Watercolor Sketch: God of Longevity Shou Star

There are three deities in the Taoist philosophy that represent good fortune.  The personified images of these three are Fu star, Lu star and Shou star.  They are referred to as stars because of their ties with chinese astrology.  You will see statues of these three stars in almost every temple in Hong Kong and in many homes, restaurants and shops.

Shou star or I believe, Sao, in Cantonese is the God of Longevity.  He has a high domed forehead, carries a staff in his right hand and holds a peach in his left, which represents immortality.

This watercolor sketch is from a Sao statue on a wall at Hung Shing Temple thatI would pass on my way to my framers on Queens Road East, in Wan Chai. This is just a small street side temple that used to face the water front until Hong Kong expanded outward!   There seemed to be a revolving display of deities on this wall, because every time I passed by there was something new to see.  I enjoyed taking photos of whatever happened to be there.  It would have been impossible to sketch at this location as busy as Queens Road is and the temples proximity to the street, so I did this one in the studio because I wanted a memory of this temple in my sketchbook.  I’m planning on a series of temple paintings featuring the other stars!  Stay tuned.

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Watercolor Sketch: Aberdeen Floating Village, Jumbo Restaurant & Sampans

My watercolor sketch travelogue continues in Hong Kong with one from a floating platform next to the Jumbo restaurant in the Aberdeen Harbor.  I was very fortunate to make friends with a few artists while living there.  My friend Gladys and I would try to go out once a week to sketch.  The day we scheduled to go was a gloomy day in December but we went for it anyway.  We headed down to the Aberdeen marina and took a sampan over to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.

Our Sampan Driver

This was an experience in itself just crossing the harbor.  Like many things in Hong Kong there are a number of ways to go about doing something.  Lining the harbor are private sampans for which we had many offers of taking us over for 50 -100 hundred Hong Kong dollars, or as Gladys would say, honkies.  She is a local. :-).   This equates to about $6-$12 US dollars. These are nice if you want a 30 minute tour of the harbor, but we just wanted a one way jaunt to the Jumbo.   If you are a tourist, you may think this is the only way to go.  However, I had the advantage of being with Gladys, who knew a way around this!  If you know where to look there is a public sampan you can take to the other side for around .25 cents US!  What was even more amazing you can scan your Octopus Card, Hong Kong’s, public transportation card, for the fare.  A mix of modern technology with the old world.

Boat dwellings in Aberdeen Harbor

The Aberdeen Harbor and the Aberdeen Floating Village has been and still is home to Hong Kong’s boat dwellers, descendants of which were said to have arrived in Hong Kong around the 7th-9th century.  If you would like to immerse yourself in a traditional Hong Kong experience this is a great place to visit.

Jumbo Floating Restaurant

Another popular attraction which was our destination was the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.  Established in 1976, it is one of the renowned tourist attractions in Hong Kong.  In the  lobby is a photo gallery of the who’s who of the many people who have visited over the years:  Queen Elizabeth II, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, and William Holden during the filming of “Love Isa Many- Splendored Thing,”  and the “World of Suzie Wong,” to name a few.

Sightseeing Sampan

Gladys and I settled our selves on a service platform behind the restaurant to paint boats in the harbor.  It was actually great to sketch on a grayer day. A great exercise in mixing grayed color.   It started to lightly drizzle so we cut the day short and headed over to the Aberdeen Marina Club, in a sampan of course,  for some hot Jasmine tea, and an incredible Dim Sum lunch!  A perfect sketch day with a great friend!

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Watercolor Sketch: The Bank of China Building in Hong Kong & Feng Shui

In Hong Kong, I loved just up the hill from the Hong Kong Zoological Gardens and Botanical gardens.  Both just a 5-10 minute walk from my apartment building.    Living in one of the most populated and bustling cities on earth, I was amazed at how many opportunities there were to connect with and be in natural environments.  I walked through and enjoyed these gardens often, as did many locals and expats. I had my watercolor kit with me one day and decided to do a sketch of the Bank of China building.  One, because it was designed by architect I.M. Pei who also did the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris and I like his work. Two, because it is such an iconic building in the city.

The Bank of China Building designed by I.M. Pei, image via wikipedia

There was some controversy surrounding this building, at the time it was built.  It is the only major building in the city to have bypassed the normal practice in Hong Kong of consulting with feng shui masters on it’s design prior to construction.  According to feng shui principles it’s triangles, sharp angular features, and many “x” shapes have negative symbolism.

The HSBC building designed by Norman Foster, image via Wikimedia Commons

When another iconic building in the Hong Kong landscape was built, the HSBC bank building, designed by famed British architect Norman Foster, metal rods were installed on the top pointing directly at the Bank of China building to protect it, by deflecting the negative energy right back to Bank of China.  Take that Bank of China!  Hmmm, that sounds like a good idea.  I’d like to have something like that to deflect negative energy.

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Watercolor Sketch Wong Tai Sin Temple, Hong Kong

This watercolor sketch is of one of the roof ornaments at the Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong.  Wong Tai Sin is one the largest and most famoustemples in Hong Kong. A Taoist temple named after Wong Chuping, itis known for it’s fortune telling.  Supposedly the fortune sticks here are very accurate.  Worshippers kneel before the altar shaking a bamboo container holding slender sticks of wood, similar to those coffee stirring sticks at Starbucks only a bit bigger. There can be as many as 50 or more worshippers doing this at once and there can be quite a  commotion from all the shaking and chanting. When one falls out, the stick is exchanged for a piece of paper by the sooth sayer at the temple, bearing the same number as the stick.  The sooth sayer then interprets the fortune for the worshiper.  Some temples like this one have many stalls, with fortune tellers or sooth sayers which are open for consultation for anyone seeking guidance.

