I remember every second lived in Samrit, because it was the most magical time of my life. I had never felt so alive, I had never been so full, I had never been so happy.

When I landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport my heart was pounding, was beginning my life experience, it was real. When I entered the terminal was lost, but we must recognize that all airports are alike, you walk ... you walk ... you walk ... you walk ... and there is a huge queue waiting for me at the passport control. .. I finally picked up my backpack and I met with Em in the meeting point. I was exhausted and I only speak Spanish out, Em did not understand anything ...

I'm fascinated, but I feel a deep exhaustion, because I could not sleep in the 10 hours of flight, as my seatmate was moving like a snake in his seat ...

Upon leaving the terminal I have great heat stroke, with high humidity, but then my body adapts. I look at everything with wonder and marveled to be there. After leaving the airport, I meet a landscape not unlike that you can see outside the airport of Madrid-Barajas, albeit with a difference, it was all green! He had arrived in rainy season.

I am impressed taxis, cars with strong and vivid colors, greens and yellows, pinks.

We stop at a gas station and laughter I can see a KFC ... A little later we stop at a fruit market at the foot of the road, BRUTAL! Mountains many fruits of different colors, shapes and textures ... makes you want to eat them all. Maingostan and taste the kind of Chirimoya ... are like explosions of flavor in my mouth, I love it.

We continue on the road, and I see the first monks all I could see during my stay in Thailand. A middle-aged man with a very bright orange robes, walking by the side of the road with a slight limp.

It is amazing how green the landscape, and even with the cloudy day, plain to a multitude of green and more green. As we move into the destination country Samrit, the landscape is leaving me perplexed ... is truly wonderful.

I can not help it, I fall asleep ... I wake up with a start arriving at the residence in awe ... And I can see large tracts of rice, a few cloaks of green grasses that look like clouds ... The excitement I feel when opened the door of the residence is indescribable, I look around me ... no words ...

Soon to arrive, I have visit, Lindsay and On, have come to meet me, my family Thai, people with a heart of gold. They teach me Samrit, and the first stop is at Jin´s Restaurant, Jin was and is my sister, my friend, my support, which I spent most of my time there, with the largest and most beautiful heart that anyone could imagine . We went through the Noe´s workshop and his wife's small restaurant, we saw rice fields, we went through the hairsalon, the temple ...

From the first moment I felt an inhabitant of Samrit ... I never felt so much adrenaline and union with a place and a people. There, everything is magical.

​Community cohesion exists in this little haven of humanity is amazing. All are one.

There, you can learn the true values of humanity, which in the occidental world have long since disappeared. People are generous, cheerful, helpful, collaborative, friendly, they give a smile without expecting anything in return ... they have the largest and hearts full of passion and love ...

I remember family gatherings at home Em and good family, where the main course was a good beer with ice, many conversations around a rectangular table, joy and tranquility ...

Birthday, weekday meetings, conversations on the boat race after training for it ...

They are people who celebrate the gift of life wherever they can. It was nice to be there listening to their conversations in Thai language, and although it does not understand anything, you felt belonging to them ...

Besides me is very important to share the residence with other artists, I was lucky enough to meet Katie and Jordan, from the United States and, with Vinicius, Brazil.

Along with Katie can do a mural inspired by a wonderful day of fishing on the family farm, fishing snake fish. It was a lovely day, tucked into the pond and plastic baskets catching fish ...

The walks along the roads of Samrit, religious parties, funeral ceremonies, training for the boat race, the wonderful chats with Jin On, Lindsay, Katie, Jordan, Vinicius, Art ..., collecting rice, Loy Krathong day, a visit to the University of Art, traditional dances, indescribable rainy days, visiting Phimai, its markets, its ancient tree, its massage, Thai delicious coffee, traditional costumes, music, the weekend of the boat race, whisky, beer, smells, the flavors, the sunsets, the smiles, the bikes, the market in the morning at the entrance to Samrit, moon, lights and leftovers, the various insects and other animals, ...

Being able to work in the store-restaurant with Jin and his family, both cooking as serving food, collecting or washing dishes, cleaning and sorting the store, singing in Thai, unaware Thai ... Share for days with her and her family, learn, teach, speak ...

