Montanita Dreams

Montanita Dreams

Watercolor 13"x14"

A small painting I did in response to a trip I took last winter to Montanita, a small surf town in Ecuador. Below is the preliminary thumbnail from my sketchbook.

Montanita thumbnail drawing

Thai Fairy Tale

Floating Village

18" x 24"

Watercolor on Arches

I created this image in one of my graduate school classes taught by Ted and Betsy Lewin. In the one week class, I created a 32 page book dummy to accompany a Thai fairy tale of how the limestone mountains were formed around Krabi. This is one of the finished spreads that would be the book opener of the floating village where the story takes place.

The Young Locals

 The Young Locals

       20"x 27.5"

Watercolor on Arches

In the winter of 2008, I was fortunate enough to travel to the temples of Angkor Wat located near Siem Reap, Camboda. Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century and is the largest Hindu temple complex in the world.  One day while on a tour of the Bayon Temple, I was greeted by a group of three local boys who said they would be my tour guides and show me the temple where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed in exchange for some American coins. They led me down a faint path through the jungle and along the way we crawled through a ruin of an old temple where the sun shined through a small window illuminating the space. Inspired by the unique shadow pattern created by the fragmented light, I asked the boys if I could take a photo of them which became the reference for this painting.

Back in the Day

It's always fun to dig through the boxes of old photos from my many cross country j0urnies, in which date back long before I owned a digital camera. I decided to post some as I am getting ready to head out west again very soon, and will hopefully be spending time with some of my best friends depicted in these photos. These photos are from various trips throughout the U.S and the watercolor titled "Cross Country" was one of the first travel related pieces that I had painted. The painting depicts my good friends Josh Adams, Phil Schaal, my dog Ira, and myself all crammed into the cab of my Chevy truck that we traveled in that year. On the back of the truck was a pop up camper,"the Skamper". "The Skamper" hung way out from the bed of the truck on either side blocking mirrors, and sagging the suspension to an all but street legal low.With three climbers and a dog in the cab of the truck, I am sure we smelled like hot garbage , and there were certainly multiple times that we were all at each others throats. Not sure how we never got pulled over???...Good times!!! In many ways this piece was the beginning of my more recent body of work of travel related paintings..

Cross Country
Watercolor, 6"x14",2004

Me in the Redwoods, 1996, on my first trip west
shortly after graduating high school.

The interior of my pop up camper "the Skamper".
I was given the Skamper by Ct. climber J.D Mackie.
Mackie established one of Ct's hardest routes , the Wall of Horrors 5.13
at Ragged Mtn. in 1993.

Steve King on our epic hike after climbing Magnolia Thunderpussy,
Granite Mtn., Arizona,1998

Me climbing at the Gallery,
Red Rocks, Nevada, 1998

Jared Roth on Boone Speed's I Scream in Hell 14c

shortly before he made he second ascent.

Dave Watson on Social Outcast 12a
Rumney, New Hampshire, Ca.1998

A young Phil Schaal at the Happy Boulders,
Bishop, California, ca.2000

Josh's dog Ibex on 9th and Marine
"Get the squirrels"

Josh Adams , aka Swayzee, Swaygina, Swayzleduece
on Get Carter, before his retirement from climbing.
Bishop, Ca., 1999

My Dog Ira
Red Rocks, Nevada, 1998

Climbing in the Druid Stones
Bishop, Ca.
photo: Carolyn Taylor

A few watercolors

When I am traveling I like to try and do as many en plen air or "in the open air" paintings as I can. This style of painting I find to be one of the most challenging as well as enjoyable ways to paint. Over the years I have seen some growth in the paintings I do from life on location. The quick watercolor studies that I do on location have a definite influence on the illustration work that I later create.

Below are a few from recent travels.

