New Painting

Hi friends, I have had some time lately to create my own paintings. Here is one that I will be leaving here. It started out as a image for a line Joanna Newsom's song "Monkey and Bear", but has since taken on a life of it's own.

Another painter I've had the privilege of working with -Maria Kreyn

Here's another new friend - Joakim
- who's paintings I love

A Mirror to the People (part 2)

In the evening of the first day we arrived at Mirror, there was already something exciting to take part in. P. Aye told us that a man in a neighboring Akha village had just completed the building of his new house, and there would be an important home-blessing party, as is hillltribe custom, to bring luck to the household. P. Aye encouraged the volunteers to make an appearance, an important symbol of a bond of friendship between the Mirror group and their neighboring tribes. We met together with the other volunteers to pool together a little money, which is customary to present to the family of the new home. We tried to think of other gifts to present to honor this important occasion, and someone managed to come up with a bottle of cheap, nasty hilltribe whiskey, which we presented to our host with red faces and stifled giggles. It was the best we could come up with, as the nearest shop was miles away and we didn’t have much warning in advance. Our host accepted the gift courteously with feigned enthusiasm, clearly a whisky snob like many of the hilltribe men.

My first exposure to a hilltribe village had me pinching myself to check if I was actually there living it for real, not watching a PBS series. Small bamboo huts perched on stilts above my head; packs of children wearing filthy, oversized tee shirts worn like dresses, and colorful blessing threads wrapped around their tiny wrists and necks; water buffalo grazing near by- it was so surreal. The entire small village was outdoors that night, drinking, and sharing food and laughter, glad for the excitement and the excuse for a celebration. The hilltribe people’s faces were dark and striking with high cheekbones and strong features hinting at the Tibetan origin of their ancestry. Their well-worn clothing was a mixture of traditional hilltribe jackets and pants, colorful Thai skirts, and some cheaply-made western-style tees and pieces that somehow found their way to this remote mountain village from a factory in China.

It’s amazing how one’s appetite can go completely away when in a third world country. Luke and I and the other volunteers politely nibbled at the feast that our honored host had spread out on the floor of his new house for us, his guests. We took delicate sips of the brain soup, munched on the raw stalks of some flowers, and gratefully washed the unique flavors down with some Beer Chang that had been specially provided for the occasion.

Later in the week as I sat in the main office on my computer, researching and writing grants for several of Mirror’s initiatives, I forced myself to come to grips with the fact that on this particular trip, the people of Mirror group and the hilltribes would be teaching and helping me more than I would be helping them. Hopefully some benefit could come to them despite the limited amount of time Luke and I could spend with them, but it is I who would benefit the most from this particular visit.

Before we can begin to serve and help the people who’s lives we want to effect and improve, we have to first take time to listen with a closed mouth, to watch with open eyes and hearts, to learn and to understand. Then hopefully in the future, the learning of a culture and understanding of ways that I began on this trip, will enable me to work towards lasting change.

August Mix

Here's the second installment of paintings honoring Ryan's "that time of the month mix". Some of these works were my favorites before our trip to Norway. While some of these paintings I've only discovered since being here. Nevertheless, they are among my favorites.

1. Saint Ana, the Virgen , the son and Saint John - Leonardo da Vinci (1498) - London National Gallery
2. Portrait of Paul Verlain - Carriére (1891) - Musee d'Orsay, Paris
3. (Girl Bathing) Odd Nerdrum (21st Century)
4. Gamle furutrer- Hertervig (1865) - Stavanger, Norway
5. Perseus and Andromeda - Titian (1553/62) - Wallace Collection, London
6. Self Portrait with Dr. Arrieta - Goya (1820) - MIA, Minneapolis
7. Saint Onufri - Ribera (1637) - Hermatige, St. Petersburg
8. Self Portrait as Munch - Helene Knoop (21st Century)
9. The Knight with the Falcoln - Rembrandt (1660's) - Gothenburg Museum, Sweden

A Mirror to the People (part 1)

http://www.mirrorartgroup.org/

The most hope-giving and inspirational experience of our Thailand journey, was the week we spent high up in the mountains, where northern thailand meets Burma. When doing research on anti-human trafficking NGOs during my year of preparation leading up to our trip, I was struck by the artful and imaginative website of the Mirror Foundation. It stood out to me as an organization that, very grassroots and holistically, lived and worked among the hill tribe people they are advocating for. I was pleased to later learn that most of their prominent roles are filled by hilltribe people and Thais, rather then imported western foreigners like many of the other anti-trafficking organizations in Thailand. Then when I found out that Heidi Tungseth from Solomon’s Porch was considering spending time with them as well, my mind was made up that Mirror was indeed the right group with which to spend my energy on this trip.

