The picture you've all been waiting to see......

I've been having real problems adding the image (So much for the expensive scans eh!!). The best way to see it in all it's glory is to click on the picture (It will open much bigger in another window)

All the images in here represent the family that commissioned the piece. The two trees represent the two adults - Their names are written in Thai on the tree trunks and if you look closely you will see that one of them was born in the year of the Horse and the other in the year of the Ram. They met whilst working at an airport which is why the aeroplane is central to the drawing.

I wanted the top half of the picture to represent the adults (which is why there are only two butterflies at the top) and the lower half to represent the family (Hence the reason there are four butterflies). The family lived in Hong Kong for a number of years so wanted something Chinese in the picture to reflect that - the Chinese characters on the door mean family, the one under the sun means love and the two Chinese dragons represent the Husbands love of Dragon boat racing (The heads of the dragons also reflect the heart shape in the tree branches).

They have two girls - one was born in the UK which is represented by Big Ben (She was born at 10.25) and the other was born in Hong Kong which is represented by the Bank of China building (A very famous landmark in Hong Kong). One of the girls was born in the year of the snake, the other in the year of the Rooster (If you look closely you will see that both are in there) and they both love mermaids!! Their Mum's favourite memory of them was when they all went to the beach hence the sand and flip flops.

The family's two favourite holidays of all time were to India and New York which is why the Statue of Liberty and the Taj Mahal make an appearance. One of the adults is Welsh and wanted something to reflect that....the Welsh dragon was too obvious so I used the national anthem (written in Welsh of course!!) to represent part of the building and the opening bar is the music at the top of the house.

Their dog is called Archie :-)

Mamma Mia and Table Decorating!!!

Heheheh....I went to a special preview of the Mamma Mia movie last night.....it was absolutely fab........I don't think I have laughed so much at a movie in a long long time!! The special screening was at one of the huge shopping malls here, Central World, and we got VIP seating (Big reclining chairs and a blanket...bliss), wine, canapes and popcorn. If you've not seen the film I can highly recommend it.....even if your not an ABBA fan it's worth going just to see Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan in glittery spandex!!!

I also went to a table decorating event which was just a bit odd!! I thought we were going to be shown hints and tips on how to make your dinner table look amazing but when we got there we discovered that Thai celebrities had already decorated the tables and that we had to vote on the best one. It would appear that Thai's invite people over for dinner that they don't actually like......nearly every table had huge vases in the middle so you couldn't actually see the person sitting opposite you!! Most of them were hideous but I did like these handbags made out of flowers......I thought it might be nice (and relatively easy) to make a couple the next time we're having people over and the ladies can take them home with them.......

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I have butterflies in my stomach today......I'm going to give Jane her picture tonight......keep your fingers crossed that she likes it!!!

You know you have been living in Thailand too long when

you look at this and think 'Ohhh, lets go down there!!'

Friday saw the start of Buddhist Lent (If your not interested in the history just skip this bit) which is also known as the Rains Retreat (The Thai's call it 'Phansa'). The tradition of Buddhist Lent dates back to ancient India when all holy men spent three months of the rainy season in permanent dwellings (Normally they roamed the county - walking is considered a form of meditation). The idea was to avoid all unnecessary travel during this period because the crops were still new and, if travelling, the Monks might accidentally step on, and destroy, the young plants. So, at this time of year Thai Buddhist monks choose a temple to live in for three months during which time they study, meditate and teach local boys who wish to be ordained. The celebration of the beginning of Buddhist Lent is marked by the ceremony of presenting candles to the monks so it's an interesting time to go visit temples and see Buddhism in action.

Chris had Friday off work so we decided to go and do some exploring. We visited a couple of temples in Bangkok - There is a large temple near Saphan Taksin Skytrain Station that we have talked about going to for ages so we went there and on the way back discovered a tiny little Chinese temple hidden away down a little soi so had a mooch round it too. Then we decided that we would get on the boat to Nontaburi and if we saw any temples that looked interesting on the way we would hop off the boat and go have a look. That idea lead us to pier 28 and the lovely plank walkway that is pictured at the top of this post. A short walk across a swamp (yes, the plank was over a swamp) brought us out at a car park with a huge Buddha in it (now that's not something you see every day!!) so we followed the signs for Temple and came across THE largest temple complex I have ever seen. There we were in the middle of bloody nowhere and completely surrounded by Nuns!! (In Thailand it is common for women to become a Nun for a week or two as a way to make merit. They live at the temple, pray and meditate....I reckon that was why we were suddenly surrounded!!)

