It beckons! In Rayong, Thailand.

OK, it was a day and a half. Enough to burn my skin on one day — despite applying a generous amount of thick, white, sunscreen — and wear a baseball cap in the Andaman sea the next to protect my delicate nose.

By some inexplicable miracle, Thailand has been spared the worse of COVID-19, and that’s despite having the first cases outside of China, and getting by far the most tourists from Wuhan in the critical period. Nevertheless, even domestic tourism is down, and we had the beach, the pool, the hotel, and the restaurant mostly to ourselves.

There were rare sightings of 2 other couples, and at the peak of people congestion all six of us congregated in the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

The better half and me in the deserted restaurant.

Normally, people take a boat to the nearest Island — Ko Samet — to escape Bangkok and surroundings. This beach along the coast was comparable, and the hotel was way better than the bungalow I stayed in at Samet some 15 or so years ago. We like the idea of an ISLAND, but, having this beach to ourselves was probably more enjoyable.

The pool was enormous, and with palm trees interspersed in the water:

You could see the pool and the ocean from our hotel room (and it was a bargain):

There were even water slides, which were surprisingly fast — and even a little scary — if you lay flat going down, luge style.

I’ve penciled in going back for my 55th birthday, which is remarkably the next one!

There’s something about the sea and the water on the sand that has always captivated me:

I can just keep admiring it with fascination:

My favorite part was, of course, floating around in the ocean and playing in the waves. The waves were just big enough to have fun with, but didn’t make you decide to try to body surf them, swim under, go over, or wipe out.

Some of my more regular readers may note that it’s unusual for me to include myself in my posts. I just do it occasionally to remind people I’m a real human:

I don’t know why people make duck faces when they can attempt the Thumb Man.

You could walk along the beach in either direction for a spell, and to the right for quite a distance.

… which was rather soothing and beautiful, day or later in the evening.

I always prefer to walk on the wet sand:

I could walk endlessly along the shore, and the sand fleas don’t even bite me. My GF isn’t so lucky. Jelly fish also prefer her and leave me alone.

The coffee was suspect.

The worst part about the trip was the coffee. I mean, shit, even I can make a good cup of coffee when pressed. This was some sort of instant, packaged crap. Note to bring own coffee next time.

Even such a short holiday served the purpose of making the week so much longer, slowing down time — the beach really does that well — and not being able to work or work on my various projects.

That said, as soon as I got home I knocked out a tutorial in Blender as a warmer:

Fan tutorial by PIXXO 3D.

And then got back to work on the Enterprise. Which I’m still working on:

And some parts are getting really intricate, and testing my fledgling 3D modeling metal.

This isn’t a tutorial. I’m doing everything from scratch and figuring out how to make it as I go along. Every bit of it, including the logos and lettering is 100% generated by the computer. Even the Enterprise itself didn’t have computers capable of such wizardry.

Sure, Blender is apparently good for making models. But is it suitable for contemporary fine art? I hope to demonstrate in coming months that it is, and how.

And that’s all I gotta’ say on the matter.

~ Ends

19 replies on “One Day Beach Escape”

  2. As an aging former Southern California beach bunny I can hear the waves, smell the salty fresh air and feel the wet packed sand on my feet as you describe your beach walks. Now I live only a few miles from Lake Michigan and although the lake can certainly look like the ocean, down to the powerful waves, it just isn’t the same. When I’m by the ocean I feel like I could stay there forever. 💕

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    1. Which one was the “eye-man” image. Oh, I think it must be the “Ant-man” with the big eyes and bubble head. I worried for a second that I’m losing track of my own creations, which I probably am.

      Good ole breakfast porridge. They gave each of us enough for a family of four. It was way better than the coffee.

      It’s so weird how a place can become memories once you leave. By that I mean, for me, now, living in New York is just distant memories, as is living in America at all. Living in China has become a memory, and the same for Cambodia and Vietnam. I’m sure you understand this because you’ve lived in different countries. Whichever one you currently live in becomes the reality, and the others just memories, until your next move.

      For most people there is always one fixed home, one reality.

      Thanks for reading and commenting.

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      1. Yes, I think I know what you mean. I am happy with where I am now, but looking at your pictures did make me homesick for a moment.

