Sip ‘n Paint

It is my belief that everyone has his or her own strengths and weaknesses.  One of my biggest weaknesses is the inability to draw, paint, or create any work of art more elaborate than a stick figure.    My illustrations have provided much comic relief for many students. 

109 Eyed Monster.  Artist: A. Wilcox  Medium: Dry Erase Marker on Whiteboard

Nonetheless, I have seen many pictures of friends emerging from venues like Bottles and Brushes with beautiful works of art and frequently thought, “How hard can it be to complete something like this?  Everyone’s paintings look so nice!  I bet I could do that!”  So when one of my friends decided to organize a trip to Sip ‘n Paint, a local painting studio/sippery, I was a little too eager to give it a shot. 

Sip 'N Paint has a Yongkang Lu address, but is located in the residential area behind the restaurants.

Unlike many similar venues that I have seen where everyone paints the same picture, Sip ‘n Paint encourages you bring in a personal picture to paint, or you can find inspiration from one of their samples.  I saw a beautiful picture of a Shanghai girl that I wanted to paint on their website. 

This wouldn't be too difficult.  Especially if it was a paint by number deal... Source: Sip 'n Paint Website

I timidly asked the instructor,

“How difficult would that be to paint?”  I figured it would be a breeze. 

“How much art experience do you have?”  She asked. I do have that amazing stick figure collection.

“Um not too much.  Let’s put it this way, if they had a ‘special class’ for kids who couldn’t paint, I would have been placed in it.”  I replied.

“Then maybe you should try something a little easier.”  Luckily I brought my iPad that had a picture of some plumeria from my recent trip to Sanya. 

“I don’t think that would be too difficult.”  She encouraged.

Before we started, we had some fun hamming it up for the camera.

Having some fun with a little 'stache action.

I could at least pretend to be an artist!

It was time to get down to business.  A blank canvas stared right at me.  I panicked and raised my hand.  The instructor  came to my canvas. 

“How do I start?”  I asked.

“You start by tracing the picture on the canvas.”  He replied.  How in the world was I supposed to draw this flower?  I have NO natural art ability.

“Um, can you draw it for me?” 

“I won’t draw it for you, but I can get you started.” He drew an arch that was supposed to be a stem and demonstrated how to draw the perfect petal.   He then handed me the pencil, and I made a feeble attempt to copy his technique.  His flower was beautiful and flowing, my flower looked like one of my first grader’s works of art.

 “Um I need help.”  I said again.  I hated the problem student, but I wanted to leave with something that looked somewhat like a flower.

 After multiple demonstrations and corrections, I was ready to paint.  After I painted the background a jade-ish black color, it was time to paint the flowers.  The instructor modeled how to combine the different paints so each petal had the perfect shading.  I tried to imitate his technique, but my flower looked like a fried egg.  

Our painting instructors give my friend Mandy a hand.

“Um…I need help.  What do I do next?” 

“You need to add some leaves.  This is the fun part.” He replied

He was right.  Adding leaves was the fun part.  I mastered the basic shape, and went to town putting the final touches my masterpiece. 

Chris works on his temple painting.

Jim a great job painting his Pearl Tower at Night.

I wish I had Anne's talent!

Jo puts the final touches on her sunset.

I finally finished my painting.

This was my photograph.

The second flower from the left was my fried egg flower.

I carefully remove my painting from the easel. 

“It didn’t turn out as bad as I anticipated. “  I commented to my painting sinsei.

“Yeah, I was worried at first about your lack of passion.”  He stated.

Lack of passion?  Lack of passion?  How could he say that I lacked passion?  I was worried about my lack of ability, and wanted to emerge with a painting that didn’t look like breakfast.  How could that be translated into lack of passion?

This painting screams passion!!  Or at least it screams...

After we were all finished with our paintings, we took a group shot. 

We did it!!

Overall, the Sip 'n Paint experience was a lot of fun, and one that I will do again. 

If you are interested in Sip n Paint, go to their website http://sip-n-paint.com.  I highly suggest getting a group of friends together and making a party of it!  Have fun painting!

A Morning Stroll Through Xi’An

After our long first day in Xi’An, we decided to fly solo the second day.   Since we had to catch a late afternoon flight, we strolled around inside the city wall to see what the downtown Xi’An had to offer.

This was the view of the City Wall from our hotel.  It reminded me of the Great Wall of China.

Fortunately our hotel, the Grand Park Xi’An was located by the City Wall South Gate so a walk to downtown was only 5 minutes away.  At first, downtown looked a lot like any other Starbucks and McDonald’s dotted city.  Then we ran into the Bell Tower and Drum Tower.

Chris poses in front of the Bell Tower of Xi'An.  Some people say it was built to tame dragons who caused earthquakes.  Others believe it was built to suppress a dragon from fighting the "real emperor".  

The drums in this tower were beaten to signal the end of the day.

Long lines and a time shortage prevented us from climbing the towers, so we continued to roam the city. 

