Summer Brief

Receiving the 'Summer Brief' posed a bit of a challenge in the beginning. It was the 13th of September and I had just arrived into the UK after an exhausting 34 hour journey across the world on various planes, boats, motorbikes and taxis. Slowly losing my grip on reality and time, I opened my letters once home and did manage to notice that the information from LCA regarding the brief had been sent dated August the 8th. Beginning to feel even more exhausted, it became apparent I had a little less time to complete this brief than the month and a half originally assigned.

Something that tasted good: Rice
"Rice is everywhere, in fields, on bikes, in baskets on heads and in every meal.
If not rice then noodles, all accompanied with locally made tofu and Indonesia's famous satay sauce"

Deciding to get stuck in as quickly as possible, thoughts and ideas couldn't help but reflect back to my crazy summer adventure which I had just returned home from. I had spent just over a month travelling around the many tropical Asian islands of Indonesia with my partner Zak. It was a long, mind altering, life changing trip filled with new people, languages, cultures, smells, sights and sounds. A lot can be experienced in 31 days and these images are my approach to the 10 points of the brief, keeping my travels in mind.

Something I heard: Jakarta - Java, Indonesia
"Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, and the beautiful calls to prayer from surrounding
mosques often serve as the only time keeper, morning, afternoon and evening"

I am a bit of a sucker for fine lines, pen and ink and a heavy amount of detail. As well as being interested in other illustrators work that uses this approach, I also really enjoy creating images in this way. I feel this comes through in my own work and also lends itself to the subject matter which I chose. Indonesia is a buzzing and vibrant place, every island oozing with something new and different to the last. Despite the images being created using the same pen and ink media, the fact that they all relate back to my travels help create a "set" of images as asked for in the brief.

Something I wore: Moped helmet
"Bribing police officers for an Indonesian bike license is a common occurrence resulting in thousands of mopeds on every road on every island. If you are walking not riding, you are a madman" 

There are a two reasons why I chose to use gold ink in my pieces. One of the reasons is that simply, Indonesia is a golden place to be. The locals were so friendly, helpful and genuine to us our whole trip, the scenery was mind blowing in its beauty and the culture showed us such a humble side to living that we have come away eternally grateful for our time there. 

Somewhere I found myself: Mount Batur - Bali, Indonesia
"Two hours walking to reach the tallest summit, where we made it to the steaming hot
mouth of the volcano and the group of macaque monkeys living
down within amongst the rocks"

As well as the sun casting everything in golden rays all day long, Zak and I honestly felt like we had struck gold choosing to travel Indonesia and I would go back in a heartbeat and have many more adventures in the two thirds of the islands that we did not yet manage to visit.

Something I have discovered: Borneo Rainforest - Kalimantan, Indonesia
"Night trekking in the Borneo Rainforest, on the hunt for tarantula.
We found one!"

The other more contrasting reason I chose to use gold is the gold mining. This communicates a more negative side to the Islands that was very hard to stomach whilst travelling by boat along the river deep into the Borneo Rainforest and is something that will stick with me for a long time. 

Something that made me happy: Sengigi Beach - Lombok, Indonesia
"I have a thing for beaches. Volcanic black sand beaches speckled
with glittering gold dust were the place to be"

Gold mining is highly illegal, but still happens today along with the logging of precious and very rare hard wood trees in the jungle. The process of extracting and filtering out the gold from the Borneo river, means that gallons and gallons of poisonous and destructive mercury are discarded and poured into the waters turning the deep river from its natural black coffee colour to a polluted coffee and milk 'golden' colour. 

Something I'd rather not have done: Flights
"Rickety Asian airlines making domestic flights between islands feel like a death wish and
over 13 flights made in 31 days. I hate to see the size of my carbon footprint"

This desperate quest and need for gold, and in turn money, is destroying life in and along the river for all of the wildlife and the local tribes, traits which can be seen everywhere in Indonesia especially in the poor areas. People destroying and exploiting their countries natural resources on such a basic level, in the need for money and to survive.

Something I have been thinking about: Borneo Rainforest - Kalimantan, Indonesia
"Travelling deep into the beautiful rainforest by boat
along the mercury polluted waters"

The Indonesian islands we experienced are every sense of paradise therefore every image has an element of gold, but we learnt of the other darker side to paradise and that is why this gold not only communicates the good experienced but also the bad.

Something beautiful: Gili Trawangan - Lombok, Indonesia
"Snorkelling with wild turtles in the oceans off of the tiny dessert
Gili Islands was unforgettable"

These images are a brief insight into what I experienced on my travels, the amazing and the negative and I look forward to creating more in depth imagery regarding these contrasts over the course to come.