The friendship with Katie, a great artist full of experience and love, rides, coconut water ... and laughs with her boyfriend Jordan.

Talks with Vinicius in English, Portuguese and Spanish ...

On hugs, my Thai mother ...

Lindsay wisdom, my Thai father ...

The traveling and learning new cultures, new people creating new people, with an inner strength that is not describable. The experience, the months Samrit are to be experienced, it is very difficult to put into words what I lived, dreamed, experienced, felt, seen ... Samrit is home, is union, is family, is love, is learning ...

I feel a deep joy and satisfaction of being a member of this experience, the opportunity to be part of it has been a gift in my life ... when I close my eyes it's like to be there again, my skin stand on end, feel chills, my eyes weep with joy and melancholy feelings.

I can only say thank you, and say I will come back.

Enjoy the experience, feel it in you, let yourself be impressed by Samrit life, for the life of Thailand.

Samrit is so cool, I mean it's hot, but chill. Jordan and I made a daily routine of walking around the countryside and I spend the rest of my time sketching and taking photos. We are fast friends with Jin, the woman who owns the shop across the street where we eat our meals, Art, the program director at Samrit, and Alba, the other resident artist from Madrid. Art and Jin generously invite us to do all sorts of things and are open, curious and I enjoy their sense of humor. Alba has a very tender heart and shared with me some of the community projects she works on in Spain, including mural collaborations with inmates at the prison in Madrid, and feet paintings with the students at the art school for adults with special needs, where she teaches. 
We had a memorable trip to the market in Phimai and dinner with Art's large family, including an observation of 36 people training for a village on village paddling race at the end of the month. They train three months in advance for two hours every evening (in the dark as the sun sets around 5:30-6:00 p.m.). Jin took us to explore her rice paddy this morning as she and her husband flooded the field from the nearby river. We eat her rice everyday at the shop and this particular crop will be ready to harvest in November.
The pace of life here is slow and peaceful. 

The village of Samrit was enriching for me both personally and artistically. I took a roll of paper along with some walnut ink and charcoal (for ease and because I'm trying to break my love affair with oil paint...toxicity, environment). I was immediately struck by the plant life and foliage there...of course. It was so lush and verdant wherever you looked. Even a plant in the concrete jungle of Bangkok looked like the healthiest plant you could imagine. Also, I couldn't get enough of the patterns and attention to detail in the tile work found in the cities and villages, the variety of fences and gates (everyone had one), and the colors and overwhelming amount of advertising.

I can't read or speak the Thai language and thus could more easily overlook the nefarious nature of advertising and labeling. Or at least view it with humor. The images on billboards, signs and packaging became these visceral paintings comprised of complex symbols and shapes to me. I mostly played around with documenting plants and ornamentation while at Samrit and worked on a couple of murals - one with the other resident, Alba, from Madrid. Yet, I find myself wanting to dive in to a big palette of juicy oil paints to create some "advertisements" of my own now that I'm back home.

One of the many reasons I'm hooked on travel is because it changes the way you look at your world when you get back - at least for a while. It helps me be more within the moment with family, friends and outside. Even mundane tasks like cleaning the house and doing laundry have a fresh feel. The people of Samrit gave me a deeper view on what I'm grateful for in particular.

It's true that where we were visiting is the poorest part of Thailand and that there were not many luxuries. You can't flush toilet paper down the toilet (there's a hose instead), the water is unsafe for drinking and there are bugs and lizards and rats running around in and above your accommodations. But you quickly get used to those differences, maybe find some tourist-like endearment in them... then finally realize it's like red squirrels or hard water back home. I did not have a big revelation that the people of Samrit have so much less than we do. But I did find myself thinking that they have more in a way- a strength and resilience. 

