Carpet Designs

Took a trip to an outskirt town from Dubai to check out a Friday market or so they say but I think it like an everyday market where they sell almost anything you care to buy that you get alittle more cheaper here than the Malls in Dubai and perhaps fresher, or so I think.

I was attracted to the carpets that were on sale from the moment I laid eyes upon the hundreds of carpets being displayed in a few of the major roadside stores. There was also fresh vegetable stores as well as plants for sale but I was more attracted to the carpets as they spelled alot of colors and creativity.

Hence I began my sneak attack with the camera stealing shots whenever I was not being watched for I knew that for some odd ball reason taking pictures wouls have been prohibited even by the carpet dealewrs, why? Who knows why.

The carepts came from all over the carpet producing coutries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey to name a few and each had their own quality and designs. My interest was more in the use of colors and the freshness of these colors when displayed in the form of thick carpets.

Imagine what it would have taken for the creators of these carpets in order to come up with these designs and colors from using the weaving of threads or yarns of whatever that they used. Were tyhese highly technical sophisticated designers with hightech savey! Hardly so I think, but they created these outstanding rugs for us to sit on walk on and decorate our floors.

Thecombination of colors the simplicity of designs that suits the market taste, the homes that needed the just perfect taste for design and colors of the customers. Next time you walk or lay down on a carpet bow to the creaators in respect for their contribution.

IN this day and age a painter could just copy any of these designs as is to create what he or she would dub modern or abstract art! Dont need much headache to choose colors or designs all you need is technique and style.

To most of us we take for granted walkingon carpets as tjhe only thing we would notice most probably is the good feeling of it underneath our feet. To those with taste for interior decoration the appreciation take a little more depth as the need for color coordination and taste is also vital. A carpet well chosen for a decor is as crucial as the Masterpiece that adorns the wall!

The only thing magical about carpets is that they stand out as you walk into a room. They tell you of the owner's taste and lifestyle. They spell the ambeance that belies the basis for the taste and character of the decor of a room.

Whether it is the design of the distant age of the Arabian nights or Moroccan palaces or the modern simplistic design of pure colors, carpets are an interesting source for artist who has any interest to look deeper into his or her understanding of how design and colors evolved through yet another form of medium and usage.

How Jewelry Design Has Evolved...

*This morning 'Kathy' Steve's Mom left for the home in the United States and i am taking a break from my large Buddha painting for the Naz as mu back is killing me. Kathy was here for a few a few a couple of months to escape the winter. She is also an artist and a good one at that.

Kathy and I took a trip to the Dubai Creek area one morning just to spend the day away from the villas and being cooped up indoors. Nothing much has changed since I was here the last tim in 2008? Boats still pry the bay and river ferrires took people back and forth still for the price of one Dirham each.

It was a nice sun shiny day and we crossed over to the otherside of the creek where the older "souks' or shop outlets were selling all the spices and products from all over the Middle Eastern countries.

In looking for a subject to focus on I desided to take a trip with the camera covering the Gold and other jewelries which were in abundance along one section of the souk, it is something that has been an attraction to me from the past. I used to do jewelry in college but found it too expensive to keep up.

Perhaps my attraction to this medium is mostly due to my father was a 'Gold Smith' as they were known in the old days and had brought the trade with him from Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was known in his days.

My father used to design and created his own pieces of jewelry and I can remember watching him draw on pieces of paper that he would ask from us the kids and a pencil which he seemed to never had his own around. By modern standards he would have been considered a master craftsman! This was in the 50s and sixties and I got to watch him up close only when we moved to the East Coast of Terengganu in Malaysia. He was then producing jewelries for the the late Sultan Ismail Nasruddin Shah grandfather to the present King.

Compared to my father's works in those days modern jewelry hss become a high tech industry and the designs have evolved to the extent that it is almost impossible to imagine the pieces being handcrafted without the help of machines. There are Gold Smiths like my father still eking out a living where I came from in Penang but they are a dieng breed... Men whose fingers were hardened by the handling of files and cutters, pliers and tweezers, men whose patience were tested to the maximum by the tediousness of the work.

My father used to give us pocket money for finding him squid bones about the size of the palm of the hand and about an inch or more thick. These bleached bones wouls wash up along the beaches in the East Coast. He used these bones as the mould for pouring gold to shape for a ring. It was an ingeneous process which today is being replace by more sophisticated and less wasteful techniques.

My memories of my father working at his small workplace in a corner of the kitchen in our home was the moments when he would swear under his breath in Ceylonese everytime something did not come out right, like he had to recast a ring or the gold refuesd to cooperate with the way he had in mind. I caught the look of satisfaction on his face each time he completed a piece of jewelry to his satisfaction. There was no one to congratulate his effort and his accomplishment often went unnoticed.

I doubted that the palace paid him for what he was worth in those days and my father true to the Ceylonese blood in him compounded by being a frustrated artist was a drinker. It was his escape from the reality of a life that not what I would call ideal for him, socially, religiously or even being who he was as a father.

The most i have ever received from my father my entire life was the sum of fifty Malaysian Ringgit and that was when I had returned from the United States for a short visit. He had shoved the money into my palm and told me to spend it on myself from him and the look on his face simply made it impossible to say no to him.

As a teenager I would often check his pants pocket for change and most of the time there would be just enough there to 'steal' from! That was my pocket money from my father and i never received any had I asked for it somehow but he never complained that he has been missing twenty cents from his pants pocket every other day.

