Origins and Destinations

The high speed train was right on time to the minute, it took us only 5 hours to get to Shanghai. What a cosmopolitan, bustling,
huge city, complete contrast to Beijing in many ways. We are staying in the tree lined French Concession area in a little apartment down a hutong. There's a photo on the wall that shows this whole building being demolished. It makes sense because the inside of this place is fresh as can be, big shower and fluffy white towels and beddings, a far cry from what we had in Bei Gao village..changes everywhere


We went to the Yuyaan Gardens market area and had lunch at this
wonderful Chinese restaurant, great veggie dumplings and soup with delightful noodles and mushrooms

We walked along the Bund near the Huangpu River and were amazed at the eclectic architecture and blue skies

I am standing in front of the Oriental Pearl TV tower

Fuzhou Street was filled with small art supply stores, loved browsing and buying a few new materials

Last night we had a real adventure hunting for a restaurant. Mike

was in charge of finding a place to eat..he had it all picked out,the best Indian food in the city etc. taxied there and it was
out of business..he had read about another place on the same street, but we kept walking and walking and passed the intended address so began asking people for help, first a women in a dress shop, then a girl on the street, then we went into a spa and they directed us around the corner, on and on until we were almost ready to give up but found a hutong where we asked a young man and he politely and proudly got up and led us to 'Origin' the restaurant we were seeking out..after an hour and a half of searching we were finally upstairs taking our shoes off and ordering..ahhhh the joys of travel!

We made it home and popped a movie into our DVD, I lasted about 10 minutes, big day!

onward and upward

Bye Bye Beijing

The Forbidden City was a place where civilians were once denied access. This place is vast, grand and totally impressive. We met our Chinese guide, Charlie who is a 82 years young. He was animated as he explained the feng shui (wind,water) and thought behind the design of this city. The number of stairs represent a person's status. The tiers on the roof were meant for protection.

There were a number of good luck pieces he pointed out, one was a large bat made out of stones that we walked on. We also touched the bronze cauldron with lion's head on top, another good luck charm.

We ended up in the beautiful imperial garden area, my favorite.

There were two trees that grew together in an auspicious way, of

course everyone was having their photo taken in front of it..

young and inspiring Charlie

a detail of the roof, the more animals a roof had the more status, the emperor's roof had 10

A retired horticulturist professor he has found his retirement niche

We left Forbidden City and walked across the street to Jingseng Park where we hiked up to the top of the mountain that protected the city. An amazing panoramic view. This is the exact center of Beijing, so all of this is on the central meridian, kind of fascinating how it was planned out. After we hiked down 

the other side and walked through the park  we headed towards the drum tower and walked and walked through many fun hutong areas (Houhai area) where we found a restaurant that had the spicy cuisine of the southwestern Guizhou province.

 We got all the exercise we needed and in a few hours will

be relaxing on the high speed train to Shanghai.

bye bye Beijing!

A Colorful Day

Yesterday morning we taxied to the Temple of Heaven, the center of imperial ritual for Ming and Qing Dynasties. Built in 1420 it is a
masterpiece of ancient architecture.

 

As we strolled through the grounds we enjoyed watching the Chinese people dance. It was remarkable how the older people participated in what looked like storytelling folk dancing. The dancing and the music were infectious.

 

 

We came home and all of the artists hosted our Open Studio Exhbition - I put up 6 of the 10 pieces I completed  

 

It was a good turn out, below the artists are preparing. It rained on and off, we were in and outside

 

Today will be a good time to pack up my work and art supplies. We have another cocktail party at the director's tomorrow night and after that an art opening at the Today Museum, tour of the Forbidden City on Wednesday morning by a Chinese 80 year old retired professor-  Next few days experiencing the last bits of Beijing then high speed train to Shanghai!

Mutianyu (backyard fence)

  Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 8,851.8 kilometers (5,500 miles) from east to west of China. 

We took a gondola up to the highest watchtower point- on the window was a printed message that Bill Clinton had ridden in the very same car.

Feel it this morning in our calves, all of those mini steps on the path but it was totally worth it to hike down to the bottom

On the way we saw several signs like this,love the

way they worded this!

At the bottom it felt so good to connect with this beautiful stone monument 

On the way home there was a mini traffic jam caused by a small herd of cattle crossing the road

Stay tuned 

Art and Tea

Two days ago we visited a local Chinese artist and teamaker Chen Chunmu.   Its amazing how one

can communicate through drawings and hand gestures and a lot of laughs in between. He poured several small bowls  as we tasted red and green teas.

