[Stephanie Bower, Seattle] On my way to AsiaLink 2018, I first stopped in Hong Kong. I am so grateful for the amazing hospitality of the Hong Kong sketchers, especially Rob Sketcherman and missus, Luisa.
One day we met up with another Urban Sketcher, Helen Gunnerson from Australia, and took the ferry across to Kowloon. Much of what I saw in Hong Kong was shiny and new, so it was really interesting to see Kowloon…less developed than HK. Granted, what I saw of both these places was pretty limited.
First stop, the amazing Tin Hau Buddhist temple (above). Small, but truly incredible. Stark sunlight shining into a courtyard filled with red, spiraling cones of burning incense. Below the coils were trays to catch the ashes, and on each of the trays was a blessing or request. I’ve been to a few countries in Asia and I’ve never seen a dramatic sight like this!
We were permitted to sketch for 10 minutes only, standing up (which I never do), but it was too incredible a place to pass up whatever we could get. As a result, after the 10 minutes were up, I finished this up outside the temple. And yes, I was using INK!!! I’m still trying to find my way with a pen, so this ended up a bit overworked.
Then it was meeting organizer extraordinaire, Alvin Wong, for lunch followed by meeting other Hong Kong Urban Sketchers at the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market.
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| Attempting to capture the intense heat and grit of Kowloon. Loved it! |
My gosh, there are SUCH TALENTED sketchers here!!! We found an out-of-the-way spot in the shade, and instead of sketching the market, we turned to the street. It was roasting hot, but we had a blast!!
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| Vanessa Leung, Me, Rob Sketcherman, then Alvin… |
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| I love Hong Kong Urban Sketchers!! |
Icing on the cake… was the incredible multi-storied art supply store. Thank you, Alvin! I love my new ellipse templates!
So great to get to travel and meet other people through sketching! Thank you to you all…till next time.