Every once in a while he would turn on me and swore,"Son of a Tiger!" in Singhalese at me, In all the time I was with him he never ever laid a finger on me no matter how bad I was. As I browsed at thewindows of the jewelry shops stealing shots of f my camera the thought of my father lingered in my mind. Through him I had watched a bar of gold the size of an eraser turned into a necklace, a ring a pendant. The hours of squating on the concrete floor of the kitchhen pulling gold through the tool that created a wire of gold for the chain and later cutting and coiling the wire into links one at a time and sodering it into the length of chain gave me today the inspiration to perservere in being an artist no matter what it takes to make a living and support my chldren in school. ONly I enjoy the pleasure of creation of my ow own works and there is no more any need for recognition or glamour!

My Heart Weeps for Sendai.

Lord Date Masamune , 'The one Eyed Dragon', Shogun lord of the Tohoku region of the Northern territories of the Miyagi Prefecture. He had the Aoba castle built at Sendai and ruled the region.

The people of Sendai enjoying the Hanamori in spring at one of the many parks in Sendai.

A panoramic view of the City of Sendai from the top of the hill at Yasoen (Wild Flowers Garden} where our Apartment was located.

The Godaido...a historical temple built on a little island of the coast of Matsushima.

Yesterday, 11th. of March a major earthquake hit Northern japan with the magnitude of 8.9 causing a Tsunami that swiped large areas of the Sendai City areas of the Miyagi Prefecture and surrounding areas.

Most of the drawings and sketches of the 'Clash of the Titans- SUMO!! were done while I was living in Sendai for three years of my life.

My late wife nancy was a lecturer at the Kawaijyuku Bunri and my two children attended the Mukaiyama Yo Chien or Kindergarten there. We had many great friends in this City

To all those who we know and those we met on the streets daily in Sendai and to the rest of the Japanese People I bow my head and raise my heart to the heavens for a mercyful recovery. May all the Buddhas come to the aid of those in need.

May the AlMighty protect them from any further disaster and keep them safe.

Clash of the Titans! -SUMO!!

Those you meet on the street...

The fun faces of the young who will inherit the cultural heritage of their native land.
Jogjakarta or better known these days as Jogjya, is the Arts and cultural hub of Indonesia or at least becoming one. This city is alive day and night with all kinds of Arts and cultural activities, such as the staging of the Ramayana to the street performances by various groups, amateur as well as professional. Galleries, those run by professionals and art dealers to those found on street corners, are littered in almost all over the city.

The preservation of the environment in the form of homes and gardens, highlighting the pride in aesthetic taste and values; this was where I stayed, a small lodging run by a local married to a Japanese.

To earn the trust and respect of those whom you meet is an art in itself, as these are the ones who can open many doors and opportunities for your experiences during your stay as their guest.

I was blessed again to meet the right group of individuals when I stayed at this lodging, as I learned that each individual in the group was an artist of one kind or another. It is said that only a Buddha knows a Buddha and with these gentlemen, the Buddha met the Buddhas.

When you enter someoneelse's home or village or territory for the first time learn to recognize who is the bosses, the head honchos, the lead players the gaurdians of the place and place your trust and respect in these without doubt, Insha'Allah, even if they be robbers by trade you will srill be safe or more safer.

We each have our persona that we carry with us, and this often is like a cloak or disguise to suit the occasion or circumstances; we wear our masks. Dropping all these and resorting to our true nature, we stand to receive better reception from the world. We who are able to surrender ourselves to humanity will be kept as special guest of humanity wherever we are.

And the owner was a chef who could whip up some of the most delicous Indonesian cuisine I had ever tasted on the house! What more can a traveller ask? These are people who will forever be in your memory, as writing this blog is the testimony.

The 'Three Musketeers" are sitting and waiting for their turn to perform before the audiences of the Royal Compound.

Sharing my art at the Cemeti Art center where local artists hang out and meet with others.

My transport is waiting for me to take my trips around the city.

A roadside stall, a common sight all over the Southeast Asian countries, where coconut and mango juice is the drink of the day. Those you come across in your travels may not have anything to offer you, but their very peaceful prescence is enough for you to enjoy if you are not looking for anything in particualr.

The entrance of the marketplace in the City of Solo looks like one is entering the gateway to the Forbidden City in China!

Anywhere I go, I always love to visit the marketplace. It is here that you get to see and feel the breath of life in the community. Here you are in the midst of the population haggling and peddling their wares, shopping for their daily subsistence. The smell, the noise, the taste, it all envelops your senses and makes you feel like you are a part of the society.

There is a marketplace in every small or big city in the world, open markets, Sunday markets, the supermarket, there is a market for every day of the week selling, selling se;; selling!!

If you want to study life, go to the market and start from there.

If you are the type who holds your nose shut at these markets, then the mall is where you belong and nothing wrong with that except the people you find there are just different, mostly they dont even look at you much less talk to you as they will busy pushing their carts and feeling self concious.Markets in the lesser developed countries, such as Indonesia, is a shopping experience that permeates your every sense of being. It helps to bring you back to your primordial state of mind in relationship to your fellow man. It is always a feast for the senses.

It is in the street and alleyways of life that one will find the bare nature of human existence. Here, where each and every man is out making a living amidst the hustle and bustle of the traffic and the heat, each and every man carries his or her own burden as we march along this journey of our allotted span of what we call living.

Click on the images to see better....