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showcasing

Honey Khor

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Honey Khor

scintillating imagesoflove

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Comejourneyinto my

inner world

my desire burning to create .... a soul’s journey to fulfilment

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Sitting in my lotus haven, I am finally at rest with my spirit and the spirits around me. I

commune with nature and nature comforts my soul

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I am at one with my nature

watching the free flightof my mind’s

childrenin poems replete

with quicksunflowersdancing

in Catalonian fieldsmy

mesmerising stillnessat times

melting into a delight

of red heatpassion

expressed throughwisps and whims

on canvasesemboldenedby the moon

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mushroom trees

startlewhite doves

paloma blancafamilysymbolsobserving

keen forests

of goldenracialmemory

inlands of

lushfecundemerald

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Day to night, night to day, through Daliesque landscapes

I sore to bask in the summer of Catalonia where my heart’s

fancy has taken me. I breathe essences of verdant olive, keen

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scents of bramble fruits which stain my painter hand, drip onto

sketches only made possible by Catalan light. And through it all

I remember my loves who journey with me in thought.

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In the summer, while school was out, Honey Khor took her second yearly trip to Northern Spain. Eventually landing in Barcelona, she navigated the transport system to bring herself back to the small town of Figueres, in the province of Girona, and the friends she had made there. The delicate Catalan light effused with the memory of summery scents, fresh mottled apples, ripened strawberries and creatively misshapen brilliant red tomatoes, presented itself unashamedly to the keen-eyed Malaysian/Chinese artist.

Honey had travelled continents, traversed the intricacies of transportations to return to her adoptive ‘family’ in that very special region of Spain - Catalonia, partly French partly Spanish. Skies, under which the poet Lorca wrote and Hemmingway drank, gave up a serene Mediterranean dark phthalo blue, through which barely a titanium white cloud had drifted. Honey, in her new electrically night green dress and vividly tangerine hat, ducked sweet olive branches and once more sketched her way into ancient Catalonian hearts more used to the Surrealistic eccentricities of their beloved Salvador Dalí i Domènech.

Thirteenth century Figueres, birthplace of Dali and luscious figs, sprouted green, fresh. Amidst manganese violet, madder and cooling blues the town presented antique stone façades, squares, statues and a promenade - la rambla arched with shading trees. The awed artist delighted in contrast shadow, keen streaks of sun. Majestic monuments were painted in watercolour, uniquely rendering the dry heat of Orwell’s Catalonia, and its welcoming golden sun.

Dali was absent, nevertheless it was still exciting to be sleeping in the room he always stayed in (room 101) when visiting Hotel Duran, in Figueres, Spain. Those two weeks in Hotel Duran were time well spent and extremely memorable for us as my artist wife was using the room as a temporary art studio. Her exhibition was later to be hung at the cafe/restaurant Dalicatessen, in Figueres, known for its speciality of anchovies from Roses on the Catalan coast.

Catalonia Summer

In Catalonia I roam free, tasting

dark olives and sweet blackberries

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Catalonia Summer

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The Durans had been great friends of Salvador Dali, schoolmates, friends and patient chefs too, acceding to Dali’s often eccentric tastes in both food and art materials. Rumour has it that as well as ordering a variety of birds to feast upon - thrushes, larks and terns, Dali once ordered an octopus, but not for eating - for use as a brush for painting. Another gem tells that Dali was in the habit of drawing on the hotel’s tablecloths, which were subsequently sent for laundering. You might wonder just how many millions of Euros those tablecloths could be worth on the current art markets of the world if they had been saved from laundering.

In Figueres nearly everything is Dali. The town has made great use of its connection to that great Surrealist painter, especially after Dali made inroads to construct his teatro museo de salvador dali (Dalí Theatre and Museum) there, in 1974. At times the sheer weight of commercialism does tend to cloy. You can only see so many badly made Dali watches (as key rings) or buy so many posters of his work before the excitement wears off. But, and there is a big but, when you come face to face with his actual works (in the Museum) you are frequently awestruck. Well, I was, and that does not happen to many times these days.

Hotel Duran was a sheer delight. Yes, the hotel did make its connection to Salvador Dali clear, but in an understated, subtle way. Photos on the wall showed generations of Durans with Dali, or Dali and his classmates both at school and at the art school in Madrid. Other photos were of Gala and Dali, but they were all outdone by original Dali lithographs hanging in reception and all dinning areas of that hotel. Hotel Duran is a treasure trove for lovers of Dali’s work and, incidentally provides some of the best accommodation and food to be found in Figueres, as we (my Dali struck wife and I) were to discover on the last night.

