Welcome to Students Incorporated. I'm your host, Mr. Jason. Join me weekly as my team
and I produce content that's informative, positive, fun and uplifting. This podcast
is created and produced with the help of students from the International Community School of
Bangkok. In today's episode, it's quite different from our normal format as we'll be taking
you along on our field trip. If you remember from one of our previous episodes, episode
71, we had the privilege of interviewing Ms. V. Chanita, a well-known abstract artist and
advocate for the arts here in Bangkok and now internationally as well. Originally, we
were going to interview her at her studio downtown. However, we weren't able to make
that happen at the time and instead hosted her here in our studio. And now we got the
green light to take a field trip to her studio. And that's what we're doing now. By the
way, today's episode is sponsored by the ICS Connect Club. The Connect Club's aim is to
serve communities and schools throughout Thailand, especially areas in and around Bangkok. So
thank you to ICS's Connect Club. And now please come along with us as we get on our bus and
get situated for our drive. We'll be bringing you our quote of the day, reading some headline
news and offering up some other chatter along the way.
Our quote of the day comes from B.B. King, American musician and singer, songwriter.
He's quoted to have said,
The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you. Learning
is a cultivated skill, not an innate talent. It demands time, effort and dedication to
develop a strong foundation of knowledge and the understanding of what you hold today.
While the process of assembling this knowledge may seem arduous, its true value lies in its
permanence. No one can take away the fruits of your labor. Instead, they can only admire
your achievements. Ultimately, knowledge is the cornerstone of a successful life. Hard
work is essential, but without knowledge, that effort lacks direction and purpose. And
that's our quote of the day, now autism outrageous field trip stories with Mia.
Thank you, Frank. And now for some outrageous field trip stories involving animals brought
to you by the good old internet. Our first outrageous school trip story is titled, The
Stowaway. The user submitted a post that states, In fifth grade, we went on a field trip to
explore some historical sites. On the way there, the bus started to smell funky. After
about 15 minutes, everyone smelled it and was trying to figure out what happened. The
bus driver eventually pulled over because he couldn't take the smell anymore, and a
teacher looked around the bus only to discover a skunk directly under one of our seats. Now,
our second outrageous school trip story is called, Where's the Penguin? The user submitted
a post that states, My cousin went on a field trip to an aquarium. The trip was great, but
when he arrived back at the school, he started to act strange. After a good amount of prodding,
he opened up his backpack and out popped a live penguin. This kid had straight up smuggled
a penguin from the exhibit. His mom called the aquarium to tell them what was up. They
didn't believe her. She says, Count them. The lady at the aquarium put her on hold for
a few minutes and said, How fast can you get him back? And finally, our final outrageous
school trip is titled, Pooh at the Zoo. During a tour of the exhibits, a student hurls a
stick down into the gorilla habitat and lands near an adult gorilla. Without hesitation,
the angry gorilla throws a stick back like a tomahawk at the boy. The stick hits the
boy in the chin. More gorillas make an appearance and begin to scream at the school group. The
orangutans on the other side of the trail have now joined in the commotion, yelling
and screaming. Gorillas and orangutans launch volleys of feces at all the students. Thirty
minutes later, the zoo has indefinitely banned the school from returning, and the boy is
on his way to the hospital for five stitches. And that ends the news for this episode.
