Master Ang, painter and teacher

In 2002 on a holiday journey around Southeast Asia I came upon a small village in Thailand where the most wonderful bamboo fans were hand painted by whole families of dedicated artists and craftsmen. These works were used at special events, as well as to decorate homes throughout the Kingdom. In 15 years of traveling to all corners of the globe I had seen a lot, but what I saw here began to open my eyes — sometimes 3 generations all working together, passing the knowledge of their craft, honing their skill in a marvelous degree of speciallization. I got to watch these marvels as they were created, and i was transfixed. The experienced father would sketch a grand design — a cluster of thatch huts by a mountain spring in Autumn as day breaks and villagers prepare for the days work; a son and daughter would apply the detail with meticulous care — the petals of the flowers and the wet glow of the stones by the river bank; the grandfather would take up his brushes and with a few confident masterstrokes in bold color define light and shadow both radient and deep completing the piece.

I bought several treasures here for my home and left reluctantly, knowing I would return. Later, traveling in Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and Laos, I sought out the hidden places that fashioned their art with care and I learned all I could about each process. I wanted to bring it all home with me. Already I had too much to carry and I had shipped home a second suitcase, then a third, then before I knew it I had a couple crates to send by sea! There was just too much new and exciting — colors, textures and rich styles that felt so exotic and often mysterious, they fed my passion for life and I really wanted to share the experiences with all my friends back home.

So with the help of a few of those friends we built our first website and began our next journey in life, on a mission to bring a bit of the art and culture of those far away places right into your home. We’ve been through so many changes in these past 6 years, and once again I am preparing for another journey, a new search to discover more of the infinite variety of art and decor made by hand.