Breakfast at the hotel was the usual European fare, with lashings of cold meats and cheeses, not to mention gallons of Nespresso coffee to wash down the rolls, croissants and chocolate croissants. Tea infusions nestled against each other for comfort and the odd pyramid of Lipton’s Earl Grey tea waited for this odd Englishman to purloin. We never lunched at the hotel. Daylight meant us traipsing off to Cadaques, Port Lligat, Roses, Girona, L’Escala or Besalu

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(a medieval Spanish town famed for its Romanesque bridge).

Lunch was grabbed on the fly, and where we could, along bus or train routes. Sometimes it was green tea with fresh orange drink and later gelato ice cream (an Italian import) in Girona. There was zarzuela (Catalan fish stew) in Roses, washed down with sangria, after visiting a local farmers’ market and buying chorizo (Spanish sausage). Other times Middle-Eastern cous cous in Cadaques, taken down some ancient lane laden with bougainvillea, accompanied by Damm Lemon 6-4 (cold lemon cerveza - the Spanish equivalent of British shandy), or simply gazpacho (cold, spicy, tomato soup) taken with local Catalan bread smeared with garlic and rubbed with tomatoes in the Spanish way, while we were on our way.

Generally we steered clear of the tapas bars. Tapas (Spanish appetisers similar to the Middle Eastern mezze or Hong Kong Dim Sum) are a great way to sample Spanish food, but are renowned for cost, not per single dish but as an accumulation over the evening, like in Sushi bars. Tapas simply was not in our meagre budget, travelling, as we were, from the Far East and having to convert from Malaysian Ringgit to the more expensive Euro.Figueres market brought all the colour and flavour of the comarca of Alt Empordà in one delicious arena. While housewives and tourists sampled cheeses, dates, meats and fresh fruits, Honey, in her Andy Warhol soup-tin dress, squatted and, with luscious strawberries, painted the vividness of the market environs. Strawberry pits can still be seen beneath the vigorous carmine on watercolour paper, her fingers stained with the colour and sweet, flavoursome juices.

Hotel Duran, gourmet haven for all that is Dali and Gala, sheltered the artist in its notable Dali room. She sketched portraits of the Duran family as thank-you gifts for all the late night chocolate drinks and delicate pastries Señor (Mr) Duran proffered. She talked endlessly with the Duran children and became beloved by the family. She is an adopted Chinese granddaughter, the young Malaysian cousin and devourer of delicious midnight Crema Catalana. Honey stayed there, surrounded by the paraphernalia of Dali, his litho prints, newspaper cuttings, and photographs with the Durans.

In the cooling evening, gold ochre nuts (from leafy Hazel) littered

I tread the bright sunflower fields, bask by aquamarine seas and

quaff maroon wines

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cobbles near the majestic 11th century Romanesque bridge, in the antique town of Besalú. Sanguine, the colour of a poet’s blood,moss green and ebony olives succulent in their virgin oil, sat in a partially open bag as Honey perched on an ancient rock. She was sketching the monastery, and church, of Sant Pere (St. Peter). She had journeyed past lemon fields of Van Gogh sunflowers to that medieval town, stopping briefly to wallow in the acres of golden flowers. She sat by tumbling waters and remained dazzled by the splendid vistas that Catalonia had to offer. Her driver, non other than that former family friend of the late Salvador and Gala Dali, and new friend to Honey - Señor Duran.

The Catalan coast is truly brave. It is ridden rough-shod over by the sea, forming coves, caves and moulding hearts exuding bravado in their welcoming of strangers. Honey headed for the sea side town of Cadaqués. The beloved coastal town of Salvador Dali, Picasso, the American visionary artist Robert (Bob) Venosa and Walt Disney. Honey sipped lemon beer (cerveza de limon) while sketching sea vistas; delicately capturing the fuchsia sky closing toward sunset. Red sea vessels echoed the tiles of distant roofs, prominent amidst the green of plentiful olive trees. That painting may be found in Hotel Duran and is the property of it collector - Señora (Mrs) Duran.

It was in Cadaqués that Honey met Joan Vehí, Dali’s good friend, frame maker and, eventually, the photographer whom we have to thank for so many images of Dali, his family and his life. Vehí, bald, creased with years but still smiling his magical smile, regaled Honey with remembrances of his contacts with Dali, the portraits, the craziness, the honesty and the loyalty of Dali. Sitting with an architect friend,Ignacio Puras Abad, in the cafe Rosa Azul, Cadaqués, Honey dipped her brush into the remains of her Catalan coffee, and painted her friend’s portrait. It was a technique she had developed in her home town of Bukit Mertajam, in Malaysia, and produces a richness of line and deep bistre brown colour, far superior to those of normal watercolour.

