"We lead a life rather close to nature… We regularly visit ancient temples to study art and murals."

"Sawasdee kha! I am Awatsada Thapthimthae, nicknamed Jan or Krue (teacher) Jan, and I was born on January 1, 1966. I am married and have two sons. Sitting with me is my pupil. Her name is Maneerat Busarakham, nicknamed Aom, and she was born on October 30, 1980. Formerly I was a nurse/teacher but later resigned to learn art and set up my own studio. It was a challenging time because some people thought art was not as honorable a profession as teaching while other people underestimated my artistic abilities. At that time, Aom was a very close pupil and we shared a particular interest in art. I suggested her joining me at the heritage cultural school to learn the Lanna (northern Thai) artistic style, and we have been learning every weekend since 2001. Aom currently lives with us.

"We lead a life rather close to nature, walking in the countryside, eating lots of fresh vegetables, treating ourselves with natural herbs, etc. We regularly visit ancient temples to study art and murals. We love to attend artistic and cultural exhibitions and sometimes even exhibit our works. After learning the Lanna artistic style at the heritage cultural school, we studied lacquerware, batik, clothes, candle making and packaging. So we mix our lifestyle with different media to create our own works, and we believe that is what makes our style different from that of other local artists.

"Novica is a great website that welcomes and gives every artist the opportunity to present their works to the world. I would like to thank them for their generosity and for making our arts, our lifestyle and our culture known. We are very proud to present our works to you. We create every work with time, love and concentration."