Taking it slow in Saigon

There is a famous temple in Cho Lon that I have visited more times than I can count. It's the one the oldest and most visited in that district.  The Thien Hau pagoda is an evocative place that is worth lingering in for an hour or so and, on a hot day in district 5, it provides a cooling retreat from that bustling community of traders and dealers.

To get a good view of this 18th century pagoda you need to stand across the street. From there you can see all the details on the roof which features gorgeously glazed, ceramic dioramas of feasts, battles, traders,  demons, dignitaries, actors and merchants from other continents all set against creatively modelled Chinese houses, palaces and shops. It is incredible that these old ceramics have survived the ravages of weather and time to look as beautiful as the day they were created.  

From this side of the street you see this magical old temple through a moving wall of roaring traffic, with street cafes to right and left. Bird sellers with chirruping caged sparrows are completely inaudible above the din of motorbikes and taxis that trundle by, kicking up the dust and spewing diesel fumes.

Pick up a cold drink, and when the lights stop the traffic, you can slip across the road and into the forecourt of Thien Hau Pagoda. Now, the scale of this precious building becomes apparent and with two more steps you walk through a solid granite doorway into another world. A hush descends and you are in a place where everything is sacred, where civic pride and community endeavour meet  the gods and ancestors, where all the richness of the lives of the residents of Cho Lon can be seen.

On the walls of the first, inner courtyard there are some unusual  friezes, possibly from the 1970s depicting modern buildings, factories, a school, the interior of an elegant house. Maybe built by local philanthropists and entrepreneurs, these places must be very important  to the community here.  I can't image such urbane images being installed in a religious building in Europe.  How different Westerners are from Asians in this regard.

The central , covered yard of the pagoda is hung with incense coils sending prayers and wishes out to deities and forebears, the spirals of smoke captured in vertical rays of sunlight that penetrate the gaps between roofs.  

The colourful ceramic frieze continues around the rim of each courtyard; the stories are from history and Chinese mythology create an imaginary world where fact and fiction co-exist. If  you take a seat and linger in this cool space for  20 minutes, you will also see the two aspects of  contemporary Cho Lon; the locals quietly carrying on with their religious rituals and the foreign visitors gawping at the overwhelming visual feast as they snap photos and wonder at the richness that surrounds them.

If you step in to an ante-room to the right there is yet another delight that has little to do with religion or ancestors but adds to the eclectic mix of incense coils, bronze-faced deities, relief friezes of factories, a 19th century fire-fighting device and dioramas of ancient fables. On the walls are large watercolour paintings of the twelve animals of the zodiac; each one a masterpiece. 

The animal of the year, the goat at the moment, is topped with a red garland and rosette. There are rows of elegant Chinoiserie chairs so you can take a seat to appreciate this unique gallery and decide which is your favourite. 

One thing is for sure; this pagoda is not for rushing. 

My first magazine column

Oi Vietnam - May 2013
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If you are lucky enough to be in Hoi An on the night of a full moon, you will witness a delightful transformation taking place in the streets of the old town. In the evening, a calm descends over the old town. The electric street lights are turned off and all the lanterns are lit. No traffic is allowed on the streets, not even bicycles. This is a night for promenading and connecting with Vietnam’s rich cultural heritage.

The full moon is an auspicious night all over Vietnam. It is a night for people to remember their ancestors. Families and friends will gather around courtyard or pavement altars to drink tea and wait to see the moons reflection in their cups. On these table altars are the yellow flowers purchased that morning at the market, incense sticks, maybe a little clay figure of the jade rabbit and a collection of offerings of fruit, tea and wine. Some may make offerings to Chang’e who, according to Chinese mythology, drank the elixir of immortality and floated up to the moon. Some may honour the spirits that connect this world to the past and to the future, to the spirits that run in the rivers and blow through the trees and that bind all humans to the natural and the supernatural.

