It's all in the title!
But I can add that the scene happened in a kind of haunted manor, a house out of another time, actually a heritage hotel in Matheran, Maharastra

friends of drawing, mountain and gastronomy,
If by chance you go by Albinen, have a look at my mini exhibition in Godswärgjistubu. For those that cannot come so far, just ask by mail and I'll send the catalogue back.

horaires d'ouverture:
jeudi, vendredi, samedi, lundi 17h - 23h
dimanche 11h - 23h
L'Auberge se situe à 50m de l'église

Okay, this was made last year, but I guess for christmas, a church is the right subject to show. And anyway I wish you all a good one

That's the reason why I didn't add any new stuff for so long here. Thanks for your understanding. Anyway if you are in Bern between the 23 and 30th of january, just have a look on the exhibit.

Today's financial crisis remind me this of 1992. As jobless, I had to work with some other unfortunate fellows on a building site. It was a great fun, quite exhausting. There's no silly job. This one was a real one, if you compare with which is made by all those fucking clowns of wall street.

Quite a magic place, to eat, drink, discuss and spend hours. There you'll feel Wallis exactly how it always should be: traditionally rooted, open to the other, culturally mixed, close to real values. It would be nothing without the owner, Sacha and Hannelore, whom are making it unique. Adress is on the link list.

Mom read "le Monde Diplomatique", Dad "die Neue Zürcher Zeitung" and for the lil'girl, there is "Life Star". These readings tell a lot about this little family, skirted in the Geneva-Sierre train, an evening of april.

"Then one day I could tell my tracks
by the holes in the soles of my shoes
And that’s the day I said
I’m gonna make the news
and falling back in the garden of days so long ago"
Joe Strummer

Me if I was a Turk. Self-portrait I did 14 years ago. I exhume all those old stuff, notes and sketches, motivated as never to make a book of this long travel which lead me in Syria in 1994.

Special edition: here comes the unique image I didn't draw myself. Wazem made it last thursday, in the beginning of a ride trough geneva's nightlife. Final result was a hudge headache. Friday morning, mine looks like the background of the illustration. Waterfalls and rocks noise rumbling in my head. It was a great pleasure to meet pierre again, after almost 10 years.

the show was really scratchy, but as this krush only showed his cap, I kept reather this after-instant. An unknow girl, Mass of Samaël on stage, and balthazar (lil'mofo) cleaning the place with a shovel and a bad mood

J'ai toujours été charmé par les pins, toutes espèces confondues. Ce pin noir d'autriche, dans une cour à l'arrière de la Schüsspromenade, en plein centre de Bienne, est particulièrement majestueux. J'écris ces deux derniers messages dans les languages régionaux, exceptionnellement, en hommage au bilinguisme de cette ville étonnante.

Heute Morgen musste ich in die Schule gehen. Trotzdem habe ich Biel erreicht, hatte absolut kein Lust für lernen in eine Klassraum. Ich dachte an Robert Walser, es war ein Tag für bummeln... und zeichnen.

Sir Edmund Hillary with his faithful sherpa and friend Tensing at camp in Thyangboche, Nepal. Those two fellows were the very first men to reach the top of Everest, in 1953. Hillary died at the age of 89, last january. Called "The Quintessential Kiwi" (as new-zealander), he was humble,honnest and hard-worker. A great man.

We were between Chennai and Salem. Everybody was reading and we missed our stop. funny, "riders in the train" sounds like "riders on the storm" of jim morrisson, but it was actually a burning day without an ounce of wind.

Lunch in Aurelec: cheap and healthy food ad libitum, surrounded with a so varied homo fauna, under the soothing shade of this secular jackfruit tree. I've spent unique moments there. If you want to know more about the place and about India generally, please check what my precious friend seena write on her motherland: hummingleaves.blogspot.com
Richer than any travel guide. Link is on the right column.

welcome back everybody!
some brand new stuff from my recent visit of india (or should I rather say of auroville, as this "town" doesn't really belong to gandhi's country). Greenery and cool air, good vibes and amazing architectures.
Official website of auroville is added on the "links" column.

A sight on the Tschigeren's roofs. Oswald Ruppen, Edouard Vallet or Edmond Bille fixed it long before me.

Late autumn landscape, it is yet white everywhere. I'll begin a serie soon, mountains attract me like a magnet.

This is the first part of a triptych which was actually made for a contest of IdN, famous graphic design magazine from Hong-Kong. Though no award was given, I've put lot of energy and pleasure in this task.