For a moment, Honey dreamed a sighing dream of home. Silhouettes of coconut and banana, but in Spain she was comforted by the trailing vines of gorgeous grape and the sweet, pulpy blackberries of Port Lligat, rambling near Dali’s former home. In

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Port Lligat, Honey took sketch notes in her light rose carmine ‘two way’ opening double-sketch pad (especially made by a friend in Singapore). She stood in front of Dali’s painting of Gala as a Leda, approached by the swan Zeus (a replica for tourists), a Catalonia seascape in the background. Others gawped and gaped, hastily taking photographs. Honey, instead, sketched to the delight of fellow tourists. In the Dali olive grove, Honey sprang from a hatched Dali egg, an artist reborn, a tiara of olive leaves and moss green olives in her hair, all smiles, reaching for the life-giving sun.

Her Catalonian journey continued with walks from Sant Martí d’Empúries to L’Escala, Roses and around the uniquely charming small city, and Roman citadel, of Girona, all the time sketching furiously as she went. Sauntering down shaded alleyways, climbing cathedral steps, gazing at rivers from tentative bridges, Honey soaked up the Mediterranean atmosphere, easing into the casual lifestyle of coffees and pastries, olives and Cava.

Back in Figueres, Honey took a small troupe of the Duran children to sketch the gothic Church of Sant Pere, seated opposite the Delicatessen Cafe, in Career Sant Pere, and adjacent to the Dali Museum. Honey and the children thrilled at that opportunity to be together and to sketch together, to the delight and entertainment of those waiting in line for tickets to the Dali Museum. It is in that very Dalicatessen cafe, in a large gallery set aside for such purposes, and owned by Martí Dacosta, that Honey held her exhibition of acrylic paintings inspired by her visit to Catalonia. She was interviewed by Cristina Vilà of l’Empordà - a local Spanish newspaper. Both Martí Dacosta and Señor Duran looked on like proud Catalan fathers.Then, almost as quickly as it had begun, Honey’s sojourn in Figueres, Catalonia and Spain, was finished. With more than a little sadness, Señor Duran drove Honey the full length of Figueres town, past La rambla, and past the farmer’s market to the waiting train station. He bade her a teary farewell. Honey was happy to return to her beloved Malaysia, her home, family and the children she teaches, but had left a large part of her heart in Figueres, and many paintings too, which are now in collections there.

But all too soon I must leave for my

equatorialhaven.

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I am beset by a whirlwind of personal confusions and challenges,

imploringly I reach out to the cosmos for inspiration and guidance. My mind lacks calm. I find myself in a quandary as I have to balance my innate spirituality with my

constant need to re-foster familial relationships, loves, lovers and the nature of my soul. Amidst

my confusion I quest, I reach out hopefully.

To find the nexus of my spirituality and peace of mind, in tenderness

and giving I commune in and with nature. The calmness of the natural world soothes and heals my soul, bringing me untold joy. I begin to find my centre, that stillness in us all. There, with the natural world around me I dream of the Bodhi tree

and the comforts therein.Upon awakening, I find that I am ready to begin. I now understand that my destiny awaits with but a first foot step on the path, on the way. The dank confusion of my past mellows into clarity and

determination. With a pure, light heart and a clear mind, I am

serene and stride purposely into my beckoning future.

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dusunquarterlyZhe Xuan Fine Art Gallery D-60-2 Jalan C180/1 Dataran C180 43200 Cheras, Selangor

supported by

Contact May Lai 016 605 5592maylai69@outlook.com

Solo Exhibitions

2013 Si Catalonia Dalicatessen, Figueres, Spain

2011 The Colors Of My Journey Penang Village Art Corner, Great Eastern Mall, Kuala Lumpur

Group Exhibitions

2014 Catalonia Summer Art Malaysia Art Tourism Fair, Kuala Lumpur 2013 International Women’s Day, Art Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Penang Art Society’s 60th Anniversary, Penang Art Society Blooming: Female Art Exhibition, CEC-KLSCAH, Kuala Lumpur 1001 MASE, Art Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Group exhibition Viridian Art House Singapore

2012 Motherland Galleri Dunia Seni Lukis, Kuala Lumpur

2010 A Journey Into Joy & Peace 2nd Charity Art Exhibition, Penang Village Art Corner, Great Eastern Mall, KL

2008 A Journey Into Joy & Peace 1st Charity Art Exhibition, Desserts Bar, Solaris, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

2008 Aidha Art Exhibition, Singapore

2007 Pameran Terbuka Yayasan Seni Selangor, Gallery Shah Alam

1995 Graduated from the Malaysian Institute Of Art (MIA), in Fine Art

Honey Khor