Storefronts

One of the most welcoming places we visited in Hoi An was An Nhàn, a beautiful traditional home on stilts that now houses a cafe and gallery that showcases art from Vietnam’s ethnic minorities. The owners, Kiet and Giang gave us a tour of the gallery and then provided big tables for us to draw on. There was plenty to draw because the cafe is filled with handicrafts too, but I loved the multiple views out into the surrounding gardens. And I wish I could have brought home a suitcase full of the traditional black pottery they sell there.

We also had a chance to draw the shophouses in Hoi An’s Ancient Town. This is something that’s only really possible in the early morning before the intense heat of the day, and before the crowds arrive to stroll through the lantern-lined streets. If you’ve been there you know how crowded it can get with tourists AND with influencers posing for selfies in front of the yellow walls. In the afternoons, it’s a pedestrian-only zone but in the morning, if you’re lucky, a few motorbikes will be parked on the street and I have to admit that I became a fan of adding them in.