A Floating Market in Thailand

"The Flower Vendor"
Damnoan Saduak Floating Market, Thailand
13.5" x 20" Watercolor

On the Bangkok Extension of our Indochina tour in March, we visited a floating market where hundreds of vendors sell fruits, vegetables, flowers, and goods from their boats. I took a photo from the bridge that crosses over the middle of the market and this woman was just a small part of the photo. I liked the unusual perspective. I had to use a lot of imagination to do this one, especially the water. There the waterway was a very greenish brown color and no doubt quite polluted, so I cleaned it up. My water ripples on the right side were suggested by the photo. I had to make up the left side and decided to add ripples to show movement and keep it in shadow to achieve a more effective painting. Here is the entire scene,

The market was a sight to behold. Both sides of the waterway had stalls where you could purchase every manner of goods. There were also little cafes and we sat to enjoy ice cream at one. If you wanted lunch, you could choose from many floating chefs. I won't call them restaurants because they whipped out those tiny stools that we Westerners had difficulty mastering, set them up beside the boat on the edge of the water, and cooked your meal to order. After having suffered turista in Siem Reap, I was not feeling adventurous.

I had to gather my courage to enter the market when we first arrived. Looking down from the bridge, I saw that the first vendor had 12 foot live snakes that they would drape around anyone willing to pay for the privilege. One was as yellow as a banana and I think the other was mottled color.  I will tell you that I have two unexplainable phobias, snakes and heights. I would be of little use in a rice paddy or on top of Mt. Everest.  I had to pull myself together and focus straight ahead as I walked within feet of the brave tourists sporting snakes.

Plein Air Documents Valley History

"Waterworks"

10" x 14"Watercolor

 

The real deal

 

 

 

Historical information

 

We had a picture-perfect California morning at the Rengstorff House, a preserved home from the 1800s typical of an affluent family of the times. Last year I was invited to exhibit two of my collages during their August show of local art. You can read about the event here.

 

The commute was just awful and I was never a commuter; I lived  just 3 miles from the two IBM campuses where I worked in my 30 year career.  I often bicycled to work the final 8 years. The 32 minute drive north to the paint site took almost an hour and a half! Thankfully, it was worth the drive. I had about an hour and a half to paint this piece before lunch, which keeps me from overworking the piece.

 

There were many great paintings done of the house, but I chose the lifeblood of the valley -- wind and water. Santa Clara Valley was known as "The Valley of the Heart's Delight" for its glorious agriculture. Today we are "Silicon Valley" and the fields sport companies with manicured landscapes like Google, Facebook, EBay and Paypal, to name but a few. There are remnants of agriculture and very fortunately, I live on the southern end of San Jose where the fields remain open between towns. We have a lovely farm stand just a couple miles from us where I buy my fresh produce. Today Linda gifted me with cantaloupes that she planned to compost because they were very ripe. Bob made cold melon soup from them -- yummy.

 I loved that you could order this windmill from Montgomery Wards for $42.50 in the Thirties. I enjoyed doing the dramatic shadows and I had a nice view across the marshes behind the structures and a piece of delicious shade. When we gathered for our picnic lunches at 12:30, we were impressed with the groups output. A few of the 20+ paintings are seen here.

 

 

Check out more about this paintsites event on the paintsites blog.

 



Monday Morning Drawing Class: A bag of fruit

"A Bag of Fruit"
14" x 12" Pastel

This morning Bob set up a plastic bag with apples, a plum, and a peach. I've never done plastic bags before and boy, this was a challenge. Three apples were mostly exposed and the three other fruits were in the bag. He says we will get to try wax paper next time.

Monday Morning Drawing Class: Hyderangeas

"Hyderangeas"

14" x 12" Pastel

 

Critique time

 

We enjoyed the setup today. Florals are a challenge. Instructor Bob Semans always emphasizes blocking in the values first, then going back and adding a bit of detail. You can see the drawing of the vase is off somewhat, but overall I like the painting.