places that have never left me...

Kathmandu

Rickshaw drivers in India

Tibetan prayer flags in the Himalayan foothills

Nepali tea pickers in Himalayan foothills


I've failed to mention so far any of my real life experiences that have influenced and inspired me. Travel has been an essential part of my life...it has shaped me in layers that are hard to place your finger on. Like layers upon layers of old hand me down clothes...as they unravel you can see bits of other layers poking through. What, Who, Where and Why? You wonder because it's no longer in context...
Whenever I travel I fully dive into another galaxy...submerged, I joke with the locals, chewing on their favorite snacks, dropping slang and antidotes as I bounce someones baby on my knee while convincing everyone that I completely belong there, have always been there somehow...even though I've just walked up the road an hour ago. When it comes time to leave they never want to let me go. I always move on anyways because why settle for just one and only one galaxy? If you have known many you always know that there are so many more out there...its hard to ever sit still.
So I suppose in my travels I have been influenced not just by the places I have been to, but by this way of life in general. The ability to adapt and take in and then let go again. Parred with a puzzled longing for the other things you've known and the aspects that made a lot more sense. You smash apart your world so it can expand again and of course you feel fragmented. It becomes as routine as breathing and like anything you collect in large quantity you lose track after awhile. I have more memories than I can really do justice. As my mind goes these influences drift into a subtle subconscious realm and that is when it comes out into my artwork...

So yes..India and Nepal. In 1999 I traveled there with my bicycle. It was my first experience in a 3rd world country and on bike I was not sheltered from the rain or the grabbing hands of the ragtag children who chased me down the road begging for candy. Ritual, bright colors in contrast with decay and poverty, animals in the street, religion and family, people who knew how to co-exist in a very crowded space. The intensity and overwhelming smells, colors, tastes, sounds and forms...they have never left me.