Congratulations! My cousin and his wife got a baby. I've searched inspiration in origami to prepare them that announcement (as they recently came back from a japan trip with glittering eyes). Though job which makes me sweat like anything!!!

It is so rare to make an illustration and be paid for it! This one is about e-learning, one of a serie of drawings I did for a newsletter published by HES (swiss specialized high schools).

It's tough to sum up this last week-end in clermont-ferrand. Many new contacts and good ideas have been shared and I hope it will give birth to concrete stuff. Despite the french strike of railway network I've reached the place and came back home by sharing-car, without any trouble. It was really nice. I hope to be there next year.

Im happy to introduce (after a long work) the Beret Noir / Songkor nasional project. For further informations, try the link beside, or type the adress below: http://beretnoir.blogspot.com

it seems irksome today to watch an old black and white movie, should some times to be trapped. This "Scandal" of Kurosawa was just excellent. I wont tell it there, check it on the link added beside.

I got the confirmation for my participation to the 8th "biennale du carnet de voyage" in Clermont-Ferrand (France).
There'll be 6 m2 to hang works and show sketchbooks fac-simile.
This drawing above was one my first travelsketch: "Heraklion", a greek Ferry, who finally drove me in Auvergne, almost 15 years after we left the harbour!!

This watercolor is a "cover" of one of my brother chris pictures. He shot some pics which deserve to be published in a national geographic issue. For more asian sights, check the link I've added on the right (http://topsolete.smugmug.com).

Himalayan pine trees, prayer's flags, momos and clear soups, temple built around trees. While some place's in the world are corners for conflicts, how not to be touched by such piece of peaceful elsewhere?

An evening prayer in the mac leod ganj temple. Wherever you are in the village you can hear the mantra's chants, like a strange resounding buzzing.

When you'll reach Chonor's house, some sleeping dogs will welcome you. It has been very difficult to leave this place which became like a home. Kindness of people, beauty of decors. This painting I reproduced above particularly moved me. The surreal atmosphere reminds me a Giorgio de Chirico's piece. The guesthouse belongs to the norbulingka institute: just check the link for further informations.

MacLeod Ganj
08.2007

Sorry sorry it has been a long time without new thing here, but... This is a glimpse of Ooty, a charming Hill station in Tamil Nadu. Soon some new indian illustrations will be added. For now I'm in Mumbay, but no scanner is available.

Lets go the big country today. Land of extremes, land of bipolarity... This house is situated in the Hamptons (Staten Island - NY)?

A sunday 5 o'clock panorama. Just behind that mountain, Iggy & the Stooges gave a great gig on thursday.

Walking on the BLS sud rampe I draw that sight last sunday; well-named day, weather was sooo nice (notice im back in helvetia).

one more keralite atmosphere just before leaving to chennai and go back to my egoistic motherland.

It was hot, but still I found courage to draw. Sometimes on the background an electric car carrying tourists disturbed the sight.

From the road to tschingeren, an early december evening. Snow is just carpeting the top of mountains.

One more "blade runner" sight of an asian megapole. The scanner I use is quite bad, all turn to an exagerated red.

Northern sea, Helsinki, we went to Suomelinna with Heli in a nice august's afternoon. it was in 2004.

Pencils & computer

Frankfurt Airport. The other IBM, illustration made with my macintosh. Pencil and photoshop.

On a roof of a Pondicherry home. She had a snake in her second right hand, but I didn't draw it.

nov 2006

revue de l'Inde

I wrote an article and some of my illustrations have been published in "La Revue de l'Inde" of this trimester. For those who wants to know more about India today. You just need to read french.

photo passeport

A caribbean family waiting for their portrait in the fuji media lab of rue du rhône in geneva

watercolor, rapidograph - 11.2006

Seba in Lubljana

Salut gars, tu te souviens de ce séjour en slovénie? Bon ben, rappelle-moi à l'occasion histoire de se boire un Unicum ou un Jägermeister

pencil, july 1999

Amrutanjan

This week-end was a special headache one. Fortunately Amrutanjan pain balm was with me. Better than aspirin, it's 100% barathi!

watercolor, rapidograph - 21.10

back to the primitive

an old sketch for this come-back in tschingeren after 1 month in india. there are many parties down in the plain and a strong smell of wine in the air.

pencil ink and computer - 2002

silent contestation 2

Filipine fisherfloks association manifesting in front the WTO bulding in geneva. A sleepy contestation under a rude sun. Note that police is in the shade.

august 2006

lunch time

Sitten in Vasanta Bavhan. People next to me are concentrated on their oily dosha. Nobody speaks.

july 2006 – watercolor, pencil and rapidograph