from the US, but has been living in SE Asia since the mid 80's. Her house was absolutely amazing - it looked like a museum. I think my favorite thing that she and her husband had collected was the Indonesian Kris. Their collection was absolutely spectacular. This isn't one of the hilts from her home (Wikipedia, yay!), but she had some of similar quality and beauty:

This particular style was Balinese. The Java and Sumatran Kris styles are much simpler and the more valuable scabbards (to the locals) in those areas are the ones made with beautiful wood. They have a wicked looking blade, and each blade has an intricate design on it, with very exacting standards depending on the region where it comes from.

Men carry them on their backs usually. Even though they can be used as a weapon, they're more objects of power, or a talisman. We were told that people will sleep with these under their pillow for protection. Supposedly the spirits will take the Kris from under your pillow and slay your enemies while you sleep. You know it has worked if you wake up the next morning with blood on your pillow. Fascinating, and such beautiful objects.

Morning Commute

"Morning Commute"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This was from my visit to Cambodia last fall. We had a fantastic guide, and instead of taking the main roads to get to the temples, he took the back roads, which were little more than dirt paths, not even wide enough for a car. At one point we passed this gentleman coming back from the fields after a hard days work.

It is very strange living on the equator at Christmas time. There is no snow, not even a brisk chill to the air. At least it got below 70 degrees in Texas in December! But you know what? That is okay. Singapore has figured a way around its tropical weather. One of the malls is sponsoring a real, live, snow globe! So for every $200 you spend (because, 'tis the season, go spend, spend, spend!) you get the chance to experience real, cold, snow and weather. It is quite the amusing advertisements. The big deal is that it is -3 degrees Celcius (about 27F). They even have winter clothes you can try on to take inside the globe with you to pose in photos. It just totally cracks me up. Sometimes I feel like this is a strange alternate universe that I live in!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 91

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 91"
6x6 Oil on Panel
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This is a wonderful little house in Boat Quay, an area that has a ton of restaurants and bars surrounding one of the Quays. A quay is the British terms for a wharf, so it is this really cool little waterfont area. As late as the early 1990s, boats were still pulled directly into Boat Quay just like below: 

Clearly, things have changed in the last few years, and the area has been restored, although it is a bit Disney-esque rather than truly historical. But that is kind of Singapore for you. I'm just happy that they kept the shophouses on this waterfront rather than razing them and building condos!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 90 - SOLD

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 90"
6x12 Oil on Panel - SOLD
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I loved, loved, loved doing this night scene in Chinatown. There was something so wonderful about the dramatic lighting and the shadows that they cast on the windows and doors. Plus, it looked pretty sweet in its gold frame. There is just something about these night scenes and a gold frame. They seem to just glow once they are in a frame. Yummy.

I know the past two posts I've had have been kind of down because of my camera. So I thought that I would mention something that made me super happy recently. One of my collectors has become a wonderful personal friend. She happened to buy Shophouse #1 at my show this spring. Then, at the Fair last week, she unknowingly bought #100 (which I haven't posted yet!). I'm just so happy that she got both of those paintings, as she has been such a fantastic supporter. Kind of neat that both the first and the last (supposedly last...) went to the same person, isn't it?

Citylights 1

"Citylights 1"
8x10 Oil on Panel
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This is a scene from Koh Samui, Thailand in the fisherman's village of Bophut. I just loved Koh Samui, and this little village was really cool. It faced west, so the sunsets were just spectacular. It was also not the main town on the island, so we were spared from all the Cancun-like antics of Chaweng beach (which is beautiful, to be honest, I just didn't miss all the drunk tourists crashing their mopeds). After dark a market of sorts was set up along the main road (really the only road) and you could just walk along and enjoy the wares for sale. This was a painting of the main drag, just at sunset.

Well, after a full week of looking, I bit the bullet and bought a new camera. Totally hurt my soul, but I have to be able to take photos to work on paintings. Kind of part of the job description, no? I'm not going to be painting much the rest of the month, unfortunately. The holidays take precedence! Lots of administrative, end of the year stuff to take care of. But, as a gift to myself, I purchased a 12x24'' frame and I am going to do a painting for ME. I can't wait. If somebody is interested in buying it, that would be fantastic, but I haven't painted something to go on my walls in forever, so that is what I'm doing. That'll be my project for the next week or two. I might even have it done and ready to hang by the Christmas party next week!

Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 89"

"Singapore Heritage Shophouse No. 89"
6x12 Oil on Panel
Click Here to Purchase

Whew, this has been a whirlwind week. I'm just flat out exhausted, to tell you the truth. Last week was another week for The Fair at Goodwood Park Hotel. It went well, made some great sales, met some new friends and collectors again. It just turns into long, long days. 

I'm a little dispirited because somehow in setting up all the Christmas decorations and getting ready for guests on Monday, my camera has gone missing. My best guess is that it somehow wound up in a bag of trash from decorations and was accidentally thrown out. Because I have literally torn this house apart looking for it. But every time I think it is lost, I remember the family legend about my grandmother "losing" a family ring that was so well hidden (in case of thieves) she didn't find it for years! Unfortunately, I don't have years to wait to find this camera. The worst part (besides having to buy a new camera) is that all of the pictures I've taken in the past month are lost along with the camera, including a commission I was working on and all the photos I took while I was in Vietnam for a week. Luckily, I've been backing up my memory card every month, but unluckily, it had been a month since I backed it up. Sigh.