Growing education through art I am sitting at my studio window that overlooks the mountains and rice fields of the Sapa valley. It is dawn, and a rose and blue sky is the backdrop to the magnificent landscape that rolls down the valley into the purple haze of distant hills, villages, waterfalls and bamboo groves.
The making of H’mong batik Up in the misty mountains of the Lao Cai district in northern Vietnam, H’mong women in the Sapa area have perfected a technique for making deep, rich, blue hemp textiles decorated with intricate designs. These fabrics have been produced for generations and the first time you see them, they are fascinating for
Around every corner is something that you have never seen or maybe never experienced before. To visit Sapa or the surrounding districts is to step into another world. Sometimes, it doesn’t even feel like you are still in Vietnam. Elevated, ethereal, energizing, exotic, Sapa took me by surprise. I imagined some kind of French style,
Getting lacquered in Old Hoi An For the past seven months, I have been painting and drawing in Hoi An. I have watched the change of seasons and witnessed the drama that major weather events bring to the lives of people who inhabit this peaceful corner of Vietnam. Since October a rice crop has been
A little corner of Paris in Hanoi. “Let’s meet outside the ‘big church’ near the lake,” I said. What a surprise I received when I arrived. On previous visits to Hanoi I had somehow managed to miss St. Joseph’s Cathedral. I must have been too busy being dragged around the ‘big’ tourist spots or losing my
They say it always rains in Hue… It was the end of the rainy season in Quang Nam, and a weekend break was needed after seemingly months of cold, damp weather. We were suffering from cabin fever and wondering how on earth it can feel like 10 degrees celsius when it was actually 20? Coming
The soundtrack of our lives. On the day I took my first walk down the streets of central Saigon, I instinctively felt that this was the beating heart of Vietnam’s burning ambitions. Its sister, Hanoi, is more refined, elegant and mysterious. She sits in the shade on sultry days to preserve her beauty and, like
Folklore immortalized in broken pottery. There is a wonderful piece of mythological sculpture in a temple garden in Hoi An that I visit every time I go to the Old Town. It stands in the forecourt of the Quang Trieu Assembly Hall and is truly one of the finest examples of folk mosaic I have
How creative inspiration begins People often ask me where I get my inspiration from, how do I start a piece of work and why do I choose to draw or paint the things I do? I am always silenced by this question because the answer is so complex. It is similar to the question I am asked by people who stop
She walks around all day with her head in the clouds Walking along the thronging streets of Saigon we are always assaulted by the myriad of sights, sounds and smells of street life. The social gatherings spilling out of cafes, wonderstruck tourists grouped to check maps or take photos, food vendors, shoppers, office workers, traffic police, shoe repairers and lottery ticket touts. As you
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