After a few years trudging through the British countryside with my easel I realised that in the time it takes me to finish one tube of red paint I may well have got through six of brown. It is time for a change. Over the next few months I will be travelling through Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Japan, Peru and Cuba in search of some of the most exotic and culturally diverse subject matter the world has to offer. Having said that Cadmium Red actually costs around six times as much as Raw Umber (brown) so ideally the ratio won't switch around too drastically.
I hope that by keeping a blog I can keep you up to date with my adventures through painting, the sampling of delicious curries, the probability of dodgy curries and the odd smug holiday photo.
I arrived in Colombo last night and am pleased to report that the first curry was delicious and not dodgy. I then got up at the crack of dawn to catch the train to Kandy, the most wonderful journey with breathtaking views the whole way. Getting around is a bit tricky, my backpack is a bulging 23kg, 21 of which are made up of enough canvas, brushes and paint to last me three months. The last two kilos, or rather 1.8 are enough clothes to last me around three days. Although given that I'm travelling alone no one will ever really know how (in)frequently I change my socks.
This morning I was shown around the Temple of the Sacred Tooth at first rather reluctantly by a guide who cornered me at the entrance. He turned out to be completely charming and has a pretty hot client list. He seems to have (by chance) been guide to entire British monarchy on various occasions. Below is a photo of him with the queen wearing ceremonial dress. He's the right hand man in a gold hat.
This afternoon was spent painting from the balcony of my B&B, I haven't got to grips with all the new colours quite yet but it's only day one. Sri Lanka is often called the emerald island as its so wonderfully verdant. The views from the train this morning showed this is definitely no understatement, however it may pose challenges with painting. Tomorrow I'm off to Tea country where the views promise to be spectacular.