Now it's true that I was seeing everything with the starry-eyed vision of someone experiencing trouncing around in the mud to catch catfish or the exhilaration of paddling in unison with 30 others in a very long, skinny and tippy boat on a foreign continent, for the first time. I'm certain the people of Samrit do not feel their lives as naively as I did. I think they probably live very hard lives. They're mostly rice farmers in an industry that's now losing the competition to export with Vietnam, another impoverished country. They're facing the challenges of a land soured by fertilizer due to a western solution to growing more food faster. The Chinese have come in and created shell corporations under Thai names and have taken over many businesses. It's very difficult to get a bank loan there, so people are forced to buy them on the black market, etc. Yet the Thai people smile a lot and are a very generous, collaborative and accepting people. Which I will remember and take with me

Within a surprisingly short amount of time, Jordan and I felt like we were part of the community of Samrit village. Art, the Program Manager at the Artist Residency, was a great host - leading us around to authentic and interesting places, answering our endless questions, and joking around with us. We fell in love with Jin, the woman who owns the shop across the street where we ate meals, her mother, Cheun, and their family. They'd take us to their plot of land where they grow the rice we ate. And without a lot of verbal exchange I learned some things about rice farming, including that my head is certainly too oblong for the hat Jin lent me. I enjoyed getting to know Art's large group of family and friends- his fabulous mom, On and her husband Lindsay, the founders of Samrit, his brother, his wife & adorable son, the boat team, the beautiful girls who taught us some traditional Thai dancing, Paddy the dog who we're now trying to bring back here, and on and on. 
​
It was a beautiful experience and I am thankful to all the people who made it so. I'd highly recommend the residency stay for any artist who likes adventure, a different pace of life and respectfully learning about new cultures.

http://www.katiebrines.com/blog/

The first feeling that I remember when I've arrived in Thailand was a touch of hot and humid air at the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport. This hot feeling was present during my entire stay in Thailand, not only as weather but mainly as a feeling of human warmth. I spent more than one month at Sam Rit Residency and everyday was like discovering something new about myself, other people and about my artistic projects. I've created a collection of collages dedicated to the Thai food and nature. I've also worked on animation clips for my movie "The Wall” which is in production right now. I've experienced a lot of kindness from the locals and residency management who are very welcoming and made me feel at home. I was tasting fantastic Thai food cooked by amazing and beautiful women, attending local festivals, ceremonies, parties, markets, massages, learnt Thai language and simply fully enjoyed my life. I feel lucky to be a part of Sam Rit Residency and I would recommend it to everyone who would like to be immersed with all their senses in Thai nature, culture, people.

Thank you for this unforgettable time.

Paulina Majda

I found my time spent at Sam Rit to be very rewarding, in an artistic and a social, personal sense. Coming from a full on job as a regional Gallery Coordinator, where long days and many daily meetings were the norm, to easing into a much slower pace with totally my own schedule, and only a few people to talk to was just what I needed. Reflecting back on my 2 weeks, I miss the daily heartbeat of the small village of Sam Rit with its patterns of life, like the daily varied and many birdsongs, the sound of the Tokkei (the large gecko), the sound of the Buddhist prayers from the loudspeaker that could be heard all over the village, the jingle of the cows being led around the village and being gently guided home at night by their owners, and the local children playing ball games and hide and seek outside the studio. I enjoyed the pace of life that went on around me as I worked daily in the residency studio creating my own rhythm to work to, and enjoying my solitude. My daily excursions on the supplied bike provided ample material for me, either from direct sketches or photographs, and was a great way to get a feel for the community. Believing you see more by walking or riding a bike, I even ventured to Phimai one day on the bike, on the hottest day of my stay, but I do recommend the Thai massage when you get there.

It was comforting to know that Eam, his wife Puy Art and On were there to help with any queries, and provide transport for those trips to Phimai and to Nakhon Ratchasima, and they were always happy to oblige, with big smiles. Jin, the shop owner and restaurant cook across the road from the residency became friends, along with her mother Cheun, husband Ti, and 2 children, and it was sad to leave her wonderful cooking and company. They were much keener to learn English than I was at learning Thai, although my ‘kop koon ka’ eventually got there.  I also found the husband and wife team looking after the family farm were very helpful, especially in explaining the various fish traps and their names that I discovered, and mean to do more with. I felt totally comfortable sitting on the low bamboo table, in the steamy afternoon for a couple of hours sketching and enjoying their hospitality and genuine desire to help. We overcame the language barrier.

My visit coincided with the Thai New Year, a 3 day event called Songkran, where water features heavily. This meant the locals did their best to drench every passerby on foot, bike, scooter or truck from water pistols and buckets of water, and there was much rivalry from neighbouring villages. Also during my visit there was a local election, and I’m happy to say that Eam was elected local Mayor of one of the villages.

