A Week of Art and Dance
Chiang Mai (Not to be confused with Chiang Rai. Previous posts.)
We spent the better part of week in Chiang Mai. Plans were to get some scooters and do more of the countryside in our typical Burmese Bandit style. That didn’t happen. Our first night we set off wandering the old part of town. Every Sunday there is a huge night market where local craftsmen and artists gather to sell their goods. Along with food vendors and the typical tourist junk dealers we’ve come across the region over. Fortunate for us, we walked past an artist with a very unique style. Needless to say, it caught both our eyes. We sat and spoke with Tuw (Two-ah) about his work for some time. We both purchased some small pieces of art and got directions to his studio for the following day. Nighttime in his town was surprisingly peaceful and even the feel of the air was relaxing. There were a lot of people about, but it wasn’t chaotic. Quiet masses moving along the streets. Our hostel was across the river and a couple miles from the backpacker’s ghetto in old town. Thus being cheaper, quieter and having warmer customer service (general experience in the cozy out of the way places).
The next day we got lost several times within being lost already trying to find Tuw’s studio. After a bit of frustration we eventually found it. If you’re ever in Thailand this is a tip to remember. It doesn’t take long to figure out that most Thais don’t know directions at all. If you ask for some, they’ll tell you how to get to your destination even if they don’t know where it is. It runs in their nature to not say no. So bad directions are common apposed to a simple “I don’t know.” It’s wise to ask 3 or more people and combine the ones that go relatively the same direction. Then ask along the way again. The closer you get, the better people know their five-block radius. We walked into Tuw’s studio and took a seat. He offered us tea as soon as our shoes came off. Conversation. Tuw is an extremely nice and personable guy. We looked at his art, talked about his inspirations, his artistic techniques (which he didn’t mind sharing) and enjoyed the tea. The next day we returned to the studio for portraits.
After lunch/dinner with Tuw, we visited a paper store where Riley was unable to contain himself. All handmade paper of amazing quality, different colors, different sizes and so cheap it was impossible not to get any. If someone didn’t know what kind of store we were walking out of they may have guessed it was a rug shop. The bundle over Riley’s shoulder was the same dimensions as a rolled up rug, only it was paper. Meeting Tuw and finding this paper shop inspired an artistic burst within us both and most of our evenings were spent drawing and painting on the patio of our hostel. It was a mellow few days of keeping out of the heat, but keeping busy.
A link to some of Tuw’s work http://www.lalunagallery.com/artist_chumpol_taksapornchai.asp