Thank you for the quote and for sharing those outrageous school trip stories. One thing
for certain for our field trip is that we won't be visiting a zoo or an aquarium. Like
I said earlier, we are on our way to Kung Beach Anita's Art Studio. Check out episode
71 to hear her story. I'll pass the mic over to Mia so she can get a sense of what some
of our other teammates are doing. Hello, please introduce yourself and tell us what you're
most excited about on this trip. My name is Abe and I am most excited to see her artwork
and just to walk around her studio. Hello, please introduce yourself and tell us what
you're most excited about on this trip. My name is Vady and I'm excited to also see her
artwork and being able to see them in real life. Please introduce yourself and tell us
what you're most excited about on this trip. My name is Fonda and I'm most excited about
going out with my friends and seeing Ms. B. Shani does artwork. Please introduce yourself
and tell us what you're most excited about on this trip. Hello, I'm Cee and I'm most
excited about leaving the school campus around this time. Hello, please introduce yourself
and tell us what you're excited about on this trip. I'm Camden and I'm in 11th grade and
I'm really excited to be here today because I haven't been on a field trip in so long,
probably since elementary so it's just a really cool experience. Hello, please introduce yourself
and tell us what you are excited for on this trip. My name is Micah and as a graphic designer
I'm really excited to just see the art and get maybe more ideas from like what I can
do abstract for the podcast. Yeah. Good question Mia. Now let me give our listeners some facts
about the city of Bangkok since we are driving in street right now. First of all, Bangkok
became the capital of Thailand in 1782. Second, Bangkok full ceremony name is the longest
name in the world. In the Thai name, it consists of 169 characters and when translated to Roman
alphabet it contains 163 characters. Thirdly, the Red Bull energy drink was originally created
in Bangkok in 1976 before it was taken globally by an Austrian business partner in 1984. Number
four, Bangkok is built on canals and used to be referred to as Venice of the East. Many
of those canals have been paved over and Bangkok. The city is sinking at a rate of almost two
and a half centimeter per year or one inch. Number five, Bangkok saw over 28 million visitors
in 2023 making it a global tourist hotspot. MasterCard crowned Bangkok as the world most
visited city. Number six, if you like street food, Bangkok is the place to come and try
it all. Famous dishes like Pad Thai, Som Tam, Gan Kiew Wan, Khao Nia Mamuang and chicken
satay and so much more. And number seven, finally, the best time weather wise to visit
Bangkok is between December and February when the weather is cooler and not as humid. Of
course, that's when a lot of other tourists comes as well. And there you go. Some facts
about Bangkok that you may or may not have known. Thank you. All right. Looks like we're
here while the driver is attempting to park on this very small soy. Here's Toto. He's
got a PSA for this episode.
Now that we've exited the bus and walk into the studio, which is down this other narrow
street, I'd like to point out the most Bangkok streets, the streets that are not the main
highways or roadways are narrow and quite hard to navigate with the car, let alone a
medium sized 27 passenger bus. Anyway, we are here now. Koon Beach Anita studio is named
Chani D Art. Make sure to check it out on Instagram according to some photos or videos
of our venture today. The account is at students incorporated.
Yes, I'll give you a tour. Okay. Yes. I think I think I'll tell you my story first. Okay.
At first I was blinded then as you know, and then I tried to like practice my artwork and
then I stopped and I have my child. And then I come back like seven years ago with the
portrait painting. Can you show them the painting? Oh, yes. I remember you talking about this.
Yes, right. I want you to see the beginning of my abstract. You can see you want to see
it. Yeah. Have a seat guys. Yeah, you understand. Yeah, that's my style at that moment. As you
can see, it's not the realistic abstract painting because I think I key on color and the color
that show how I feel about that person. So I paint portrait with more colorful. And then
after that, like two years, I have the solo exhibition. After I decide that because my
work is changing time to time, like it's become more realistic, which I like it, but it's
not what I really want. I want to see more about myself inside, not the realistic that
what you see and then you paint. So I stopped paint portrait. At that point, it's like very
important to me to stop something that I already achieved for one step, right? It's like I
have to decide that I have to stop and then begin with the blank canvas. Okay. Okay. I'll
show you upstairs. I don't want to work like too hard about
the concept and yeah, I just like, I have enough exhibition at that time, so I need
to rest. So it's become more work. You know what I mean? And then after that, I work with
abstract work for two years later. And then I decide that people come to me by Instagram
because every time I paint, finish painting, I put into my profile and Instagram and people
like come to me and then they come to my house. So I think that it's not a good idea to let
people come to the house. So I open here to show my work and then I start like selling
and then gallery come and they contact me and then I become like people know about me.
Regarding like commissioned work, are you doing a lot more commissioned work than you
used to or do you have any kind of work that you're focused on like just doing your own
work and then trying to sell that? Yeah, actually I don't recommend the commissioned
work for expressionist artists because when I work, I work with my inner side and what
I think, how I feel, then watercolor and stroke, it's come because of me, only me. When they
like the painting, they like the finished one and sometimes they say like, oh, I want
this but in like different size or something like that but I don't recommend it because
I can do like, I can do but I don't think that you may not like it at that one. Like
you have twins, you're not going to love like two person in the same time.
I understand. Rebecca's got a question. Just a second. Let's report that.
How much is your painting average like the size of painting?
I don't know if she will want to say. The price is like rising up because it's not
depend on me. It's depend on who holding the painting, the gallery you're with and
you sell the painting like overseas and right now it's like four years, it's up. Right
now here it's like 120 by 150, right? How much? It's 180,000?
180,000. Like this one?
Yeah.
Like this one? Yeah.
Like can this cover you?
