#451 Tv #451
by William Lum
Title
#451 Tv #451
Artist
William Lum
Medium
Painting - Watercolor
Description
For Day 51 of the 60 Day/60 Theme of the Isolation Art Challenge I painted a watercolor of my Aunt Mai Tai for the theme of TV. When I first spoke to my father, Willman (Willie) Tsang at age 40 and he described my newly rediscovered family. He said a drink was named after his sister, Mai Tai. I met Mai for perhaps a dozen times in my life after that. Mai was born Mae Tsang in Oakland, 1923. She became famous as a dancer with her partner Wilbur Tai Sing and formed the dance team in the 1940’s called The Tai Sings. They got married and her name was now Mai Tai Sing. One of the dance venues was Forbidden City in San Francisco’s Chinatown, a nightclub featuring all-Chinese shows. She appeared in a 1954 film with Tony Curtis, Forbidden. She appeared in a number of TV shows including Mr. and Mrs. North and Hawaii 5-0. The painting is of a promo picture of Mai when she was the co-star of TV show called Hong Kong with Rod Taylor in 1960-1961.
She retired from dancing and went into business with her three brothers. They opened the Ricksha bar in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where Sing was the hostess until 1970. The cocktail lounge had a piano and attracted many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen and the Beatles. In her later years she worked at the Hyatt Regency in Hawaii, retiring at age 80. Mai passed away in 2018. I don’t know the authenticity of my father’s story about the drink but every time I hear Mai Tai mentioned, I always think of my Aunt.
This 12” X 16” watercolor painting was done on Arches, 140 lb, cold press paper.
Uploaded
September 11th, 2020
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