        The picture I was thinking of was called something like “Dr. Oculus” (?). It featured a tumor- or abscess- like eye flowing down the side of your face. I did not spend a lot of time looking at it. Ant Man was much friendlier. 🙂

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      2. Oh, that one! Yes, I think he was “Dr. Cataract”, and I did that one shortly after discovering I have a cataract in my left eye. I wonder if it’s from wearing cheap sunglasses in the strong UV out here for over a decade. Curable, at least.

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  5. Sounds like a great place to relax, Eric. I’ve been promising myself to learn Blender for a while now for the same reason. I have seen some of the things my son has produced and it’s quite clear what an intensive object study activity it is.

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    1. Hi Steven:

      I haven’t been as communicative lately, but I’ve been really enjoying your latest paintings, and especially the ones featuring our old friend, the tall man.

      You’re doing great with physical paint and 2D. I think you’ve already found you medium, but it couldn’t hurt to model subjects in 3D space.

      I was originally planning to use the organic sculpture options to help me with my digital paintings. Now I’ve gone completely to the other side — at least temporarily — and am just envisioning pieces crafted in virtual reality, and leaving off the digital painting process altogether. So, in the present moment, it’s now harder for me to conceive on the fly how to integrate it into a 2D practice.

      Anyway, I’d be very curious about what another fine artist would do with the medium. It is rather intensive once you get into it, and probably good for the old noodle. I seem to be a bit sharper the last few weeks, and I’m guessing it’s from the mental workouts. I constantly have to figure out how to do things and make them work.

      I’d suggest, possibly, just setting aside some time to learn it, so it doesn’t interfere with your painting practice. I can suggest some good tutorials when you’re ready, and I’ll have a better idea later on when I’ve done more of them.

      You could certainly have some fun with it, and that seems to be part of the magic of your brain and how you motivate yourself to make art.

      Eric

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  6. Thanks for the post Eric – I came across an older post of yours about dealing with pretension around contemporary art while also fostering appreciation of it – read the whole thing through and glad I did. Also read a political leaning post about Gary Garells and it echoed many of my own thoughts on the matter.

    I’m pretty self-centered and rarely care about other people’s vacations, but this was a welcome escape for me to vicariously experience and I thank you for sharing it.

    My site if you ever have some time to kill: https://mryczek.com/

    Looking forward to more,

    Mike

    On Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 5:04 AM Art & Crit by Eric Wayne wrote:

    > Eric Wayne posted: ” It beckons! In Rayong, Thailand. OK, it was a day and > a half. Enough to burn my skin on one day — despite applying a generous > amount of thick, white, sunscreen — and wear a baseball cap in the Andaman > sea the next to protect my delicate nose.By some” >

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    Reply

    1. Hi Mike:

      Glad you enjoyed a few of my posts. Yeah, who cares about other people’s vacations? I just share such things once in a while to humanize my blog, in case some of my followers are a little curious about who I am behind the letters and images.

      I took a look at your site. Lots of solid paintings, including some great portraits, and some cool sharks!

      Cheers,

      Eric

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    1. Hi Tiffany:

      I’ve only traveled to the states once in at least the last 15 years. so we are nearly opposites. Oddly, I never planned on doing much traveling or being an expat before, say, my 30th birthday. The future always takes me by surprise.

      I used to like long vacations, staying in one or two star hotels, going by bus, and with a backpack. Now I’m liking much shorter adventures, nice hotels, and hiring a taxi.

      Mostly I just want to stay home and work on art. But I do fantasize about getting out in nature more, and more often.

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  10. You are so funny! (sometimes…) It was so nice seeing someone out in the world, enjoying a beautiful vacation! And your pics are just lovely!(maybe not thumbman…🤪) How did u do that BTW? It is nice to see your lovely Better Half also!!
    I am rather ashamed at living by the ocean for over 30 years, both the Atlantic and now Gulf of Mexico, and nearly ever visiting the beach… It is a common “thing” for the communities I live in…(what’s the matter with us?)
    So I really enjoyed our, er, your getaway!

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    1. Thanks, Susan. Glad you vicariously took part in my little jaunt to the beach.

      Oh, the “thumb man” photos. You just look down at your camera and take the picture from the extreme angle of the camera looking up, trying to force in your chin in order to produce the triple chine effect.

      You probably should to to the Gulf and have a swim. I’ve started swimming in the pool in the morning, when the water is really cold, and it’s invigorating. Makes me feel alive and all that.

      Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting.

      Eric

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