Highlight, can you ask how long some of these paintings take?
Yeah, for sure. Oh, is there like a recent artwork that you would be willing to share
with us with or is it all mostly recent?
Okay, I'll show you how I start.
Yeah, or like what's your process?
Yeah.
That's a good idea, right?
Yeah. Like maybe this one?
Like this one, like I told you that 2023 it's my like resting and stay inside because like
2021, 2022 so many exhibition and I use my like my energy a lot. I want to get back to
myself and see how I have inside like how is it now and what's it going to be after
like so many chaos. So I went to, I take my son to New Zealand, who came from New Zealand?
Anyone?
Anybody from New Zealand?
Where?
South Island.
Oh, that's good. Because I went to South Island and I booked the camper van for 11 days. I
told you guys.
You can tell it again.
Yeah, so it's like, oh, it's like nightmare to like have no back at all. And I prepare
everything for the camper van and like ski trip, but I have nothing. So I like so mad
for many days. And then I realized that, oh, what I gonna do? I my mind, it's stuck with
that, that back that I don't know where is it. So I decide to, okay, let it go. And then
I paint about the New Zealand and I have the series called Necessary Unnecessary, which
is there, the big one.
Yeah.
The painting that's really cool with the color and layers and like very thick layers. This
one is very light and more less less. But you know what? It less but you can see more
clearly every line. It's have a meaning and have the power into the painting. I mean,
if you you have the very small line like that, in like this painting, you're not going to
see it. Right. But if you like take it less, everything is more important. So this one,
the silly necessary unnecessary.
Sorry, this is this one sold. Where is it shipping to?
I'm waiting for the clients that to take it because it's very big.
Is this the biggest one that you've done so far? Or is there larger one?
The larger one right now is 400.
400.
400. Yes.
May I ask a question?
Sure.
What's usually your like inspiration when like making paintings like this?
Yeah, life for you.
Necessary, right?
Yeah, necessary. Because I think that when we think that we need something, and we need
like more and more and more because you can pay, because you can prepare, because you
think that you need it, you think that is necessary in your life. But actually people
can live less, but we never try.
What's the thing?
Yeah, it's the same thing that when you think, you need to think, or maybe you don't need
to think about it. You know what I mean? Just pick the important thing that you really need
it, necessary or unnecessary.
Let me ask you a question to add on. How do you pick out which is necessary, which is
unnecessary? Do you have like a set criteria?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a good question. Because at first I tried to like paint like
a minimal or something, I tried many things. And I think this is not me. It's not me because
what I need is like line. I key on line and stroke. I feel satisfied when I do it because
I love drawing. So I stop like put the layers on. I just drawing and like you have to do
a lot of experiment to get like the point that the painting it's become you feel okay
with it.
And then you were saying like so often it's like more of an experiment, right? Like you
try something and it doesn't work. You try something again. I was wondering like for
like an average painting, how many drafts does it take? Or like how long does a painting
take?
Like how long, like how many months do you take to like finish a painting? Or like how
many times do you like fix it? Or like, what does that look like?
Oh, if you if we talk about experiment, it's I cannot tell because you have to try and
try and fail and then try again and throw it away and just like upside down and put
the white on. It's depend on how it's come out and you feel, how do you feel? Yeah. But
after that if you like have the technique, the concept, it's already like good enough
for you and then you work on it. And then you can see it's different and more different
and sometimes it change on the way along the way that you work. It's not going to end.
It's not nothing end. You know what I mean? I can see my work change a lot.
Like it's a living part. It's a living, it's growing.
Yes, it's like, it's like, it's like us sometimes we think about that and then another day we
like process something and then we think another way. Yeah, right. But my painting is like
finished in the one time. I mean like one day because of expressionism. I need to see
it now. How many pieces have you done in the series accessories so far?
A lot. Oh yes, not much. I think maybe 20 right now, 20. But I have only few left. But
I'm still doing more this year because I like it. Yeah.
Do you have any more other themes that you're currently working on?
Yeah, yeah, right. I'll show you. Okay. I think downstairs. Is there anything else upstairs
that we could possibly like explore from other themes?
Yeah, just like that one. That one is my experiment for necessary and necessary. You can see the
different thing, right? You can see the difference. But that one is gave me idea about lines and
marks. But I don't have anything else in there. So it's like, okay, I got it. When I finished
this one, I think I got it. So I keep it. But I'm not selling this one because it's
my experiment and it gives me idea. You know what I mean?