I’m not sure how the name “Mirror Foundation” was chosen, or what it signified to the students and artists who initiated it in 1991, but in my mind it represents a mirror that reflects back to the tribal people of the Mae Yao region, the unique beauty of their culture and people. A mirror to inspire these proud and independent people to continue to look inward- inside their rich heritage, rather than giving in to the increasing pressure to look outward toward mainstream Thai culture.
The prospect of keeping alive each tribe’s distinct cultural traditions, livelihood, and language, is looking less and less optimistic, as tribes are forced by the Thai government to relocate down into the cities from high up in their beloved mountain dwellings.

But the most critical issue facing displaced hilltribe people, is that increasing poverty and vulnerability is causing a rapid increase in their women and children being trafficked into the big cities and sold for prostitution. Mirror Foundation has made a bold choice to do the most difficult but most effective kind of anti-trafficking work. They have chosen to live and work intimately with the hilltribe people, locating their headquarters among their villages and sharing day to day life with them. In this way, Mirror has grown to understand the intricacies of tribal life and what role they can play in preventing the villages’ young girls from straying away from the life they know and becoming prey to traffickers.

Butterflies bounced and jostled in my stomache as an open-backed songtaew transported us from the Chiang Rai bus station, up a steep mountain path towards the Mirror community. It thumped over rocks the size of coconuts, and swerved threateningly around sharp curves. I was nervous, feeling intimidated by the unknown, and very much aware of the dozens of hilltribe faces gawking at us as we rumbled past their roadside markets and houses. Trying to keep our gigantic 6 month-suitcases, which were large enough to stow a small human body or two, from sliding uncontrollably towards the open back of the truck did nothing to calm my nerves.

Finally we found our way through the lush green hills and forest to the Mirror grounds, and pulled up to her main “office,” a small, cozy bamboo hut on stilts. Friendly faces, mostly Japanese, Thai, and Hilltribe (plus one awesome American named Alex) greeted us. Along with one, very frantic, intimidating woman called P. Aye.

The Mirror Foundation is actually a community of students, artists, and activists who live together in an intimate paradise of traditional hilltribe-style houses tucked into wooded groves and bamboo. Feels more like a peaceful commune than an organization of human-rights activists. But, boy do they keep busy, as we soon found out, with dozens of projects and a constant stream of new ideas to improve the lives of their neighbors. We wandered around the grounds where we discovered a small clay shop where hilltribe women make little clay birds and whistles to sell. There is a music studio for recording traditional hilltribe music to share with the rest of the world, and a radio/tv station for broadcasting hilltribe-pertinent news and information to the surrounding villages. There is a community kitchen and outdoors dining platform where all the volunteers cook and eat meals together, and where they compost their leftover food for gardening usage.

Right away we felt at home and at peace, with the hard-working but easy-going, environmentally-conscious, genuine people that live and work at Mirror Foundation. P. Aye took some getting used to with her intensity and almost bossy-ness, but I quickly saw that her drive and passion, coupled with task and detail-orientation are a huge part of what keeps Mirror so successful in accomplishing their dreams. These people are seriously some of the most hard-working activists I’ve met. They will the change they want to happen, with every activity of each day. On an average day with Mirror, we:

- mixed buckets of concrete to build a students house
- helped design a logo for their new eco-friendly hemp bag
- taught an English lesson to the hilltribe guides
- had a Thai lesson
- cooked a meal together
and met together to discuss the multitude of other projects that were being worked on in the community.

In addition to all the business of our days there, a thick solemnity and despair hung in the air as people frantically sent emails, made phone calls, and discussed arrangements to try and help their Burmese neighbors just over the mountains, who had been struck and shattered by cyclone Nargis just days earlier.

