Here are a number of small watercolors I did on site at various temples and ancient ruins in Thailand when I was a visiting professor there in 2011. These works were seen first in a solo exhibition at Quincy University shortly after I returned. In June, 2012, I showed them at Main Gallery 404 in downtown Bloomington.
Thailand is magical. Buddhist statues, especially from the Sukothai era, are profoundly beautiful.
A colleage, Pimol, took me to a special locak temple with a particularly beautiful Sukothai Buddha statue. The temple was not on the tourist route, rather, it was an important local temple. I painted the Buddha there for two days. I was pleased to see that the monks of the temple noted my discipline, painting for hours on my knees in the temple. We spoke and I gave one of the monks one of my small paintings. These are treasured moments and nothing we do alone in our studios compares to painting or drawing on site and having interactions such as these.
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