Yeah, that's good. And then you work on it. Work on it. Put the things in and then back
and forth. And then you can see the thing that... Yeah. Amazing. It's coming out. Yeah.
How do you work a lot?
I work at East Mead Artwork.
Oh, because I'm a really large scale painter. So one of my clients, he has a gallery, quite
small. But he loved my work. He wanted me to like paint a small thing. So I think sometimes
it comes out like this. I think that, oh, yeah, maybe I'm talking about small appreciate.
I just think about it. And then I think to myself that with the ego that, oh, small,
it's going to finish in two days. And after two weeks, it's nothing. I cannot work because
the size is different. Scale is different. And I'm not used to work with the sitting
on the table and work because I always stand and use my hand and use my action to work.
It's like different thing. And then one day I see the light come out, come into my studio
with the flower. Oh, yes, beautiful. Okay, I get it. Because when I work, I get in and
then paint. And then I walk away to see the painting. Is that okay? Is that okay yet?
And then I go back and paint. I never see this very small like small brush that paint
over into it. And I never seen because I look so far. So I have to change the, I have to
change how I look into the painting. Yeah, so I put the gold leaf into the painting to
talking about small thing that you never see because it's not, it's not, it's not mean
that it's not there. It's there. But you are not focused to see it. That's my, my works
always come from what I think. And I, and I understand life. You know what I mean? So
we go downstairs? Okay. And the fraud that you see, I'll tell you what the story is.
Like if you see closer, you will see the depth between paint and paint. Yeah. That one, I
work upstairs with the lazy norm. I'm talking about the social media that you guys grow
every day. It's like you see just only a few minutes in the picture or maybe the pack of
the editing and layers of filter and you just it, you feel it, you want it, you want to
become it, you hate it. You got feeling with it. That's only the few seconds of the thing
that you never really know about the story. So this one called nine 16, the laser of the
story. Instagram. Yeah. No, I already sold. So I have only one left here. Yes, right.
And that one's very hard to work because I have to put the lazy norm and then pain and
then put the reason on again and then pain and put the reason on, which is very hard
for me because I didn't use to work with the racing. And then I think the last thing, because
we have only 10 minutes left that the, the painting on the floor. Yeah. As I told you
that I'm really love to paint big, large scale. So one day I think that this year I want to
do something more, more, more free and let myself just do it again on the floor. So I
put the painting on the floor and then some, some, some painting. This one is the front
that you usually see in the art supply shop, the white one with the guests off, but I use
at the back. How, how is, look is, um, because it's not gonna make the paint try, but it's
absorb all the water and oil very easy. So the outcome is gonna like moment and organic.
So I put the painting on the floor and walk on the painting. Yeah. Yeah. It's fun. Yeah.
And then I think about, Oh, what I'm going to tell them that they're going to understand
me. I call this silly is Miller. Why is Miller? Because it's like when, when artists see themselves,
I mean, it's compared with like the painting in front of me and myself. If I feel satisfied
with it, I feel happy to see it. It's like, um, I let myself show to you, you know what
I mean? So some it's like very dark. This one I call sketching because some artists,
they sketch in the notebook, but I, I cannot do that because it's very small. So I sketching
in the, in the canvas. Yeah. That's all. Like I want to show you guys down here. And this
one, I have the exhibition with the art space by Mocha at Four Seasons. It's called silence
and chaos. I love black actually. And this one, if you can see, you can see the chaos
here, and I'm talking about life. When you wake up in the morning, you open your eyes,
things as like come to you, many things to think in just moment that you have a science
and be with yourself to speak and you can like, you can live with it. This one pause.
Just pause for a moment. I want to see how different of the every year, how I, how I
feel because I finished I'm thinking about myself, which I believe that people can, can
be born in many times in life is depend that you have to burn your own self and your whole
belief to become a new version of you. So this is like transformation and metamorphosis.
Yeah. I remember you talking about this when we were at the studio. So, but it's fun to
see it in person. Was this the same series as the one that sent her out? Like, no. Oh,
oh yes. But that one, not Phoenix. Oh, the other one, the red one, the Phoenix one. Yeah.
Right. She's big fan. Okay. You guys have any questions? I don't know if it's true personal.
Is there a piece that's like the most meaningful to you? That means the most at home. Of course.
Yes. Of course. Yes. Some most of it, the painting that I keep at home, it's like experiment.
