Taiwan 2013 Challenge - "ShaKaDang Pool 2"

"ShaKaDang Pool 2"
- acrylic on canvas
- approx. 455x380mm/18x13"

This is another view of the same pool from a slightly different perspective and later in the day. We had hiked in quite a distance down a trail that most take for only a few hundred meters. By the time we got back to this point, which is not far from the trailhead, the light had changed so much. Wind barely rippled the water, allowing for wonderful reflections and a refreshingly clear view of the rocks in the stream bed. This marble canyon has so many beautiful rocks. I thoroughly enjoyed painting so many of them in this image.

Taiwan 2013 Challenge - "XiaoZi Shan, Pingxi"

"XiaoZi Shan, Pingxi District" - 孝子山
- acrylic on canvas, approx. 33x24cm/13x9.4"
In the northeast corner of Taiwan, you'll find the Pingxi District where the land rises in great spiking leaps from the river valley below. What looks like a simple 3.4 kilometer semi-loop turns out to be a 4-hour challenge with hundreds of steps cut directly into the bedrock, and knotted ropes tied to conveniently obstinate tree roots or strung across an outcrop to help you get up a steep face--and almost all of the faces are steep. Every step counts. On several of the peaks, local authorities have bolted steel poles into the scalp of the tiny summit and strung a cable to demarcate the point past which what went up could go down. XiaoZi Shan 孝子山, or "Dutiful Son Mountain," is a  distinctive finger of rock thrust up out of the ground at the feet of several other taller peaks. By the time we got to it, we were too tired to climb it safely. (Next time!) I've depicted it here without its bolted poles or cables, as it was before people ever saw it. This painting shows only the very summit. For a sense of scale and to put the mountain in context, check out our view of the peak from another angle (zoom in to see a few people standing on top): https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGeRcucwK4tXJgbXuMdQhBriJDQTNmt5r53CeorSLIyU0f2HRn8T7HoxlGeWGi0SKy4WHw7ZZW4vtkGajPtyDb1KLMDYrNXR1nGSxW8sqwlk9JYfjrmCcbVLetgVbQzab88RKmF96aaU/s1600/DSC03874.JPG

Full hike details here: http://letsgotakealook.blogspot.tw/2012/01/awesome-day.html

Taiwan Challenge 2013 - "Between Worlds"

"Between Worlds"
- acrylic on canvas, approx. 455x380mm/18x15"

He stands at the threshold, having crossed it himself long, long ago. You cannot pass without first proving your authenticity. If you can prove that you are who you really are, you may proceed. Otherwise, you may go no further--be you a deity or a mortal, it makes no difference.

These were my favorite guys from the Beitou Bai-Bai "Gods on Patrol." Someday, I'll do them from the front and show you their awesome face paint and tusks!

Taiwan 2013 Challenge - "ShaKaDang Pool 1"

"ShaKaDang Pool 1"
- acrylic on canvas, approx. 45.5x33mm/17.9x13"

Taiwan's Taroko Gorge National Park is a spectacular, steep-walled canyon, the largest marble deposit outside of Italy. One of the classic hikes in the park is the ShaKaDang Trail which follows a stream as it winds its way through the channel it has been cutting ever since the island rose out of the sea.

In the rougher waterways draining the gorge, the marble silt can be gray and opaque, but ShaKaDang is serene. The clear turquoise that typifies this area is on full display. One of the most beautiful pools is not far from the trailhead. Here is what our first view of it looked like when we hiked it on a brilliant, sunny day.

In celebration of this country where we've made our home, I'm painting a series of pictures--enough for a show sometime this Fall. Since acrylic is the medium that is easiest to use, store, frame and hang. Over the next weeks, I'll post pictures to show you the progress as we go.

If you are interested in purchasing the originals or prints of any of these, please let me know. We'll find a way to get it to you!

Significant People: Mike and Gail

I'm 18 years old. I've just moved to the U.S. from Ecuador. I'm clueless. My sister, Susan, introduces me to a friend who plays guitar. We hit it off. Mike thinks we could make money playing weekends at restaurants. He gets us booked. I just help set up and play. I learn that there's a business side to music and I'm not very good at it. Mike just gets out there and does it. He still splits the money with me 50/50. We do well, get regular gigs, and I get a taste of what it means to be a professional musician.

