242. THE SUN THE MOON AND A LAKE - CENTRAL TAIWAN

 

Weather's pleasant in February. Chilly at times but quite beautiful in a place like Sun Moon Lake, a place I've been meaning to spend more time in.

What better place to commune with the sun and the moon...to admire the many facets and colours of the changing seasons, the days and the nights - as illustrated by a truly sensitive soul, a local resident artist, Chu Chichu, who has spent decades in this region, communing with the Lake and the Elements all around...

Chu Chichu's connection with the Lake is spiritual - I could see it I could sense it...he pours his soul into his paintings of the lake and he has done it a zillion times...with reverence, feeling, respect...

Waiting for the sun to rise and shine...

Good morning Sunshine!

Recreation space outside my room at Sun Fog

Ahoy there! Does Jack Sparrow that notorious, kind-hearted pirate, live here?

It has been suggested to me to get a palm sized drone for my blog pics - but the places I go to and the pics I like to take, may result in that drone getting confiscated or worse they'll throw me in jail...! Like in Pakistan. Or some parts of China...or Phnom Peng...

Street artist - the art scene is vibrant in Taipei. There's so much art in the places I went to - I'm sure it's the case elsewhere in the country...this is a cultured people. Hosts, male and female, take pride in making tea, chat with guests and serve the tea humbly...

I look forward to my next outing to Keelung, outside Taipei, soon...to discover more about the Taiwanese lifestyle, heritage, its people and their generosity, more of their food...

Spring is in the air...another life cycle begins

Another brilliant painter with a different approach, Ko Shih Chung. His home cum studio is an art gallery, every where I turn is beautiful collectibles and his own creations. He has turned his properties into a gracious homestay with art lessons for those so inclined...

Loads of art within and without the properties, in the gardens too...too many to post here...

Every place is a good place to park one self...it's admirable how passionate they are - while I take pics of them and explore the surrounds!

Water caltrop nuts - I've not seen these for the longest time. They grow in water. They're fascinating - some refer to them as 'devil nuts' (how do we know a 'devil' looks like this, with horns?) 'Devils' tend to appear more like homo sapiens...

The nuts look more like bats or a Cape Buffalo's head with its powerful horns. Eaten raw, the white nut within is oily and tastes like Brazil nuts. When boiled, the nut looks soft, wet, pinkish - somebody remarked it looked like a fetus ! Whatever - it's art to me - anything from Mother Nature is never 'evil'

This Hakka Center is fairly new - the things that caught my interest in its museum are these miniatures. The Hakka museum I explored and like better is the one in Meizhou in China's Guangdong province...

This paper mill is most interesting. Its where some good quality art paper is produced...

The raw materials, it's not just tree bark - in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand, I saw paper processed from flowers, its stems and elephant dung. Mother Nature provides, the humans' ingenuity turns the raw materials into useful products...

but, as it's so often the case with the homo sapiens...it comes down to choice and freewill...

Removing impurities with hands soaked in water is laborious...

A really nice art museum - the Yu-Siu Museum of Art - currently exhibiting the works of Lu Ming-Te

Photography wasn't permitted inside the museum - it's compound has some really nice installation artwork...

Day is done salute the Sun...

Photo credits to Chankek Teh of My Art Space and my fellow travellers, the former for materialising unusual places to explore and to stay which are varied and interesting. For someone who eats anything and sleeps anywhere, my lived experiences will always be priceless...

A session with watercolourist Uhky at My Art Space

Newest addition to the wax museum...the milk tea's so good at Sun Fog, I had 2 ! That corridor leads to nicely appointed rooms mostly lake facing...