His home/tearoom was filled with ancient teapots and artifacts dating back to the Ming dynasty, what a collection! He then took 

us to his spacious studio where we again had tea. We fell in love with his work, he gifted us with a

beautiful book with numerous images and a biography of his work. We were very excited for him

because his wife is due with their baby in October. He is hoping for a boy so when he gets old he and his wife will be taken care of.

 

 a delightful afternoon with Chunmu our new friend

We are getting so familiar with our Bei Gao village, it is hard to describe in its raw colorful everyday life

 

and lastly a large piece I completed a few days ago titled 'life'

or shenghao

I have been playing with ink wash a bit and having a great time

heading to Mutianyu (northeast an hour and 1/2) section of the Great Wall in a bit, Mike is 

making tasty ginger veggie rice rolls for us!

Silk and the Lotus

I have been experiencing some incredible dining and social time as well as studio progress the past

days. Yesterday I finished my 6th piece called Bei Gao named for the authentic, colorful, hutong village where we live. I am planning to get a few more pieces finished the the next days-

 winding down, taking the speed train the 29th for Shanghai!

Red Gate Gallery once the Ming Dynasty city wall is a superb

place for a gallery. It was the Dongbiamen watchtower with 144 archers windows located in an ancient and huge space. About 35 art related people dined after the opening at an enormous

long table in a private dining room. Here are some of the artists and the director.

After studio yesterday afternoon Mike and I and a few of our artist neighbors headed into town to the Silk Market where they sell everything from clothing to jewelry to bags to all kinds of eyeglasses and way more. Bartering is the norm, I got a pair of Chanel sunglasses for $5 that I love. Mike found a cool chinese cotton shirt.

We then went to 'Pure Lotus' Vegetarian restaurant, a lovely environment. Buddhist Monks led us in with these low lit lanterns.

 Rosewater was poured over our hands after we entered. We were then seated in our own private dining cavelike room. The menu was a beautiful

2 foot book that explained how each delicious dish was beneficial to our health, appetizer was called

'touch of happiness' 

As you walk to the private dining room projected on the wood floor is a lotus flower opening and closing 

To complete the experience the staff brought in a lotus leaf filled with cold melon, underneath it was dry ice magically cascading out. We were led out by the monks and each presented with a fragrant lotus flower -presentation extraordinary- best part is they will be opening one up in a few years in San Francisco!

 Open Studio Exhibition and bbq this coming Sunday, will give you a glimpse of the art soon

Work and Play

Good afternoon, at least it is here..3:25 pm

The past few days have been intense working days

in the studio but also time spent planning our

trip to Shanghai when we leave here in 2 weeks.

We are at our halfway mark for the residency,

the days roll into each other. When I am in the

studio its morning and I am involved with the

work and look up and realize its been many hours-

guess thats a good sign..but whew I feel it today.

Yesterday I struggled on a piece all day just 

about gave up and started back on it today, it

has transformed into something I like but you

never would have known what it looked like yesterday,

layers and layers..next time I will take a photo

and show you the before and after. 

Here's a photo of someone learning the language,

love the way they take this huge brush dip it in

water and practice on the sidewalk, it stopped

me in my tracks when I saw it. The language has

so much character and feels so precise, what a

challenge to learn it, although I met a German

woman who lives here and said it was easy

once she got into it, but she has been here for

a year

Here is a door with streamers on the street we walk on daily..it feels festive but

is someone's front door

Today Mike was out and about without me..he rode his bike to Liao's house and had tea, Liao is an artist who works at the Red Gate, he is a very nice person and next week he is going to take us to meet his friend who has a secret tea shop, his friend's father was a tea broker from the south area, Liao says they have the best tea in the country, I'll keep you posted

What a sweetie, he also went to the art supply store for me today to buy spray fixative and glue so I could keep working

The past week the weather has been unbelievable, blue skies for Beijing..we keep expecting the hot stuff and sure it will come but we are grateful for the coolness, I even wore a long sleeved top riding my bike to dinner last night, there has been a

great breeze, the rains help!

Mike said he liked this photo of me because it was candid 

Tomorrow were going to an opening at the Red Gate Gallery

and next week a day trip to the Great Wall, so much

fun stuff, balancing the work and play

Fun Day Off!

