CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - LINOCUT EDITION - SEPTEMBER 2012

I finally started cutting out my linocuts from my trip to Chiang Mai in September of 2012.
This is the first of the series and represents the process of printing an Artists Proof for me to make any adjustments for the eventual printing of the full edition.

"As promised, I rang in the new year last night by working on an art piece. I finished cutting the first lino from my most recen trip to Chiang Mai. This is a very special place to me, a shaded peaceful spot towards the back of Wat Phrasingh, where many young monks would gather to meet their friends, sometimes study and often, just hang out and enjoy the company of friends and curious foreigners. I showed up here on one of my last days to draw this piece while Phra's Kritsada Prueprung, Yee Vongpaseuth and Khamla Yotthavong were still in class."

INITIAL SKETCH ON PRE-MEASURED PIECE OF LINO. 

DRAWN ON-SITE IN CHIANG MAI

CUT LINO

FINAL PRINT

NEW LINO SKETCHES FROM CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - September 2012

Here are scans of the 11 lino sketches I produced while in Chiang Mai this past month. I only wish I had more time to add a few more images to this edition, there is definitely a couple of temples i visited with unique and special things i would have loved to have captured as images for a print. Guess there's always the next time. Now it's time to get started cutting and printing these guys. 

Wat Chedi Luang

Wat ???

Wat Sri Suphan

Wat Phra Singh / Monks

Wat Phra Singh

Wat Sri Suphan / Buddha

Wat Taad Kham / Behind the Vihara

Wat Chiang Mun

Wat Pan Whaen

Wat Prasart / Buddha

Wat Taad Kham / Alter behind main Vihara

CHIANG MAI SKETCHBOOK - September 2012

Here are some of the sketches I put into my travel sketchbook while traveling to Chiang Mai, Thailand during the month of September 2012

Tokyo / Narita Airport

Bangkok Airport

"Arm" Asleep In The Truck / Wat Chedi Luang

Wat Chedi Luang

Wat Doi Suthep

Wat Phra Singh / Feet of Reclining Buddha

Birth Year "Rat" / Monks with new haircuts at Wat Phra Singh

WAT CHEDI LUANG, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

This is one if the last, (only 2 sketches in the series left), of the series of linocut sketches I drew while in Chiang Mai, Thailand in January while doing work for the volunteer group VOLUNTEER POSITIVE.

This image was created while sitting in the shade under a tree surrounding the massive Chedi in Wat Chedi Luang.

From: Thailand For Visitors

"In its day, Wat Chedi Luang must have been the most impressive temple in Chiang Mai. Built about 600 years ago, the huge chedi which gave the temple its name (the name of the temple translates to "royal pagoda") must have soared high above the surrounding city. We say "must have" because the chedi was mostly destroyed within a few hundred years of its construction. Some say it was an earthquake in the 17^th century that did the deed; others say it was King Taksin's cannons firing on the city to chase out the Burmese in the 18^thcentury."


"The pagoda has been partially reconstructed, but the spire has not been recreated since nobody can be sure what it looked like."

CHANGE OF PACE

I've been in a bit of a linocut burn-out phase after cutting and printing many of my linocuts from my recent trip to Chiang Mai. I've also been craving doing some color work and some painting, so I broke out the acrylic paints and brushes and did this quick little "sketch". If you've been keeping track of my recent linocuts, you'll have seen a similar image printed of this same subject. What I've learned to do over the years is to always photograph the image I am drawing on to lino when i am traveling and doing an on-site lino drawing. The reason for this is to have a refer4ence shot of whatever it is I'm looking at just in case I decide to add color to the lino or I have trouble understanding what I drew. This is my friend Phra Kritsada Prueprong, a 20 year-old Buddhist Monk I met and became friends with in Chiang Mai.

"WRAPPED STUPA" - CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

The afternoon I arrived in Chiang Mai, absolutely exhausted from a 24-hour travel period, I had time to myself before meeting the rest of the Volunteer Positive group for our first dinner together. In a bit of a daze and reluctant to stray too far from the guest house/hotel for fear of being lost in the metropolis that is Chiang Mai, (ha, ha), I decided to take a little walk. I figured my best bet was sticking to the main roads and relying on my experience with using visual markers as my guide. The place I finally ended up at was Wat Intakhin, or Wat Sadue Muang depending on who you ask. This relatively unassuming Wat that stands just to the left of the “Three Kings” sculpture was the first Temple I saw while in Chiang Mai. I didn’t go in, just took a peak through the open front doors, looked in through a side window and eventually discovered the beautifully wrapped Stupa that eventually became this linocut.

In retrospect I realize how silly I was being. This particular Wat is comparable in distance from the hotel as a 4-block walk in NYC, yet at the time, on my first day, it felt like a 30 mile walk into the unknown of a foreign land.

