One Percent

You may or may not have noticed how extremely circumscribed this blog is. It explores my drawing and painting, past and present, and my photography, pretty much limited to my yard. That's it. My family and friends hover around in anonymity, and I do not express views on politics or religion. It's not that I'm a slave to rules, not even my own. But I do well with boundaries.

I'm busting out tonight. I don't have any paintings to post, and I have over 700 photographic images from my recent trip. I needed to upload them anyhow, and sort, and further cull. Here's a few of the pictures I especially like.

Another Side of the World

Dragonfly at Songnisan National Park, Korea

View from Westin Chosun, Room 1123, Seoul, Korea

The truth is I haven't traveled much in recent years. I hadn't been off the continent for over 30 years. I never visited Asia before. I should have. It's easy to understand that the world is big and it's not all the same. But there is real value in experiencing the difference: in not being able to make myself understood, in accepting help with simple things, in being a minority, in not understanding conversations all around me, in not being able to read packaged goods. The food is different. Fashion is different. Manners are different. The smells are different. The mountains are shaped different. The bugs are different. Buildings are different. Baseball is different. The Teaching of Buddha is in the same hotel drawer as The Bible. There are shrines and palaces many hundreds of years old, and whole cities less than ten years old. My understanding, perspective and empathy are all expanded. I think it's true that I can find beauty and wonder right in my own backyard, but I can clearly learn much more when I venture out. I'm very happy that I visited Korea.

My Trip to Korea

I had wonderful adventures in Korea. Unfortunately, my return home coincided with the onset of some pretty unpleasant illness. Nothing very unusual; my doctor is completely unconcerned. And it seems to be clearing up. Here are a couple of things I drew and painted.

From the roof of Hotel New Prince, Bucheon, Korea

Secret Garden, Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul, Korea