My car dies and Mike finds one for sale. "He's asking $500. Offer him $400 and he'll probably sell it for $450." I do. It works. The seller is Mike's brother.

Mike is going out with Gail. She has a great voice, teaches piano. Her brother is a former music teacher who now has a house painting business because the teacher's salary couldn't support a family. They all convince me that painting houses with Ross and younger brother, Jeff, is better than staying at the warehouse. Ross teaches me a skill that I rely on for the next decade whenever I need the money. Ross also teaches me what a good boss is like--over and over again.

Gail offers to teach me piano "for free, if you'll just practice." I have one lesson. I go home and practice on an old, out-of-tune, jammed-hammered instrument for 15 minutes. It sounds awful. I go to my room and wail on my guitar for half an hour before I can do another 15 minutes on the piano. I go back for a second lesson. She's moving me very quickly through the material. I try to practice on that old piano. It never sounds good. Frustrated, I tell Gail I just can't practice. I live on those two lessons for the next three decades.

I get to be the bass player in a band with Mike, Gail, Ross and Jeff. I get to go Christmas caroling as part of an eight voice ensemble that can pull off the "Hallelujah Chorus" as their closing number. I get dirty looks when I try to sing the soprano part during "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." I go back to "Forever and ever..."

Mike and Gail are getting married. I watch Mike decide to sell his convertible to get a car safe enough for his father-in-law's approval. I stay home from the bachelor party because I can't come up with a decent gift. Mike calls and asks why I'm not there. I tell him. He says: "I don't care about the gift; I want YOU here." I bring him the jacket he lent me a few months ago. He finds that hilarious.

I'm an usher in the wedding. I get measured for a tux with tails. I learn how to get a shaving accident bloodstain (mine) out of rented formalwear.

I buy out Mike's half of the sound system and sell the whole thing to buy a guitar amp. I go on to other bands. I go solo. I move to California.

Fast forward thirty years. Find Mike on Facebook and send a message. I get one back. Amazing. Same guy; same smile. Same Gail. Different continent!

Time after time, people have come into my life and done significant things just by being themselves. Mike and Gail showed me what it was like to be a friend with a heart, a brain, a backbone and a sense of humor.

Cleverness

"When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I'm old, I admire kind people."
~Abraham Joshua Heschel

I was 14 or 15 years old and wanted desperately to be clever. Someone I thought was clever had made a joke and since he wasn't around at the time, I pulled out the joke to get a laugh. It was about "the stupidest name in the world," just making fun of the sound of a particular name. I exaggerated the vowels and consonants, just as the clever guy had done. One of my classmates looked at me with quiet disappointment and said: "That's my father's name." I was immediately crushed by that simple truth and the love behind it.

That lesson took me two more tries before I actually learned it--two more situations in which I chose cleverness only to be stricken by the unkindness hidden inside it. To drive the lesson home, the universe made sure I actually got to see the faces of the people I hurt as I did so. Some of them weren't even part of the conversation; they just happened to overhear me trying to be clever.

I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I just wanted to be funny. One joke was even intended to be at my own expense. It wasn't worth it.

Sure, everyone needs a thick skin. People say things all the time and we deal with it.

But I've learned that kindness pays huge dividends. Both the giver and the receiver benefit. It's inexpensive to produce and easily distributed. It's natural. It's who we are.

There's someone nearby who could use some. Guaranteed.

Italy 2013 Challenge- (Final Day!) Day 15: "Leccio Home"

"Leccio Home" - version 2
-acrylic on canvas
- approx. 23.6x28.6"/600x725mm

One more from the Leccio excursion. As we came back from town, we walked down a dirt road past this lovely house on the hill. The sky was clearing behind it. The wind was blowing, and we thought: "Wouldn't it be lovely to live in a place like this!"

For the few moments we stood there and enjoyed the surroundings, we actually did live there.

Lucky us!

This is "version 2" of this painting because the first one had some compositional things I felt could use some fixing. I tried again and fixed some of them--though I doubt all the fixes worked! It was a good learning experience. My favorite part of it is still the sky. :)

Thanks for following the Italy 2013 Challenge! The whole idea was to see how much creative output could be inspired from a trip to a lovely place. I set a goal of 15 pieces of art for which some would also have writing and one or two would have music. I had a lot of fun working on this project, and I hope you enjoyed the results!

To see the rest of the posts, just search our blog for "Italy 2013."

Thanks again for coming along!  --Mark and Ping