...story to be continued ;)

Sacred Grass

What is becoming trendy as an environmentally sustainable and “green” commodity nowadays, the Lahu tribe of Northern Thailand have known about and used for centuries. Bamboooooo!
To the Lahu, bamboo is a trusty old friend. Their daily life involves living intimately with it, depending on it for many practical daily uses. We could sense the deep respect that the Lahu people we stayed with on our village stay, had for this miraculous plant, which is very much a part of their cultural identity. Spending just three days with our guide Ja Ha and his family in the hill tribe villages, and we witnessed the multitude of ways that bamboo can be used, though it has been documented that there are actually a thousand known uses for it!

Va is the general Lahu word for bamboo, but there are dozens of other respective names given to bamboo determined by what the Lahu use it for. For instance, to refer to the bamboo used to cook rice when talking about the bamboo used to build a house would cause great amusement for a Lahu! The Lahu are so familiar with the many different species of bamboo that they employ, that most can identify the species of bamboo being cut down, simply by listening to the sound it makes. Incredible!

The Lahu village of Ban Yafu, where we stayed for 2 days, is the most beautiful, natural living environment I have ever seen. We came to the village by hiking up steep, arduous mountain, following our guide Ja Ha as he followed a trail that was either in his imagination, or marked by little plants that he recognized- I don’t know, but there was definitely NO PATH to be followed. When we arrived at the hill overlook above the small village, we stopped to just take it all in. Miles of lush green hills, not a power line or paved road in sight. And all the homes and buildings were constructed almost entirely of bamboo! The traditional Lahu home is built on stilts, and its floors and walls are bamboo with thatched roof. The steps or latter up to the first landing (or deck if you will) of the home are made of bamboo. We took our shoes off before entering the home, which is proper in Thai culture, and the light, springy bamboo floor boards under my feet felt amazing. We slept on blankets that night, that had been carefully laid out on the floor by our host family. The bamboo floor was so comfortable to sleep on! It felt like we were suspended in air all night!

After the end of each meal with Ja Ha and his family, Ja Ha would pour steaming herbal tea made of some smoky, earthy flavored leaves into cups he had carved out of a bamboo stalk. Looking around the village, we could see that the aqueducts and pipes were made entirely of bamboo. We also ate bamboo shoots with one of our meals. The best example of the Lahu’s efficient use of bamboo though, was one afternoon when Ja Ha led us up a steep mountain path, along with his 14 year old son and adorable little daughter, to the highest peak in the village. On the way up, Ja Ha stopped to cut down a couple bamboo stalks and when we got to the top he informed us that we would cook our lunch inside of the bamboo. He cut and hollowed out long pieces of the bamboo, then we stuffed them with rice, chili paste and vegetables and cooked them over the fire. I will never forget the smoky taste of that delicious meal.

On our hike out of Yafu village, at one point Ja Ha stopped to cut some bamboo to make us walking sticks. Then he amazed us by quickly carving a rough flute out of bamboo, and proceeded to play it, getting a good few notes out of the thing! It was fascinating and delightful to me to see the multitude of wonderful ways in which this nature abiding people incorporate bamboo into their daily lives. It gave me a greater appreciation for this important natural resource too!

Here are some interesting facts about BAMBOO

• An enduring, fast growing and truly renewable resource, it needs no replanting.
• A high-yielding, viable replacement for wood and petroleum based products.
• Important economic and ecological benefits including soil and water conservation, jobs, numerous product applications and food- more then 1000 documented uses.
• Amazingly short growth cycle, it can be harvested in 3-5 years versus 15-20, typical for many hardwoods.
• The fastest growing plant on the planet, some species can grow up to 1 meter or 3 feet per day.
• A critical element in the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• A renewable alternative resource for agro-forestry production.
• Bamboo shoots provide a nutritional source of food which can be made into bread, cakes scones and cookies.
• Environmentally friendly reduction of pressure on forests through wood substitution.
• Products can be made in rural environments, reducing industrial and urbanization impacts.
Bamboo is durable, sturdy and strong - harder than Red Oak and Maple.