Living Feral 2015 - Colette Hosmer I once lived in an old villa on a small island in the South China Sea, home to turn-of-the-century art deco mansions (many of them abandoned), prized Banyan trees...

My Gulangyu Studio 2009 - Colette HosmerThe small room of the old servants quarters had been thoroughly abandoned. This was evident from the years of accumulated dirt and the smell of mildew and old...

Me & The Tiny Island of Gulangyu in China 2009 - Colette Hosmer A LITTLE HISTORY I arrived on November 3, 2009, for my ninth extended stay in China. I have been invited to stay at the house of a...

Caged Bird 2008 - Colette HosmerFrom my position on the worn, overstuffed chair I can see outside the window and through the bars of my second story balcony to a wall of similar Chinese apartments...

Hutong Living 2008 - Colette Hosmer Three distinct cries, each formed from an entire lungful of air, woke me from an untroubled sleep.   Each long-drawn-out wail was part shriek but forced from the...

Hungry, Tired and Lonesome 2006 - Colette Hosmer I'm tired tonight, and a little lonesome. After being out most of the day (and lacking the energy to venture any further) I wander down the street to...

The Pig Factory 2006 - Colette HosmerLi Wen’s “contact” met us outside the gate of the Pig Factory. He said something to the guard, which I later learned was, “This woman is going to buy a lot of...

Professionals 2006 - Colette Hosmer I detour to meet the old man who is rushing to head me off – scuffing his shoes on the granite path with each short step. His white chin whiskers are sparse...

Notes From The Marathon Man 2006 - Colette Hosmer A red inflated arch spans the walking path that runs alongside the beach park near my apartment. Huge speakers blast march music.  An announcer...

EELS Xiamen, China 2006 - Colette Hosmer I enter the big local market through a narrow alleyway lined with peddlers, selling everything the sea and earth can locally provide.  Tomorrow is Spring...

Pig To Market 2006 - Colette Hosmerwake to an urgent knock, "Hurry", Li Wen says in a forceful whisper, his face close to the door, "we sleep late, market boy come for us!"  As planned, "market...

Bus to Porcelain Town 2006 - Colette HosmerThe morning was heavy, dark and waterlogged. I suggested we buy extra bottled water for the five-hour bus ride into the mountains.  “Not good,” Li Wen...

Introduction To Xiamen 2005 - Colette Hosmer My daughter, Sam, and I flew into Xiamen on a frigid Siberian tail wind, December 15, 2005. Ineke Gudmundsson, the Director of the Chinese European Art...

The Seal 1996 - Colette HosmerAlthough I enjoy walking the Oregon coast in winter I found this January day, featuring snow and gale-force winds, to be challenging. As I pulled on layers of clothing,...

A Maasai Goat Feast Tanzania 1992 - Colette Hosmer We turn off the beaten track -- way off -- and continue for another couple of hours through lung-choking volcanic dust as fine as flour.  Worn out...