Painting with the Sunset

Welcome to a painting-filled hotel room at the Aochalong Villa Resort & Spa. The walls are orange, the pool is surrounded by trees swaying in a warm breeze, random pretty and silly statues are hiding around every corner of this beach side safe haven. Walk up the street through the palm tree fields and you’ll pop out onto a chaotic traffic buzzing road. Phuket is an island city vibe; constant traffic, honking, cars everywhere. It’s a relief to walk into the resort and hear nothing but birds. From the balcony I look across giant green leaves to the boats in the harbor and the giant Buddha on the hill. What a view to rest inside. Another week in Phuket has inspired many abstract sunset paintings. I painted the first batch on the pool deck by the beach during a YouTube livestream. The second batch were painted in the middle of the night on the balcony in semi-darkness. Waking the next morning to the surprise of which colors I used…always an artist delight. What did I create in the night, I wonder. I carefully drag the canvases inside so they can dry in the air conditioning. Pro-tip, in tropical climates the humidity outside prevents paintings from fully drying (quickly). Paint outside and bring them inside to dry within a day. The air conditioning is also drying out our human sinuses and throat so be mindful of the air you’re breathing. It’s better for the paintings inside and better for us outside. ;)

I’m living a dream when I pack these big bags. I look as if I’m heading to the airport. I’m actually calling a car to drive me across the island to Ao Yon Beach. Tonight I’m unrolling a giant canvas onto the soft creamy sand. The sun will set slowly as a photographer moves around me, capturing me as I paint at lightning speed. All the little paintings I’ve created at the hotel are my sketches and experiments, the prep-work for these bigger pieces. I have a loose idea of what I’m about to create…more deep blue oceans, rainbow florescent fire at the horizon and soft pink and grey in the sky. You’ve seen me playing with this on livestreams, on paper, and now it’s time for the big canvas moment. What’s the dream I’m living, you wonder? To be painting the beach sunset on the beach at sunset. For years, I was painting beachy sunsets indoors, in the garage, in the studio, in a tent in the forest, praying that one day I would be able to paint the sunsets I imagined as they appeared before my eyes in the actual sky. It’s a pain in the ass to haul all the art supplies around on my back, to juggle all the straps and canvas and guitar (yes the guitar came on the photo shoot painting adventure, of course). It’s also totally worth it. When I’m knee deep in warm sand, sand sprinkling into the paint, canvas edges blown over by the warm evening breeze, gold light sparkling in my eyes, and a cool ocean promises I can float around when I put down the final palette knife…yes this is worth it. This is the dream; to create sunsets while I enjoy sunsets, to participate in the creative energy of the universe as the universe enjoying the universe. I am not inside in a box daydreaming and wishing I were somewhere else. I am right where I want to be.

Ao Yan beach is for locals at the end of the day. It’s been two days since I went scuba diving, two days out of the mighty ocean, two strange days on land. As usual, my feet touch the sand and step into the washing waves and voila, I feel the grounding healing power travel up from my soles to my soul. This quiet beautiful bay is a medicinal retreat from the chaos I’ve been feeling on the roads of Phuket. I asked the driver to stop by 7 Eleven on the trip to this beach so I could buy water, raisins and some chocolate. I’m wondering why I decided to snack on raisins before a photo shoot. Raisins cause bloating and I would rather not be swollen like a balloon before playing bikini dress up for the camera. Oh well. I’ve noticed I make slightly strange decisions like this when the sweat is rolling down my skin, the internet isn’t picking up on my devices, the money in my pocket is low, my debit card has gone missing, the taxi drivers aren’t understanding where to pick me up, the taxi windows are tinted dark so I feel no warm sunlight or breeze on my skin as we commute for an hour in traffic. All these little irritations build up until I feel slightly delirious and almost cursing the decision to show up and do a photo shoot. I was not in the mood in the hours leading up to the photo session. Of course, the moment the camera was picked up, all the stress melted and I dropped into happy flow state. For a couple hours, I was rolling in sand, legs in the water, paintbrushes flying around furiously with passion, laughing, making silly faces as my paint covered fingers left patterns on my arm (yes, we did body painting), and the gorgeous sunset lit me up with gratitude. All the uncomfortable feelings drain away when I turn my attention to the simple pleasures of creation.

I feel full circle these days. The paintings I’m creating now aren’t too drastically different to the paintings I was making back home. They feel more evolved, deeper, richer, more wilde and more intentional at the same time. I’m still obsessed with painting rainbows and sunsets and now I suppose the paintings I’m making feel more alive to me because they are coming from my eyes instead of my imagination. I’m painting what I’m seeing before me each day. I’m painting the world that I’m living in, verses the world I wish I were in. The energy in that is completely different. My paintings feel less like fantasy and more like abstracted reality. They used to be my escape and now they are my call and response to the living universe, real, very real, in this moment. Instead of painting fantasies, I’m painting memories; memories I’m still living inside because they’re being created with every brushstroke.

These are the photos taken quickly on my iPhone. The professional photos will be delivered to me within the next couple weeks and I will share those on a separate blog post.

The drive home is always in the dark. I leave the beach at twilight and I sit in the backseat of the car and watch the world of scooters zoom by. Kids, dogs, baskets, barefoot old men, teenagers multitasking on their phones…the crazy sights are never ending. The streets are ripe with dangerous and fascinating situations. I feel most drawn to noticing the little kids who ride on the scooter, balancing between parents’ legs and dogs with their feet balanced on handlebars. I still love the carefree liberation of it all.

Love & Rainbows,
Cha Wilde