I have traveled to a lot of countries. I’m a nomad. Father was Romanischal and as my mother says “You are just like your Dad.” It’s not a good thing when she says it that way but it is a reality. I can’t stay in one place for too long. Which has lead me all over Asia. I ended up making Laos my second home and have spent quite a bit of time in a small border town called Houayxai, Laos. It was in Laos that I ended up teaching myself how to paint. I found that the cost of living here was ideal I could teach for just a few hours a day to get a work visa and spend the rest of my time painting.
I really love the kids in Laos. They are a bit wild at first when they join your class. But they learn quickly and by the end of the first month most new students have adapted to American styles of teaching and learn not to scream out and run around (when we aren’t playing games that require it). They have a real sensitivity to them as well and are very loving. My students in Laos when they were smaller gave me little leg hugs everyday. Now I get the shoulder hug sometime and the handshake as they have gotten much older. But the love is there they are good kids.
Painting is very isolating as I spend all day and night in my art studio painting for hours on end. My only interaction is the errant message on Facebook or discord from friends I’ve gathered in my travels. Teaching the children helps to keep me grounded. During the time of Covid we had a lock down which was especially isolating. I moved to teaching online with the help of my friend Nikita. I agreed to donate a painting if someone would purchase me a subscription to zoom. The post was not up even an hour before Nikita leapt at the opportunity and paid for my subscription. This allowed me to continue the children’s education online until they opened the classrooms back up.
I have heard from people that say you can’t have more than one job it will take away from your reputation as an artist. I find this such an unreasonable expectation. Art is all I think about for sixteen of my waking hours a day, I spend two hours teaching English and the rest sleeping. I find it extremely unreasonable to depreciate my artistic expression because god forbid I spend two hours helping children in a developing country.
One of my goals is to earn enough money that I purchase myself a decent computer and setup a computer in a few of the very rural villages to offer them English classes as well. Maybe this can be done with tablets as they are cheaper. But it is an idea I am thinking about right now we’ll see what comes of it. I have no intentions stopping either art or teaching. Teaching gives me a connection to the outside world and art gives me a reason to live.
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