Synonymous in particular with the Lunar New Year festival (Tet), that takes place in January or February, the market women sell sunshine yellow chrysanthemums and marigolds. Bunches of flowers are swept up into baskets and bicycle panniers; they are tucked under arms and squashed in with the groceries to be taken home for the evening’s celebrations. They make tributes of yellow flowers that signify hope and family happiness or, perhaps, a wish for a new baby.

Another aspect of Vietnamese life is their love of playing games. Any time of day or night, groups of men gather around card games or chess boards but on Full Moon Night you can see Chinese Chess up close because games are staged outside some of the ancient houses and temples. Dressed in traditional Vietnamese costume, men play the game by candle light and welcome onlookers. If you want to take part, they will even introduce you to the rudiments of the game.

Other full moon festivals in Vietnam are Ram Thang Bay during the seventh lunar month when families give thanks to parents and ancestors and make offerings to pardon lost or wandering souls.  The famous ‘Mid-Autumn Festival’ in the eighth lunar month, which is celebrated throughout East Asia, is a time for homecoming and harvest and is marked by the exchange of moon cakes. In ancient times, Confucian scholars used to make up poems for impromptu performances on the night of this festival each year. Now this tradition is remembered each month in Hoi An as poetry readings are staged around the town.

To find out about future full moon dates, visitwww.hoian-tourism.com

Seven months in.

These days, when it comes to blogging, I seem to spend a lot of time planning what to write and even, sometimes, starting a blog but I just don't seem to to be able to finish one at the moment.

So, I have been asking myself 'what's wrong?' What has happened to my motivation? Am I becoming complacent? Is Saigon beginning to seem so familiar that I am not as before to write about it? Am I running out of things to say? (Not possible I here you say). So what's wrong?

Well, maybe there isn't anything wrong at all. The difficulty I am having is trying to squeeze my writing into the cracks between everything else I am trying to do. The truth is that those cracks are getting narrower and narrower.

Then, it occurred to me that I haven't actually blogged about all the projects I am involved with. I write about boats, river life, history, food, flowers, culture, festivals and all sorts of other things but I haven't  written about my projects. So, here goes .....................

When I first came here seven months ago, I ran around furiously trying to draw anything that would sit still and through this the city revealed itself to me street by street, inch by inch, smile by smile and one building at a time. I got an electric bicycle to help me get around and now I whizz around these chaotic streets with, almost, the confidence of the natives. And........ I completely love it!  Why didn't I get a scooter years ago?

After three months, I thought it was time to earn some money so planned some drawing classes to start straight after Christmas. I persuaded my favourite restaurant to let me use a quiet corner to run classes during their quiet periods in the mornings and afternoons and in January my first 8 students turned up lesson Number 1.  The first course went very well indeed and the students have all graduated (!!!) and are now moving onto an intermediate course where I will teach them to understand colour and use it in their drawings.

This week I started a new group of 5 students at lesson Number 1 and I have also been approached by the family next door to teach their eldest daughter (16) over the summer holidays. Her school year ends in mid April.

Talking of the family next door................ they came knocking on our door asking for me about five weeks ago. It seems that the lady of the house had seen some of my paintings already. Apparently, our previous housekeeper was in the habit of showing off my artwork to all the neighbours when I wasn't at home!  My neighbour was in a panic because her beautiful Lotus plant had just come in to flower and she wanted to capture it for all time. She asked me to do a BIG painting! 

This was an entirely new challenge for me on a number of levels. I hadn't ever done a portrait of a flower before and I haven't painted a large canvas before either. Undaunted, I asked the people at our local artspace to stretch a 100x100 cm canvas for me and I just got stuck in. This BIG canvas on a custom frame cost me just £7 plus a courier to rush it to my easel (£3)

Three weeks later the completed canvas was fitted with a smart brown frame and delivered and hung on the living room wall next door. The family's delight was almost tangible. They paid me and also gave me a gift of sweet, sticky green rice cake stuffed with tapioca paste. Hmmmm.

In December, I went to the little town of Hoi An to do some sketching.  I took one of my trusty Moleskine, Japanese folding albums and spend my days cycling, swimming, drawing eating, walking, sketching, cooking, talking, drinking, painting, researching, discovering, learning, photographing and making visual notes.