Sam Rit residency was a home away from home, with all that I needed to feel comfortable. If I had longer time, I could have done some art with the children, as I felt I was just getting to know them by the time I left. Even though there was not much happening with the rice farming at this time, there was still plenty to see from temples, monuments, and family and farming life, which is so different from what I am used to. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and recommend it to others. 

It was a long journey to Thailand and the Sam Rit village from Prague, Czech Republic as I had many problems on the way with an airline company, but I forgot everything in a short time when I got to the Sam Rit Residency and meet with some wonderful people, the climate, food and culture and it was then I took a deep breath of relief.
The beautiful warm sun was shining on me every day and the Thai people were trying to make me as happy as their sun. I felt that definitely they are carrying the sun inside and found that the Sam Rit people are really special, very friendly, humble, hospitable and most helpful.

The Sam Rit residency made me feel inspired and motivated me to make work with its cultural surroundings. It was a great opportunity to open my ears, sharpen the eyes and become engrossed in an unfamiliar culture and people who don't speak the same language.
I had a presentation and workshop at the local school in my first week of the residency, the teachers were lovely, very friendly and I became a friend with the art teacher Dada.
The school and students were completely different than my teaching school in Prague but I enjoyed every minute working with them, the workshop with students gave me a lot of new ideas and I decided to continue my project and made progression with new inspiration for next steps.

One day I took my bike with some food and water and a go pro head camera attached to my chest, then I rode to the tourist monumental direction and decided to change my way and take the field road on the left side of the tourist park.
I was very happy when I heard and felt the sounds of nature there and I started singing a song on the bike, lost within myself. Everywhere was very quiet and peaceful apart from the birds who were like in a song singing competition and the local villagers were working on the fields.
I was greeting them with my three Thai words and improved my communication skills with them, I didn't know where I was going exactly but I didn't care because I just wanted to feel free in the nature. It wouldn't matter if I was lost, I was very excited when I saw the big lake with the water lilies and many kind of species of plants on it.
Then I saw a big farm and some strange animals I had never seen it in my life before, I was talking with the nature, plants and animals.  Then I picked up a squashed frog from the road and took it to Prague with me as a sort of friend, I enjoyed exploring out of village by myself on the bike and found some interesting objects.

I made many friends in the village, went to the hairdresser one day and I met with Thipakorn, his wife and their two lovely daughters. They invited me for their niece's haircut ceremony in the temple, the ceremony was starting at 7 o'clock in the morning, so I was up early and went there with my friend Chris ( who was also enrolled in the residency program).
It was a very different type of ceremony for me and my first time in the temple to watch this kind of ceremony, then we had a lot of delicious Thai food during early morning in the temple with Thipakorn and his family.
After that he invited us to his family's coconut garden, we rode there altogether and had fresh coconut juice, he and his wife  were very generous and friendly with warm hearts. He said we can go to their coconut garden whenever we want and get some fresh coconuts, it was very nice to explore the garden and see different plant, trees and rice fields.
A few days after they visited us in the Sam Rit Residency and brought us some fresh fruits and visited our art works in the studio, then we said goodbye to each other.

It was New Year’s time and the village was having the New Years party, lasting almost the whole week, we got many invitations, it was a bit crazy and interesting time for me because they were starting to turn on music early in the morning, almost all day you heard some music and the parties continued until midnight with a lot of food, drinks and people.
Once we went to a karaoke party also, we just went there without invitation with Chris, they were very welcoming to us, they gave us a seat and a lot of delicious food and drinks. We met one of our friends from the village and then meet with a lot of new people.
Everybody was taking my photo and wanted to dance with me, even the singer on the stage stopped singing and came to me and he wanted to meet with me, the people in Sam Rit made me feel like a princess.

I had many field trips, visiting historical places, markets, shops, Thai massage, cooking classes, festivals, parties and ceremonies. I have collected a lot of art materials, experimental art works, objects, images and videos. Now it is time to work with my inspirations of Sam Rit in the country where I live, but Thailand is still in my mind, Sam Rit is still in my heart , I miss already my room mate little Gecko and his strange sounds in the night. I hope to have a chance again to visit this lovely village in the near future.

 Nurten Yuksel, 2015