Tonsai Bay, Thailand

Watercolor, 8.5"x11"

2008

Nam Song River, Laos

Watercolor, 8.5"x11"

2010

S .E Asia 2010 Slide/Video Show

Back in the USA. It's been tough being back home and back to reality. The carefree sunny days of zipping around on motorbike, climbing limestone, swimming in the sea, and eating great food are long gone. My trip didn't exactly go as planned either, as I never made it to Bali. Five weeks was barley enough to see what I saw, money ran out quickly, and flight prices tripled from the time I left to the time I was ready to try and fly from BKK to Bali. Regardless I had an amazing time and so I slapped together a short slideshow/video show of the some of the fun times that I had during my five weeks in South East Asia this year.

South East Asia 2010 from dan yagmin on Vimeo.

Leaving Luang Prabang

I am leaving Luang Prabang today shortly, and wanted to add a few more photos.

So here they are:

The Mekong River

Local Architecture 

Quiet Temple

Woman selling hand made, 

hand stitched children's books

Laos style Tuk Tuk

Luang Prabang Night Bazaar

Arrived in Luang Prabang the other day which was a nice change from Vang Vieng. Although I really liked Vang Vieng there were also a lot of things I did not like about the place. Vang Vieng is sort of a conflicted place in many ways. What I mean by that is that I couldn't stand a lot of the foreigners that flocked there for the tubing on the river and for buckets of cheap booze.There is sort of  frat. party spring break mentality among most of them, and that got old pretty fast. On the other hand I met some of my favorite people I have  ever met in my travels, and in this case the good certainly outweighed the bad. I hope this does not come across as if I am a saint and do not enjoy getting a bit tipsy every now and again, because I certainly do. But I get a bit frustrated by the people that come to Vang Vieng for nothing more than to get wasted.

At any rate Luang Prabang has a different vibe to it all together with a bit chiller crowd. The French Colonial architecture is really great, as well as the food, and the views along the mekong are quite beautiful. Last night I went out and checked out the night Bazaar that takes place every night in the center of town. Its pretty awesome to see that a lot of the local economy is based upon selling hand made goods made here in Laos. Most of the stuff you can get here is of good quality and rather unique, unlike some other Bazaars I have been to in South East Asia.

So here are a few shots I snapped the other night:

Night Bazaar Luang Prabang

Child at the Bazaar

Night Bazaar 2

Food Cart

My guest house

Tomorrow afternoon I am off to Thailand. Hopefully before I go I will post a few more pics of Luang Prabang, if the internet connection is cooperating.

Climbing at the Daeng

The climbing in Vang Vieng ranges from total choss to really good. I have seen some really strange things such as door handles being used for anchors on routes, bolts in seeping dingy caves that are not even suitable for toilets, and boulders that are not much taller than 4 meters with numerous bolts on them. Despite all of that there is also some really good climbing to be had at a zone known as Na Pha Daeng, which we have been referring to as the Daeng. At the Daeng there are a bunch of really good routes ranging from very easy up to 8a plus, and there is certainly a lot of potential for new routes as well. At any rate I wanted to show some photos taken on a few of the routes at the Daeng, as well as a few of the beautiful scenery that is taken in along the 22 kilometer motor bike ride from town to the Daeng.

Nam Song River

Marcelo Diaz Redpointing

A Million Elephants and a White Parasol 5.12b

(photo:Alvaro Diaz)

The next two photos are of the route Dream Catcher 5.12d, and in my opinion the best route in Vang Vieng. This route is rather special because it climbs a line of natural pockets on an otherwise blank wall for 20 meters or so. There is also an extension to the route known as Sweet Dreams 5.13a, which makes the route a lot pumpier and difficult. The crux involves a stab to a small pocket at the very top of the route. A good route for sure!!

Dream Catcher 5.12d

(photo: Melissa Collings)

Alvaro Diaz sending

Dream Catcher 5.12d

The Daeng from the distance

Journey to the Valley of Eden

My time here in Vang Vieng has been great. The people I have met, the sights I have seen, and the places we have climbed have made it one of the best places I have ever visited. Below is a shot of the Bungalow I have been staying in here in Vang Vieng, which I have gotten pretty comfortable in.