Yesterday we took the day off - Mr Chang, our sweet neighbor taxied us into the beautiful Purple Bamboo Park where we took a canal boat to the Summer Palace, there we met two artist friends who live downtown.

 

a serene and imperial way to enter the Summer Palace, took about 30 minutes by boat

 

This is the tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha on Longevity Hill

we strolled along the path next to the lake and then studied the Marble Boat (or Clear and Peaceful Boat as they call it)

Built in 1755

The saying goes "Water can carry a boat but can also capsize a boat"  this boat was built to mean that the Qing Dynasty would be as solid as rock and never fall, hull made of massive stones

 

walking through entryways, archways and palatial  buildings gave you a sense of what the

scene was here so long ago. The Palace was built by Emperor Quinlong to celebrate his

mother's birthday! The lake covers 3/4 of the Palace, what a sight

 

A Hutong, or alleyway on Tea Street

Shellaine, Ken, Mike and I then took a taxi to Tea Street, the

whole entire street is dedicated to teas and tearooms. We stopped in

several of them and sampled teas, what  fun to be served and

watch the tea being transformed, I have always wanted to experience this process

  

This is all dried tea, its an art form, amazing  variations, packagings of  tea, it

is suppose to last forever, what kind do you want me to bring back?

Topping the day off we all ate dinner at a fabulous Yunnan restaurant called '8' we had kung pao eggplant, assorted marinated bamboo shoots,a dynamite mushroom dish, a medicinal herbal soup, all

totally delicious, want to go back!

Back to work today! 

 

community

Last night five of us rode our bikes to an art opening/bbq nearby, exhibition of a man who teaches at Massart in Boston, turns out he was raised in Sacramento, small world. Thank goodness we had

the head light that Jess gave Mike for father's day so

we could see on the way back!

This morning we are heading into the heart of the city to explore and check out a few markets we have scoped out. Our taxi driver, Mr. Zhang is taking us (its cheap)- he lives across the courtyard, we

love this community,such a different way of living.

taken from the landing at top of stairs, screened front door on the left

Mike making mock margaritas in the afternoon

gotta love him

pretty in pink

Shoes and Smooze

good morning! Its early here, the best time of day,

I'm blogging and Mike is drinking his coffee/drawing in his

sketch book. I'm sipping fresh ginger tea, life is good

 

 Yesterday was a most productive day, I completed two pieces

 - feeling terrific in the studio.

The other day we went to the art supply store near the university

 and I snagged some wonderful tan paper that is lightly gridded with red for Chinese caligraphy, I think it was $1.00 for 50 sheets. I also got a few pieces of red with gold flecks in them that I am anxious to experiment with. Oh and the other night Anemona (the

Romanian artist who lives in Vienna)and I were walking in the nearby colorful Bei Gao village  and I got some great little notepads that had cool Chinese characters on them- she found an area in the store where they also had shoes and the two of us were laughing and trying on those great little black maryjanes both got a pair (they have extra cushion on the bottom)laughing because of "Women and their love of shoes" :)

When I was finished working yesterday I walked 15 minutes 

and got a super foot massage, nice way to relax! I told the girl

I only wanted massage not pedicure, she did my neck and shoulders

for 1/2 hour and my feet for the other, ahhhh I could make

that a daily habit. 

I am so grateful to have Mike here, he has been cooking up a storm,

last night he fixed kung pao chicken and used one of the skillets

like a wok..yum..but his homemade hummus has become famous here,

he made it for a snack using canned chick peas, fresh lemon juice,

garlic, salt, olive oil. He hand mashes the chick peas, all of that

energy but its soooo good and its caught on with the other artists,

they are all doing it now

 he is so good he does it with his eyes closed!!

A few of the artists outside our screened double doors

Anemona (from Vienna) Itamar (from Israel, now lives in Amsterdam)

Pete(our favorite neighbor because he is an art and tech guy who

has helped us with many things, from Boston- teaches in Oklahoma

and my Mike

 

and here is a snapshot of my lastest piece,

its called balance or pingheng in Chinese

 

byeeeee for now, let me know how you are, its soo

 terrific hearing from you

 

Getting around and getting down!

We are loving these bike/scooters..every day Mike makes a trip
to Jennie Lous (our local store)and takes his camera

we went on a one hour bike ride yesterday morning at 7am exploring the area

how functional is this? the front side is the same