Prague

Photo by angie tan and Painting by gregory burns. all rights reserved.

The Czech Republic sits beside a very prosperous Germany. Our train across the invisible border soon offers a subtle contrast between the ‘haves’ and the ‘someday may haves’.  Though the landscape and graffiti changes little one can feel the drop in GDP. But as we pull into Prague station the smorgasbord of ancient buildings and sights takes one’s attention away from the present and refocuses it on a glorious past. Glaringly apparent is that Prague was once a cultural hotspot. Gothic spires stretch towards the stars while cobblestone streets with intricate patterns combine to embellish everything between heaven and earth.

Walking is the best way to see the city as Prague has more pedestrian streets than any city I have ever explored. Lined with trendy consumer goods stores, modern society rubs shoulders with tower guards dressed in traditional court costumes while stone structures hundreds of years old form an historic blanket. 

Arched gateways and windows combine the strength of the male line with the female curve, softening the structures. hundreds of years old form an historic blanket. Overhearing a local guide describe Prague, he informs his eager brew that the best bargains are smoking, drinking and eating. We choose two of the three after long days painting and photographing the Old Town, Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. We skip the torture chamber and sex machine tour in favor of the view from the Clock Tower in the Old City Center.Despite what must be a challenging economic environment and the onset of a drizzly winter, many locals wear smiles. The Arts seem to be thriving with ballet, music and film all well represented.Despite what must be a challenging economic environment and the onset of a drizzly winter, many locals wear smiles. The Arts seem to be thriving with ballet, music and film all well represented. An ancient musician plays an equally antiquated musical instrument we cannot identify but which creates sound from a past era. Thai massage parlors and Chinese restaurants augment the cacophony of people and races found here. Still a crossroads for pilgrims and businessmen, Prague has something for everyone. But most memorable is the architecture, which seems unchanged since the invention of the wheel. Slipping quietly out of town at dawn, we say goodbye to picturesque Prague on its journey back to a cultural renaissance.

France 

angie tan and gregory burns. All rights reserved

Returning to the Paris I grew up in, much has changed and stayed the same after four decades. The Eiffel Tower remains, but has digital lights. The metro still runs and still has graffiti. Little dogs are still served at tables in restaurants but there are less of the remains on the streets. And one can still walk for hours and barely scratch the surface of this spectacular town.

We are a week on Rue St Paul, within striking distance of numerous museums, scenic destinations and cozy bistros. Our time is spent eating sights and wonderful cuisine.  The weather this late in the season cooperates and brings out the best in everybody. Our time in this town remind me of how good I had it here in my youth.

We take the train across French fields that Van Gogh immortalized in striking greens and golds a century ago. The scene has not changed though the machinery has. Tracking like a rocket along steel beams we lean and whiz across the fall landscape.

Without agenda or time constraints, we can just be here and now. We observe all that is around like kids on their first train ride out of town. Muffled whispers combine with the quite whirl of our passage through space and time.

We are not really coming or going anywhere. We move while sitting still. We don’t really know what the next moment will hold. We only have this instant and all its wonder. The color and compositions fill and empty our vision. The sounds and smells come and go. We let go. We ride on rails. We are the falcon on the fence post scanning the horizon.

Arriving in Nice, we head north to Tourrettes Sur Loup, an ancient village perched on top of a granite peak. After hundreds of years it still clings to the slopes defying gravity and the onslaught of tourists. Small enough to wander through in a few hours, the stone steps and buildings slipping us into a fairy tale.

We travel the area to other villages and sights. We visit the coast and swim in the sea where celebrities and fishermen share the bounty.  One can feel why the wealthy and Hollywood directors have glamorized this region. There is so much butter in the sauces and such richness in the light.

Artist in Residence 'MADE IN BALI'      
Alila Villas Soori   by gregory and angie tan burns.  all rights reserved.

Tucked between the mountains and the sea, Alila Villas Soori embraces and inspires. Verdant green fields, ripe and rich with rice, attract swallows and sightseers, feeding on the landscape. Lavender sand beaches stretching beyond view, offer space to roam freely where crashing waves energize the air. All one needs can be found here, nourishment for the body, heart and soul. No reason to leave. Resting here and now, we recharge.
Cloistered in our villa-cum studio, the vistas outside do little to reflect the anguish inside as I try to formulate an approach to painting this utopia. With the sea pounding and the fields swaying, I am vexed with trying to create some harmony out of all the disparate elements. Gradually though, after filling a sketchbook with scribbles, my brush and paint begin to synchronize into something that feels a bit like this oasis.
Like the waves, I hammer away in my studio until slowly, like the sand on the beach, my vision crystallizes while colors and forms begin flowing together. Combining imagery with gestures, I try to create something, which speaks not only of this magical spot, but also of a universal respite we all seek where time and space are abundant and we quietly reconnect with ourselves.

TO VIEW MORE IMAGES AND PAINTINGS, please CLICK ON LINK BELOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pckypw77v5A.

made in maldives 2     All rights reserved. Copyright 2011

Returning for a second time to feed visually on the magical world of the Maldives, we rediscover white sand trails weaving patterns across the island, connecting the community of secluded bungalows and pristine plunge pools shaded by towering palm trees. We are back to island life where the sky overflows with sunset colored billowing clouds and twinkling stars.