Half way through my stay, my Japanese album was filling up and people were asking to see what I was doing. Towards the end of my ten day sojourn, I met a young Korean woman who was working as a graphic designer for an airline magazine. She was not the first one to say that I should publish my sketch book but she encouraged my by saying that her magazine might be interested in writing an article about it because it would interest her readers. 

In the spirit of 'always say yes' I have decided to publish my sketch book and am now working with a delightful Bulgarian graphic designer called Ani to prepare the artwork for the printer. It looks like it will be a 52 page book and we are aiming to print in May. So far, I have produced around 60 paintings and drawings for the book and there may be more before I have finished.

Researching some of the facts for the book took me to the People's Party head office in Hoi An to find someone with 'the knowledge'.  I confess I was a little nervous entering the compound of the Hoi An headquarters. A chained dog was barking furiously as I walked from the gate step of the former colonial house of gentlemanly proportions. I crossed the threshold into a grey interior where a fan was lazily turning and an administrator sat behind a sliding glass hatch pouring over lists of figures in a antique-looking ledger.  

It was here I met Binh, a young civil servant who took great interest in my book and was very enthusiastic about helping me with local information that I was seemingly impossible to find on the internet.  I am gradually realising that the Vietnamese do not use the internet as we do. They do not use it as a repository for information intended for open global access but I guess that may change with time. 

Back home, the next door neighbour has now commissioned a second canvas - larger than the first!  This painting which she has already entitled 'Childhood' will depict her three lovely daughters aged 7-16 years cycling along under the 'Milk Flower' tree. This tree was panted outside the house only 6 years ago but it is already over 30 feet high! 



It seems the neighbours are determined to keep me busy. They have now asked me to give drawing lessons to the 16 year-old girl over the summer holidays. In total, I will be giving around 6-8 hours of lessons a week which is probably as much as I can manage for the foreseeable future.

My latest project involves working with the local art space 'Vinspace' which is run by a dynamic young Vietnamese artist who studied her MA at St. Martins in London. Under her wing there are artists from South America, Spain, the UK  and other young Vietnamese painters. She created a new gallery for their work about 10 months ago but nobody comes to visit. I am suggesting that they run a monthly art market to get the public and more artists and makers involved in the space. They love the idea and it now looks like I will be running it !!!  I have offered to do that for the next three months to see how it goes and to establish some good practices learned from similar projects in the UK.

Of course, I will take a table at this market so I now need to make some inexpensive items for sale each month. I will make some mini watercolours and frame them in little silk frames I found in a workshop for the disabled up in Hoi An.  Hopefully, this will lead to a new relationship with the workshop. A friend at home does work with people injured in the armed forces and we would like to make links between the two groups somehow.

Last month I was interviewed by a new magazine called 'OI Vietnam'. They printed a four age article about my work and also invited me to write a monthly column for them. In the spirit of always saying 'yes' I agreed to the challenge. The column will be based on my blog and especially my 'Postcards from Vietnam'  The first column will be printed in the May issue.  I am very excited about this; I never thought I would be a columnist!! 

This magazine is competing with two other well established, free, English language magazines. I may be biased but I do think the quality of editorial, the articles, layout and the photographic documentaries are of higher quality than the others. The editor is very experienced and I wish them luck. I look forward to a long association with them


So that's about it. Each week is filled with a series of drawing lessons,  producing little paintings for my book and composing the hand-written copy. As soon as that book is finished, I will start the next ( but I will need some help withe funding from a publisher this time). 

Recently I have had two commissioned paintings to produce and there is another in the pipeline. It looks like I will be running an art market and producing goods for sale as well. Each month I will create a new piece of artwork and a 700 word column for OI Vietnam. 

Vietnam is being very good to me so far.  I said I would give it a year, but I think I might be here a bit longer than that. I have also had three lovely visits from two dear friends for which I am very, very grateful - they make everything seem more real somehow. Thank you.