In the Mood for Love

A Japanese restaurant was recommended to us a few weeks ago and last night we finally had the opportunity to check it out.

The name of the restaurant is "In the Mood for Love" and it's located
in an area called Ekkamai, alley (soi) 1, across from Health Land,
down the alley about 50 yards (50 meters).

The decor is artsy, yet classy.  These bird cages and red pom-pons hang from the top of the second floor down through a hole in the center of the restaurant:

Our favorite dish that night was "The Caterpillar", a visually impressive maki sushi roll made of shrimp (ebi tempura), unagi (fresh water eel), rice, and avocado slices.  Two fish eggs (roe) make the eyes, and little sprouts make the antennae. 

The meal was a bit pricey for Bangkok, but the food was excellent!

Day Trip to Ayutthaya

About a week ago, as part of Just for Fun* tours, I organized a group of teacher friends to go north to Thailand's second capital city.  It was the capital for over 400 years and was finally sacked by Burma in the late 18th century.  Many of the ruins are in good shape and you can walk among the stupas, statues, and temple complexes!

Stunning Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol.

It was super bright and sunny when we visited Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol, about 5K from Ayuttayah.

There is a Buddha statue head in the roots of this tree.  The head must have fallen off and the roots grew around it.  It is considered a sacred site.

You don't always see the profile of this statue, just the close up of the front.

This brick and stone structure is about 700 years old.

I took some time to do a watercolor sketch of Wat Chaiwatthanaram   You can see it below.  By taking a few moments to really look at the structure, I noticed birds who had made nests in the towers, small bushes growing in the crevices, and the details above the entry.

It's hard to judge the scale, but just imagine that the doorway in the center is twice as tall as a regular door.

These are entrance halls where marriage ceremonies or religious rites are performed.

The staircase looks Mayan, no?

By showing a postcard of this reclining Buddha to our driver, he was able to find it (after asking a few people on the side of the road).  It is a stone carving and about 50 yards long (about 45.72 meters).

I sketched this with a pen at the site, then painted it on the van ride back to Bangkok.
I'll do another version of it in oil, perhaps.

The specks are the birds.  While I was painting this, a 5-year-old boy was fanning me.  I pretended to be blown back by the wind, almost broke the chair I was sitting on, and he spit all over himself from a burst of laughter.  This went on for about 5 minutes, so excuse the unfinished sky.  Thanks, kid.

*Just for Fun Tours was the name we came up with and some day we will have a fleet of buses, ships, tuk tuks, and a helicopter.  We are working on a logo with the help from Krave of Kraveart.com

Some of My Recent Paintings

Bangkok has given me lots of opportunities recently to practice my sketching and painting skills.  I sketched the band "Deadtown Trash" at a club called Harmonica here in Bangkok while they were playing.  You can feel the energy von Rock.  They posted the drawing on their FB page.  The bass player, Aaron, is my colleague at school and he invited me to paint at their next show at a club called Fatty's.  I accepted, of course.
Then I attended a life drawing session with some friends of mine, and I'll be going back until we get out of school in June.  I'm also thinking of renting a space at the studio to work on a series of paintings.  It's good to put brush to canvas and panel again after such a long time, and to get my hands dirty!

This picture shows lead vocalist, Brittany, belting out her tunes, while Steve on guitar rocks the house.  Aaron von Rock keeps us afloat with the bass, and Keith on drums doesn't miss a beat.

This watercolor is from a 20-minute pose at Attic Studios in Bangkok.  I haven't been to a life drawing session for over 4 years.  It's good to be back.

This five minute warm-up was made by painting the negative space.  Not the model, but everything around her.

A five minute study in texture and shadow -- and composition.

While taking a short river cruise, I painted my trip mates.  There was a lot of wind.  I used the river water.

This is a cartoon I drew for an article I wrote for school titled, "If Students Don't Learn How We Teach, Then We Need to Teach How They Learn."  The color version appears in the article.

This is mixed media.  The background is an oil painting I did at a 2.5 hour session, then I used ProCreate on my iPad to add in the electrical pole and wiring (inversed colors).  I'm still working on it.

Finally, I created a website for art instruction for teachers.  It's called teachingyoutosee.weebly.com and it will make it easier to teach, and continue teaching, teachers how to draw and paint.  I'm still building it, but you can check it out.

Keeping Fit in Thailand

On our way home one evening, we noticed something different in the corner of the parking lot of the local supermarket.  Loud, fast-paced music could be heard a block away.  As we got closer, we saw over a hundred people exercising together led by an aerobics/dance instructor who was standing on top of a large storage unit.

"We're not in Southern California anymore, Toto."