Circled by eagle rays and uplifted by spirited dolphins playing in the waves, the menu of life below the surface of the sea is equally inspiring. Most mere mortals appreciate sea-life with a knife and fork or in an aquarium. But for an hour we are mesmerized, 60 feet under water at the bottom of the atoll, just meters away from six manta rays as they line up like airplanes, waiting for their turn at the cleaning station where sepia and blue fish dart about, cleaning their gills. Like rag dolls fluttering in the wind, we cling to coral as strong shifting currents buffet fish and us about. Ranking at the top of the food chain, we elude the trauma of being eaten alive. We feel so fortunate to be observers here where no barriers separate us from life jostling for position and struggling for survival. Internet is not needed here. We are already in sensory overload.

Welcome to our world.

FOR MORE PAINTINGS AND PHOTOS PLS CLICK THIS LINK BELOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smOaZYwtDi8

Seabourn Sojourn : Sydney to Bali

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

As soon as we escape the controlled waters of Sydney harbor our vessel slams into the waves of the Bass Strait like a sledgehammer pounding on dirt. Tossing us side-to-side and front to back, the seas play with us like a child with a rag doll. Creaking and dipping, our suite with 600 thread-count sheets and high definition TV lists as we make our way towards Melbourne. From our fourth floor portal, 60 feet above the waterline, foam from broken waves paints our view white. Our first night at sea and we are deep into the feeling of man’s tentative relationship living upon water even when our capsule is the size of the Empire State Building.

A new day breaks and the seas have laid down with a bright sun shining over all of us. My first art class goes well as I endeavor to polish some budding artists. Several, having come full-circle in their twilight years, create with the sheer pleasure I have observed in children.

Angie and I begin to get a hang of the ship’s layout as our sea legs sprout. Smooth sailing for the day until evening when the winds pick up and again buffet us about. We pass far off shore somewhere between Tasmania and Australia. The horizon curves away and there is only an ocean with a few frigate birds, their wing tips tapping Morris-code on the faces of the waves while they swoop across the surface of the sea. After standing long against the thrust of the wind, it is time to go below and prepare for the night’s black tie dinner.

The following day begins with a whale spouting off port and two dolphins playing in the boat’s wake. A good omen by any standard. Angie and I have settled into our shipboard routines. Up with the sun, Angie goes to stretching and strengthening classes while I ensure the bed doesn’t get made before 9am. Later, while I teach an art class of dedicated students, Angie practices Samba and Waltz moves with the ship’s two svelte Ukrainian instructors. By dinnertime we are ready for a nap before venturing aft to dine in elegance.

In ports of Adelaide and Freemantle, we walk about, feeding on fresh sights and old buildings. We find quaint turn of the last century architecture mixed with ultra modern steel and glass structures. The highlight of shore leave is inevitably the high-speed Internet connection available at Hungry Jack fast food restaurants where we reconnect with the outside world. Returning to our home away from home on the sea, we set sail for Bali.

A cyclone off the north of Australia whips up the seas again as we are pummeled by 40-knot winds and 20 foot seas. Dinner with dancing waiters goes remarkably well while nothing appears to hit the floor despite the pitching seas. However, by dessert luck has run out and a substantial crash emanates from the kitchen, reminding us that behind the manicured veneer, keeping a vessel of 1000 guests and crew operating while in the grip of Poseidon has its challenges. But the staff and the ship respond impeccably as we cruise the Indian Ocean heading towards the equator.

After two weeks on the sea, we anchor off the East coast of Bali and spend a day revisiting local sights and friends. It has been an expansive trip for both our hearts and bellies. We lunch at an open-air wet market on traditional Indonesian food, returning to a more reasonable caloric diet. Our last view of the island is the departure lounge of Bali International Airport, returning to Singapore and life lived on land.

Sheraton Grande Laguna

Artist in Residence
‘made in Phuket'

Photo by angie tan burns and Paintings by gregory burns. copyright, all rights reserved.

Gregory is an accomplished artist who has exhibited in over 15 countries around the world and been featured in international publications
and TV programs such as CNBC, CNA, ESPN, Time magazine and Asia Wall Street Journal.

Gregory has setup his painting studio at our ‘Sala Gazebo’ (on the left hand side as you descend the main stairs from Loy Krathong lounge)
 He will be around the resort painting several of the exceptional features of Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket.  You are welcome to observe him.

Drawing classes are available on a daily basis (at 10AM and 2PM) – 1-day Advance bookings are required for these 90 minute sessions
which are available for 120USD (3,600 THB) per person (inclusive of required art supplies) – Classes are open to anyone aged 10 and above.

Nearing the end of his residency, from the 21st of January, Gregory will also be exhibiting and selling his works – all are welcome to
witness this open air art gallery  at the ‘market place’ near our lily pond sala, until the 26th of January.’.

'made in maldives' 

villingili artist in residence
photos by: angie tan burns   text and paintings by: gregory burns (all rights reserved)

Following several weeks feeding visually on the sea world of the Maldives, the tide washes up an intimate series of Gregory Burns’ paintings that reflect the aquatic life found in Shangri-La Villingili’s island oasis.

Circled by mating manta rays and astounded by lumbering whale sharks, the menu of life below the surface of the waves is extensive. In strong currents teeming with darting fish, the artist turned diver sketches on an underwater drawing slate while eye to fin with colorful creatures and coral reefs. 

Retreating to his studio, the painter appropriates references from these sketches, compelled to create art that captures glimpses of a world so contrary to our habituated life in air and gravity.

While under the sea, frolicking with creatures of the deep, humans may well recall their connection with ancient ancestors who shed gills eons ago and took to the land, and wonder why they left? Diving under, momentarily, life is primordial and immediate, as we reconnect again with the sea and our soul.

It is inspiring painting in these giant blocks of blue.