The August 1, 2009 web edition of the Ottawa Citizen has an article entitled "Art of the Animals" by Paul Gessell. Article can be found here

Gessell says "Even the famous painting elephants of Thailand -- and they are involved in a multimillion-dollar enterprise -- have human handlers to help guide the brush in their trunks when creating images of flowering shrubs."

This is a completely wrong and inaccurate statement.

As owner of a key web site the resells elephant paintings and as an individual who has spent hundreds of hours at the elephant camps in northern Thailand where the elephants paint, 1) the business is by and far NOT a “multimillion-dollar enterprise” as Mr. Gessell claims. (the Camps spend far more than they take in for elephant upkeep); 2) human handlers DO NOT help guide the brush in the elephant artists trunks when creating images of flowering shrubs (or any other images for that matter).

Handlers (mahouts) DO talk to the elephant and direct them right & left, up and down and stop. For some elephants that have been painting for awhile have learned the strokes by themselves - they no longer need calming or guidance. Other elephants DO need some guidance which is done by voice and sometimes by touch but the mahout does not touch the elephant’s trunk or the brush – that is solely an elephant motion – and we have the video to prove it.

Mr. Gessell should do research and know what he is talking about before publishing information in an esteemed paper such as the Ottawa Citizen.

By the way, this so called (by Mr. Gessell) “multimillion-dollar enterprise” earns a pittance from elephant paintings which are painted mostly for tourist delight. The artwork is sometimes very expensive due to popularity in the marketplace - using Elephant Artist Hong (Maetaman Elephant Camp) as an example: last year she became famous overnight when a video of her painting went viral overnight (YouTube) and her paintings sold like hot cakes at exorbitant prices. Lucky the camp owner was smart and limited releases of her art pieces.

I particularly take exception with Gessell’s 8th paragraph: “Some of these elephant paintings cost thousands of dollars. So, who buys them? Tourists, quirky collectors and others who think they are helping orphaned elephants support themselves. Don't these animal art collectors realize they are being had?”

Well, if any of you have been up to the Camps and purchased elephant artwork, are you quirky? Do you feel you have been had? I certainly think not.

I have contacted the paper asking for a retraction of the article (even though it is not entirely on elephant paintings) but no response.

Please help me right a wrong so Thailand does not get another black eye especially for a national symbol - the Asian elephant.

Write Ottawa Citizen editor Graham Green //e-mail removed as per forum rules//

Thanks

Edited August 11, 200916 yr by Tywais

The August 1, 2009 web edition of the Ottawa Citizen has an article entitled "Art of the Animals" by Paul Gessell. Article can be found here

Gessell says "Even the famous painting elephants of Thailand -- and they are involved in a multimillion-dollar enterprise -- have human handlers to help guide the brush in their trunks when creating images of flowering shrubs."

This is a completely wrong and inaccurate statement.

As owner of a key web site the resells elephant paintings and as an individual who has spent hundreds of hours at the elephant camps in northern Thailand where the elephants paint, 1) the business is by and far NOT a "multimillion-dollar enterprise" as Mr. Gessell claims. (the Camps spend far more than they take in for elephant upkeep); 2) human handlers DO NOT help guide the brush in the elephant artists trunks when creating images of flowering shrubs (or any other images for that matter).

Handlers (mahouts) DO talk to the elephant and direct them right & left, up and down and stop. For some elephants that have been painting for awhile have learned the strokes by themselves - they no longer need calming or guidance. Other elephants DO need some guidance which is done by voice and sometimes by touch but the mahout does not touch the elephant's trunk or the brush – that is solely an elephant motion – and we have the video to prove it.

Mr. Gessell should do research and know what he is talking about before publishing information in an esteemed paper such as the Ottawa Citizen.

By the way, this so called (by Mr. Gessell) "multimillion-dollar enterprise" earns a pittance from elephant paintings which are painted mostly for tourist delight. The artwork is sometimes very expensive due to popularity in the marketplace - using Elephant Artist Hong (Maetaman Elephant Camp) as an example: last year she became famous overnight when a video of her painting went viral overnight (YouTube) and her paintings sold like hot cakes at exorbitant prices. Lucky the camp owner was smart and limited releases of her art pieces.

I particularly take exception with Gessell's 8th paragraph: "Some of these elephant paintings cost thousands of dollars. So, who buys them? Tourists, quirky collectors and others who think they are helping orphaned elephants support themselves. Don't these animal art collectors realize they are being had?"

Well, if any of you have been up to the Camps and purchased elephant artwork, are you quirky? Do you feel you have been had? I certainly think not.

I have contacted the paper asking for a retraction of the article (even though it is not entirely on elephant paintings) but no response.

Please help me right a wrong so Thailand does not get another black eye especially for a national symbol - the Asian elephant.

Write Ottawa Citizen editor Graham Green //e-mail removed as per forum rules//

Thanks

wonder how long gessel has been in thailand. he reminds me of people who visit asia for a while and return to their home country and write about asia's 5000 years history and claims deep and profound knowledge of asia. if only the elephants can talk, which fortunately for gessel thay can't , they would have replied: "what a load of elephant shits". anyway , the ottawa citizen is a small localised newspaper unlike the toronto star or le matin of montreal or the other major canadian newspapers. so, green, take heart, the damage is not so serious, but it was good of you to highlight the asian elepjants plight against such preposterous paparazzis-typewriting-in-the-making . can't imagine when he starts writing about human beings.

on 2nd thot, how did gessel end up with a job at the nation's capital newspaper with his slip-shod guess -work, unresearched reporting? his sacking is recommended before the canadian nation gets embarassed any further. or did he think he's working in a corner of the world that the americans called "the other side of the far and remote mountains" where he can hoodwink others without being spotted

Edited August 11, 200916 yr by visareal

Far too often reporters get their facts so twisted we do wonder where they got the information from in the first place, or what drugs they are taking whilst writing the articles.

Lunchtime O'Booze.

Far too often reporters get their facts so twisted we do wonder where they got the information from in the first place, or what drugs they are taking whilst writing the articles.

could be the ottawa-by-day and hull-by-night runs between which the report was filed in.....after several "trips", of course, you know what i mean by the latter, of course....