It became a spot I would see or walk by almost daily during the rest of my 3.5 weeks in Chiang Mai, so it has a special spot in my heart. I started out on this journey rather hesitant and fearful of the unexpected and ended up eventually discovering so much more about Chiang Mai and my self. I ended up spending my entire last week hanging out in a number of the 80 Temples that dot the city like Starbucks dots NYC. I became adventurous in my exploration, I even learned the proper way to enter a temple and prostrate to Buddha. I walked around the city like I would walk around NYC and documented my journey through 100’s of photo’s as well as sketches on postcards and finally linoleum.

So, to Wat Intakhin and the gentleman who sat down next to me for a good 1/2 hour the afternoon I was drawing this particular linoleum, I say, “Thank you. You will always have a special place in my heart. Despite the fact that you and I could not communicate verbally, your kindness was obvious and indicative of Chiang Mai. I will always be grateful.“

2 MORE LINOCUTS FROM CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - ALLEY SCENE / 3 DRAGONS

Here are the next 2 prints from my Chiang Mai Series.

Th first print, an "Alley Scene" is described in the following excerpt from an interview i recently participated in.

"I’m currently working on the series of linocuts I created while I was in Chiang Mai in January. And the one piece I’m cutting out right now was drawn the afternoon after I had sliced 2 of my fingers open quite badly the night before. I had limited time to draw on my own during my service and was looking forward to spending as many days on my own as possible wandering through the city “recording”. I was pretty disappointed when I woke up the following morning as I could barely bend my figures, each time opening the wounds and having blood pour out. But, I bandaged the hell out of these 2 fingers, grabbed my art supplies, a bottle of water and my backpack and headed out anyway. I’ve worked under far worse circumstances. It was another beautifully clear and already warm early afternoon and I found myself wandering through the back streets of old Chiang Mai. I passed an open-air garage where a young man was creating what I assumed was religious iconography by hand-stamping various sizes of tools into a sheet of metal. I passed someone’s yard whose fence was covered in a somewhat unkempt fragrant flowered vine that smelled beautifully. And then I spotted something I wanted to draw. I found a great vantage point next to a fence and in the shade. Standing here, you could smell the scent of incense wafting around in the air, with so many temples in the old city, it’s not an uncommon smell. Every once in a while a motorbike would whiz by or a kid dressed in their school uniform would pass. Occasionally they would pass close enough to take a peak at what I was drawing.

Just remembering all of these little details brings a smile to my face."

This second print is from a drawing at one of the local temples in the old city. Unfortunately, I did not make note on the back of it as to which temple I was at. If I can find some online reference, I'll be sure to add it here.

FIRST 3 LINO'S FROM CHIANG MAI TRIP

These are the first 3 lino's I've cut and printed based on the sketches from my trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand as part of the group Volunteer Positive. (And one linocut from my friend Phra Kritsada Prueprong) The first 2.5 weeks was spent in service which afforded me very little time to actually draw on my own, most of the prints from the full series were sketched out on my last week in Chiang Mai. The only 1 of these 3 lino's that was sketched during my actual service is the Elephant sketches print. We spent an afternoon at the BAAN CHANG ELEPHANT PARK in Chiang Mai where after a educational introduction to the Asian Elephants in residence we had lunch and a few minutes to digest our food before the 2-hour trek we were about tro partake in. Having not had much opportunity to do any prior sketch work, I had the foresight to bring along a few pieces of pre-cut lino and stole away for 20 minutes after lunch and did these sketches. Let it be known, elephants do not stand still, ever. It was a challenge to get a complete sketch, which explains why there are so many partial elephants in this print.

The print of the Monk is in fact a dear friend I made while in Chiang Mai. He is a 20 year old Monk named Phra Kritsada Prueprong originally from a village outside of Chiang Mai in Loei province. We were paired up as part of something called "Monk Chat" which is an event that creates the opportunity for local monks to practice their conversational skills with English speaking foreigners. On this particular morning, Kritsada and I took a tour of a few of the local temples and I decided that since he would share with me, I would share with him by having us both work on a lino sketch. I offered to take his drawing back to NYC with me where i would cut it out and print it for him. I had no idea that he could actually draw and was quite talented. It turned out to be an incredible opportunity for the both of us.

The print of the banners was from Wat Phrasingh in Chiang Mai. I'm not sure of the exact purpose of the banners, but if you look carefully, you will see representation of 3 Birth Year Animals. As there were many more banners there, I assume that's what they were there to represent.

SKETCH OF ELEPHANTS ON LINO

PARTIALLY CARVED LINO

INKED LINO

FINAL PRINT

PORTRAIT OF "DAVID" - BY KRITSADA PRUEPRONG

PORTRAIT OF KRITSADA - BY DAVID BERUBE

WAT PHRASINGH - CUT LINO

WAT PHRASINGH - FINAL PRINT