 Roof Detail at Wong Tai Sin

Worshippers at Wong Tai Sin

Wong Tai Sin's Chinese Temple Architecture

The temple has extensive gardens in the back including a replica of the Nine Dragons Wall from the Forbidden City in Beijing.  What is really odd is the juxtaposition of the temple and gardens surrounded by the towering Hong Kong apartment buildings.

Detail of Apartment Buildings Surrounding Wong Tai Sin

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Kyoto Tanuki

Anyone who has traveled and lived in Japan can’t help but be intrigued by the Tanuki, the Japanese Raccoon Dog! This animal is a subspecies of the raccoon dog native to Japan.   An artist's version in ceramic statuary is mostly seen outside of Japanese bars and cafes, to symbolize wealth and prosperity, because of some Japanese word play associated with a certain anatomical feature! (See number five below.)   Folklore legend of the Tanukiportrays this creature as a mischievous prankster with shape shifting abilities that can take on a human form.

The legend of the Tanuki has eight special traits that bring on good fortune:

1.  A hat to protect against trouble or bad weather
2.   Big eyes to make good decisions
3.   A sake bottle that represents virtue
4.   A big tail that provides steadiness and strength
5.   An over-sized scrotum that symbolizes financial luck
6.   A promissory note that represents trust or confidence
7.   A big belly that symbolizes bold and calm decision-making
8.   A friendly smile

While traveling in Kyoto, I visited a workshop that made ceramic Tanukis.  They can be as tiny as 3 inches and as tall as 6 feet.  All varieties and sizes were nestled in the bamboo wooded area around the workshop, this particular guy caught my eye and was the inspiration for this painting.

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Indiana Heirloom Tomatoes

I took a week off from my blog to drive up to Indiana to see my family.  It felt like fall!  Lows in the 40’s and 50’s at night 70’s in the day.  Was a niece relief from the rainy hot and humid weather we have been having in Florida!  This sketch is of heirloom tomatoes from my mom’s garden.  There is nothing like a home grown tomato just picked from the vine, sliced with a pinch of salt.  Pair that with green beans cooked with bacon and new potatoes, and corn on the cob.  All from the garden of course. And, don’t forget the homemade bread and butter.  A piece of pie for dessert is nice too!  A friendof my mom’s had given her some beautiful sour cherries picked from her tree, therefore we had to make a pie.   The perfect summer Indiana dinner!

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Watercolor Sketch: Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

The Watercolor Sketch Travelogue Series,  continues leaving Thailand going back to Hong Kong.  This one was done at the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Sha Tin in the New Territories of Hong Kong.  The monastery was completed in 1957, but it took an additional 10 years to complete and add the 13,000 Buddha statues on the main temple walls.  Incidentally even though the name is 10, 000 Buddhas Monastery, there are 13,000.  In Cantonese, 10,000 denotes a large number of something.

This sketch was done at the bottom of the hill and is of a more Thai influenced statue with 4 faces.

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Watercolor Sketch: Chedi Beach, Phuket Thailand

Today I’m sharing another watercolor sketch done on the Chedi Beach in Phuket Thailand.  This one was done sitting on the beach chair after a delicious lunch of the freshest, tastiest,  Thai food imaginable.

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Watercolor Sketch and Painting, Chinese Shoes

There is a street near the Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road in Hong Kong called Cat Street.  Although it’s touted as a street to find antiques, and some of the actual shops do sell antiques.  The stalls along the street are mostly things made for tourists that appear to be antiques.  That being said it is still fun to wander, and look and shop because there is a lot of cool stuff there.  But remember, if you do buy anything bargaining for the best price, or what you are willing to pay is imperative!  Sometimes what you are willing to pay is still a big profit for the sellers!  But, you walk away happy with your treasure and the seller is happy they made a sale.

One seller has a bunch of embroidered shoes.  Since I love textiles andthe beautiful colors of these shoes,  I went one day to do a plein air sketch of some of them lying in a basket.  As I was doing the sketch I knew I wanted to develop this idea further.  I took photos and used them, and my sketch as reference for a larger painting.

Chinese Shoes, Watercolor on Archival Paper, 15" x 11", 38 cm x 28 cm

This is the larger painting, Chinese Shoes,  that was exhibited in a summer exhibition at Brushstrokes Gallery, in Hong Kong from an invitation from artist, and my good friend, Isabelle Lim.

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Watercolor Sketch Chedi Beach, Phuket Thailand

One of the things I loved living in Hong Kong, was you are centrally located to travel all over Asia.  The airport is a breeze to get to from Central with the Airport Express train which departs from the IFC tower.  You can even check your bags at the train terminal so you don’t have to do it at the airport!  We went on a long weekend holiday to Phuket Thailand.  My previous trip to Thailand was during the design phase of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, visiting Bangkok and Chang Mai for research.  It was wonderful to see the beautiful beaches in the South.  This sketch was done on the beach.  There was a family that set up in an outdoor kitchen to serve lunch to the guests at the nearby hotel.  The food was scrumptious.  One of their little boys came over and talked to me while I was painting.  He was so intrigued he kept touching the paint as I was putting it down.  I have a little souvenir of his fingerprint on the sketch!

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