The complex was amazing and unlike any I have seen before. Instead of the temple being blinged to within an inch of it's life it was made from muted tones of coloured glass in the shape of a lotus flower and was surrounded by trees and gardens with paved pathways through it. It really felt quite magical - it was cool in the shade of the trees, sunlight danced through the leaves, curly wisps of burning incense floated through the air and Monks were chanting in the background. We were the only white faces there and it was fascinating watching offerings being given. We didn't stay too long as there was another temple nearer the river that looked interesting but we were both very glad we had found it and I think we'll go back again with Moon so that she can explain to us why it's so different to the others we have seen.

Reasons to be cheerful

1. I have finished the Commission....(WOOOO HOOOOO!!!).....it has now been scanned and is going to the framers tomorrow. I can't post a picture till the person who commissioned it has seen it....I am now really worried that she's not going to like it!!! (All being well it should be on here by Friday)

2. I have finished my Dad's novel!!! I knew once I started it I wouldn't be able to put it down and I was right....it was a bloody good read, real page turner and it has a fab twist at the end...I'm not saying any more except that you will HAVE to get a copy!! (and I want you to know that I'm not feeling at all smug that you're going to have to wait till it comes out....)

3. I have finished the Illustration work....and discovered a love of colour in the form of watercolour paints!! I am rather flabbergasted!!

4. I have a new mobile phone....I even managed to go online and create my own theme for it!!

5. We have booked our flights to the UK and will be arriving in Glasgow on the 26th of September!!! (I am soooo excited!!!)

and, and, AND

5. I've lost 8lbs

I'm currently doing a wee happy wiggle in my chair (It's too hard to type when doing a proper happy dance)

Temptation

Who was it that said 'I can resist everything but temptation'? I'm struggling at the moment....there is something I desperately want to do but will be in trouble if I do it *sigh*.

My Dad has sent me a copy of his new book.....it's here.....sitting on my computer and I desperately desperately want to read it.......but........I know that once I start I wont be able to put it down (or in this case....shut down my computer) and I HAVE to get my commission piece finished this week!!! Chris has told me that it will be my reward for finishing my pic but I want to read it NOW......It's driving me nuts!!!

Dad you are an evil man for putting temptation in my path.

Must resist clicking on it....must resist clicking on it......must resist.....

SPLAT!!

Honestly......would you look at the state of that!!! He really has no shame....

Art and Movies

I'm still here folks......I've just been distracted by all the art work I've to do. I'm nearly finished the front cover illustration for the Children's books - there was a slight delay as I'm doing them in colour and discovered that I didn't have enough colours in my arsenal so had to go out and buy some more which was harder than I had imagined!!! Once it is finished and sent I should be able to give you a link to the website.....watch this space!!!

My commissioned piece is going well (now).....I had a bit of a disaster with it.....I had been working on it solidly for four days and every time I looked at it I felt that there was something not quite right with it. I have no idea what that something was but it was annoying me so much that I started again!! Actually, that's not as bad as it sounds cause I could use most of what I already had so it wasn't like I was starting completely from scratch - I am much much happier with it now!!!

We're been out and about too - I tried real Japanese food for the first time and absolutely loved it!! I had a chicken teriyaki set which is chicken teriyaki (now there's a surprise), miso soup (which is a clear soup with tofu and spring onions) and rice....it was really good!!! We went to the cinema to see Wanted which was made by the same Russian director that did Night Watch (Don't be put off by the pic - it's not really a horror movie) and Day Watch so it had some really fantastic effects, we went back to the Saxophone bar at Victory Monument which is just fab (not been for ages and I had forgotten how much I liked it) and I finally got to see the Sex and The City Movie and I have to say that I loved it - No, Chris didn't watch it he went to the pub and Marissa and I watched it in her apartment with nibbles and wine....a rather lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Weird

Hmmm......I can access blogger, I can write and publish a post but I can't actually go onto my blog cause the connection keeps timing out. (Weird eh!!). This is why I've not responded to anyone's comments or commented on anyone's blog.....the connection keeps timing out on yours too!!!

Hopefully whatever the problem is will sort itself!! (Oh, and do keep commenting.....I am getting them via e-mail)

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Update 2.7.08 - Whoo hooo!! The lovely people at True have fixed my problem :-).

(I'm now going to go and catch up with what everyone else has been doing!!)