A few minutes later, we stumbled upon the Great Mosque and Muslim Quarter.  We had never visited a Mosque, so Chris and I paid the 25 RMB to see where many Chinese Muslims worship. 

The well manicured mosque grounds were extremely tranquil.  Unlike most Mosques, the buildings reflected Chinese architecture.

Faces on Muslim art are banned out of fear of polytheism.  

While we were able to walk around the grounds surrounding the prayer hall, we were denied admittance.  This may be because I was not wearing the proper attire.  (I was wearing a short sleeved shirt and jeans.  All of the other women who were admitted were wearing Hijabs and long sleeves.)

A clock on the outside of the prayer hall indicates the times for call to prayer. 

While I was not allowed to enter the prayer hall, I was allowed to take pictures.  Notice there is no seating.  This is so more people may fit in the hall during call to prayer. 

Muslim women take off their shoes as they enter the prayer hall.

After our quick Mosque visit, we wandered the streets of the Muslim market where we were greeted by knickknacks of all sizes and street food!

The Muslim quarter reminded me of the markets in Tianzifang.

I love Chinese shoes.  I wish they made them in my size.

Many street food vendors sold a variety of meats on sticks.

Mmmmm...jaozi!

But Mom...I WANT one of those!

Many vendors sold dried fruits and nuts.

These bags were too cute!

One day I will eat the twirly taters on a stick.

We were afraid to eat the chicken due to the H7N9 outbreak.  

I would not be surprised if we return to Xi'An before our time in China is through.

I wish I would have scheduled more time for Xi’An; I could have spent days exploring the city.  Alas, it was time to return to Shanghai for more adventures.

Trapped

When Chris and I travel, we usually book our hotels, plane tickets, and tours via Ctrip.  They are usually pretty competitive price wise, have a very user friendly English website, and accept major American credit cards.  Most of our tour guides have been extremely friendly, and do an exceptional job of showing us around.

One quirk of Ctrip tours is between visits to major points of interest; their guides take visitors to tourist traps.  For example, when visiting the Great Wall of China, most tours stop at Dragon Land Jade City. 

If you are feeling the need to buy a jade dragon boat, here is your stop!

Jade city does have a great restaurant that serves western friendly Chinese food.  Meals are frequently included with the tours.

Or who could forget our trip to Dr. Tea, the Beijing teahouse that featured $40 boxes of tea and overpriced tea sets.   

After your tasting, stop by the gift shop and pick up a few boxes.

 

If you buy so much tea, you get a free pee pee man figurine who tinkles when your water is ready.

And there was the salesperson at  “Pearl City” that tried to convince my mom to buy Hong Kong diamonds.

This is where pearls come from! 

Needless to say, that during our trip to Xi’An, we were taken to a few more traps. 

The first trap was very subtle.  At the end of our trip to the Banpo Museum, we were led to a gift shop which pushed artwork created by local farmers.  Normally, I would not be interested, but this painting caught both Chris and my eyes.    Tourist Traps 1, Team Wilcox 0.

70% of the proceeds of the painting go to the local farmers who created the painting. 

The second trap was a little more obvious. Before we were driven to the Huting Springs and Terra cotta warriors, we took a detour to the Xi’An Art Ceramics and Lacquer factory for a “demonstration in pottery making”.  I thought we would see artisans throw delicate porcelain bowls.  Instead we saw workers piecing Terra Cotta Warrior figurines together and glazing money dragons.  The warrior figurines do make great gifts.  Tourist Traps 2, Team Wilcox 0

Feel free to take a snapshot of your loved one as a Terra Cotta soldier, free of charge!

A local artist creates a warrior statue.

Money dragons are very popular in tourist traps.  Many business men purchase them so money won't leave their companies.  

All I could think about was The Brady Bunch movie after seeing this Tang Dynasty horse statue.

Chris had a difficult time selecting his warrior statue.  There were so many to choose from!

Why do you need a Terra Cotta army when you have Leia?

Since we had some time to kill before the Tang Dynasty Dinner Theater, our guide took us to our third and final tourist trap: A Chinese Silk Arts factory.  When we entered the building, an intricately embroidered silk gown greeted us.

At first, the museum/factory looked promising.

We were then led to the factory where our guide showed us how the silk is made.

Silk worms spin a silk cocoon.

The silk is then stretched.

After a little more stretching, it is woven into thread and fabric.

After we saw how the blankets and sheets are constructed, we were led through a maze of overpriced blankets, towels, underwear, and cleaning products.  I could buy these in Shanghai!  I desperately wanted to get out of this place, but I kept getting lost in the maze of the silk art garage sale!  I was trapped!  Needless to say we left the factory empty handed.  Tourist Traps 2, Team Wilcox 1

Usually the traps are fun, but if you are interested in making major purchases, price your items before you embark on the tours.  Also, don’t be afraid to negotiate.   Otherwise, you may get trapped!