Like some piece is like the first painting of the theory or that I realized and I want
to keep it. At the beginning. Yeah. What does each color represent? Like usually when you
choose the colors. Oh, the color is sometimes it's like, if you want dark color, sometimes
I actually, I love black. Yeah. The color about what you say, color with another person
is different meaning. Right. I see black, I see peace. Sometimes people see scary. It's
different. Right. Okay. I'm here with Maddie. Can you describe the piece of artwork that
you're looking at? So the artwork that I'm looking at is a very beautiful piece. I see
different colors that represent peace and brightness and I really like it. All right.
Hey, I'm here with Joseph and hey, Joseph, can you describe the piece of artwork you're
looking at? This artwork is very vibrant and very colorful. It got like a lot of like different
patterns in it and it's really good. And how does it make you feel? Makes me feel really
inspired. All right. I'm here with highlight and she's looking at a piece of artwork as
well. So can you describe to us what you're looking at and how it makes you feel? Yeah.
So what I'm currently looking at is like this blue, white and pastel blue painting and it
makes me feel very calm and peaceful. It reminds me of cold places such as Iceland and it also
reminds me of like, like peacefulness and times where my thoughts can settle and stew
like at night. So I think it's very creative for her. Yeah. Okay. I'm here with Rebecca
and Rebecca is also looking at a piece of artwork. Can you describe to us what you're
looking at and how it makes you feel? I'm looking at a, at an artwork with full of pink paintings
and purple and these two are my favorite colors and it reminds me of how heaven looks like
in my imagination and I feel like home and happiness are around me when I'm looking at
this painting and it reminds me of the Barbie movie as well. Yeah. Okay. I'm with Premi and
she's our last one. Premi, what kind of artwork are you looking at and how does this make
you feel? Can you describe that? I'll start off by saying I don't think art can be put
into words, but I'll say it's like, there's this like in the top right corner, there's
like this dark pink reddish color and then it kind of transcends as we get to like downwards
more and bottom left there's like just this pale black, but then with like white stripes
all over and everything that just feels so like intertwined and meshed and I think it
makes me feel angry in a way. I feel like it represents really well that like, you know,
there's so many different things in our world that needs fixing and I feel like this just
shows comes together to show like that rage kind of to represent that, but also in some
ways that there is some hope that there is something that we can do and also kind of
like the messiness, the like reality of our world in that there's like so many different
things that are going on at once, yet nothing at all.
Looks like we are getting ready to go now. It's been quite fun getting out of the classroom
and out into the community as a class. We usually only interact with our guests in our
studio back at the school, but this entire process has helped bring our guests experiences
to life for us. Okay, we're leaving now.
Alright hi Elsa. What did you think of that experience?
This experience was one of a kind and I would love to go back to visit her again because
she was so kind. Thank you Elsa.
Hi Camden. What did you think of that experience?
I thought it was super cool and the paintings are really beautiful and so I really liked
looking at them.
Alright hi Esther, our very own graphic designer. What did you think of that experience, getting
to see her artwork in real life?
I think it was a really cool experience to go out to her studio. I really enjoyed seeing
her thought process in the artworks that she's done.
Alright we're here with our very own social media specialist Indie. So Indie, what did
you think of the experience, getting to see Ms. B and also getting to see her studio in
real life?
So as an overview, I really like the aspects of her work and also the abstract design of
it. I think it's really cool how she is very friendly even though she's quite famous. So
overall she's a very nice person.
Alright and lastly Ms. Christine, first of all thank you so much for chaperoning this
trip with all of us. We hope you enjoyed it. And what was your experience like at Ms. B's
studio and how did you think of it?
First of all it was my pleasure and a privilege to join all of you today. It was a very important
and memorable experience because I see the way that something that you learned at school
came to like a real life experience. So I was so happy for all of you to be able to
see how your learning affects real life. And I was so thankful to be able to attend. Thank
you for having me.
Okay now that we're back on the bus and moving, I've got Frank again. Hey Frank, do you have
any last words of advice or wisdom before we sign off?
Yeah I'd like you to take a field trip every week. It's fun getting out of a classroom
together and learning together in this way. You think you can make this happen? Ms. Jason.
As we end this episode I'd like to say a big thanks to all the Students Incorporated team
for coming along on this field trip with me. And a big thanks to Coon B. Chanita for allowing
us to come to our studio and giving us a tour. Stay tuned for our next episode as we bring
you a holiday Christmas special. And as always this podcast would not be possible without
the hard work and support of our International Student Production team.
All music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives
sharing copyright free images, videos and music.
And we are signing off until next time. We are Students Incorporated because your voice
matters.