Art

On our two round-the-worlds and on our other trips we focused on buying affordable art. There are artists all over the world, I guess, and I was always surprised at the quality you could find even in non-touristy areas.

Some of the best pieces we bought were tapestries and wall hangings, which we got everywhere from Uruguay to Laos. Undoubtedly the best single piece of art we bought was a thick oil painting picked up for about $30 at a sprawling arts market in downtown Buenos Aires.

Here are three pieces we picked up that have been packed away until recently:

We bought this water color on the central plaza in Salta, in northern Argentina; I think we paid a few dollars.



On the back of this reads: "Marco Mamarra Argent. Salta Los Gauchos Trabajando 24/9/2008" Translated it is titled "The Working Herders" though the use of gaucho in Argentina is interesting. Elsewhere it generally means rancher but in Argentina at least can also mean someone who is "of the common people" and can be used to refer to Indians or even someone with gruff manners.

One day in Bangkok I took Laura on a "date." We went for a coffee and pizza and a ride on the river and took a visit to an artists' fair in the National Museum's Art Gallery, part of a sprawling complex. These small watercolors were less than $1 each.

Seascape. As the Thai coast on both sides is fairly placid, I'm not sure where this is supposed to be set.



Typical southeast Asian boats. I remember well walking through the artists' area. It was a typical hot, still afternoon and everyone was drugged into a semi-comatose state.



This one shows a line-up of Thai temples, though Thai temples look similar to those in Laos.