Chilli, Lime, Nitrous and Brooms.
I have been quiet for a few months, busy painting, I am officially no longer at school although I am back at The Broadway. I needed a studio and luckily for me a painter downstairs was looking for someone to share their space. We are street front with my first ever electronic roller shutter. There is something about this that I find exciting nevertheless it is a necessity in this part of town. Excellent coffee at the Portuguese bakery on Clifton Street, the short walk is a cultural explosion if you have never been here it’s a must. Message me, we can go for coffee and visit my studio.
I have returned with three months’ worth of experience and methodically organised folders of images.
You think it would be easy from here but I find this the hardest point, when you stand in front of blank canvases and search for what it is you want to say.
My 'go to' strategy is paint over paintings that didn't work so you're not starting with white and do a still life. So I walked down Clifton Street for a coffee at the Portuguese bakery, and on the way back stopped at Abo Alabed's, bought a lime and a couple of green chilies, that reminded me of Thailand, found a nitrous canister on the pavement outside my studio assembled a still life and painted...
I am interested in the way people go about their daily lives, the rituals around food, prayer, community and the colour/architecture that supports these infrastructures. To be honest, Thailand was not top of the list, I have been many times when moving between NZ and the UK, a beautiful, albeit well-trodden destination, it can be difficult to find the more authentic Thai way of life. Thankfully, riding on the back of a motorbike gives me the opportunity to skirt around the edges of the tourist hotspots and experience everyday life, Thai style.
Not a vacuum in sight, Thai people use brooms, everywhere a daily sweep using a natural grass broom seems to be a morning ritual, softer grass to sweep through indoors, transitioning to a stiffer grass broom to continue outside. Through, shops, markets and streets, there is such an enthusiasm for sweeping that even the leaves in the National Parks are swept until all but the sweeping scratch marks remain.
We would see people gathering the grass on the side of the road, transport it by motorbike, bike and rider barely visible inside the bundle. We passed through broom making villages, the main street is lined with stalls all selling their version, grass carefully stitched and tarred onto wooden or bamboo handles.
I bought 5 variations on the short handle indoor variety and rode to Chiangmai with head to one side, broom handles jutting out of my back pack to the other, annoying but worth it. Thank you, Singapore Air who kindly agreed to transport them, free of charge as fragile baggage.
We saw them in various stages of deterioration, lent up against the wall, over used sections where the grass had worn to a stump, longer sections all the grass swept off in the same direction mirroring the personality of the one faithful user and this interests me so I've decided to start some paintings and see where this goes. I have several ideas and paintings on the go but I'll save those for another post.
Now we are home, twice a week I sweep through hall, bedroom, bathroom, lounge and kitchen, it’s satisfying to see your catch and sweep it into the pan. the fan design catches so much more debris than our straight bristle broom.