My Bungalow

The other day a few friends of mine from Australia and I went on a little journey to find a climbing cave known as Tham Nam Them. The direction to find this place were pretty vague, and involved crossing a river, trekking in the jungle to a place where two mountains converged,  and hiking through a cave for 10 minutes. The climbing didn't turn out to be quite what we had hoped, but we continued our hike into the valley that was beyond where the climbing was. This turned out to be a place known as the Valley of Eden, and was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. 

The place where the two mountains converge in which

Marks the entrance to Tham Nam Them and the Valley of Eden

Me in Eden

Wild Flowers

Small pond with Water Buffalo

Valley Hut

The Valley of Eden

Mountains on a ride home at Sunset

Journey to Laos

The journey to Laos was a bit epic , and involved over 16 hours of travel by bus. The first stretch of the journey from Bangkok to Vientiane was not so bad, as I rode a VIP bus with somewhat comfy seats, and was able to get a decent amount of sleep. The last leg of the journey from Vientiane to Vang Vieng was the worst part. I was told it was going to take 3 hours but ended up taking a whole lot longer. The bus was really old and they packed it in as if we were sardines , and was with out  air con. or fans so it was quite hot at times. Along the way the bus broke down several times.The transmission continued to pop in and out of gear as we climbed the hilly terrain  en route to Vang Vieng. This left us parked along side of the road numerous times  while one of the  guys who rode on the bus banged on something below the bus with a wrench hoping that it would pop back into gear. At one point there was a lot of scrapping , clanking , and crunching below the bus and we had to pull over for a while. Something that resembled a radiator or possibly a part of an air conditioning unit fell out from the under carriage  of the bus and we were dragging it along for quite a while. Fortunately the drivers did not seemed very bother by this, and the passengers , despite the long and tiring journey all seemed to remain in very good spirits. Everyone seemed to think that it was all part of the adventure and there was no use in getting frustrated or upset.  The drivers knocked around for a bit below the bus with some tools and once again we were off.

Packed bus en route to Vang Vieng

Our trusty mechanic standing upon the piece of the bus 

that fell out from the undercarriage

Broken down again

Vientiane

The journey was certainly worth it and Vang Vieng is amazing.I have met some really great people and the natural beauty of the area is breath taking. For the last few days I have been climbing limestone in the mountains, flying off rope swings, relaxing by the river and enjoying good food!!! I will be sure to post something about the climbing soon. But for now here are a few shots from in and around Vang Vieng.

Temple in Vang Vieng

The view from my Bungalow

 

Mountains around Vang Vieng

Jet Lagged

Its 7 a.m here in Bangkok, and I have been awake for the last 2 hours. Even though I have been here for the last 3 days I am still feeling pretty Jet Lagged. From what I was told , it takes one day for every hour for someone to become fully adjusted to a significant time change. This I have found to be fairly accurate , with the first 4 days being totally out of whack. At any rate I figured I would include the Sea Hag Illustration I did a while back. She is part of a series of small paintings in which accompany some silly, simple rhymes that I wrote in my sketch book while visiting South East Asia back in 2008. Here is what I wrote along with the image:

Feeling worn out and tired like an old sea hag! I guess it is a case of serious Jet Lagg!

Sea Hagg

5"x5"

Acrylic on Panel

Below is a map of where I am heading on this journey. Today at 5 p.m I am hopping on a bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos .

Map for this years trip

Quick sketch I did sitting in JFK:

Airport Sketch

5"7"

Getting ready to board my plane in Hong Kong:

Hong Kong Airport

Here is a random shot taken in Bkk, of one of many shrines you will find scattered about the city. It is common to see numerous people gathered around, praying, socializing,  and interacting, on any given day.

Bkk Shrine