Ko Phangan...Close to Paradise

Out of Bangkok after only 3 days (and not a moment too soon), I'm now in Ko Phangan, Thailand working on the Thailand chapter of the book, the research for which is basically complete, and enjoying a more relaxed environment. I've enrolled in a yoga and meditation course at the Agama Yoga Center, which was, I think, a good step. While Thailand is famed for its beaches and relaxing vacation spots, the last two months have been solid work, and a week of twice-daily yoga practice and a community of a hundred or so people- many of whom have intelligent things to say about what I'm writing about- seems like a good place to synthesize my recent experiences. The photo here is borrowed from the Internet, but I will send/post some "postcard shots" soon!

In the next few weeks, the plan is to get a draft of this first chapter (or the first material), together, take care of a few business details in Thailand (permission from artists to use their images, etc.), and then head back to Singapore before departing to Bali, the other "major" southeast asian center for contemporary spiritual art. My plans to spend a few weeks sniffing out similar art in Vietnam have been deferred, as a number of art collectors have concurred that it is not near as fertile a discovery ground as I had hoped. So...as soon as I can drag myself off this island, the next phase begins.

A side note- my article on Austrian Fantastic Realist painter Ernst Fuchs and his vist to Bangkok comes out in this month's issue of Fine Art Magazine (Thailand). Very excited to have already generated a publication of both words and pictures, and as soon as I have a link or a .pdf, I'll post it here.