Commentary-Debate

How does inspiration come to artists?

November 25, 2020 Artistic practice, Commentary-Debate, Living Aloha
Sameland by Dawn Yoshimura

I wanted to write a post reflecting upon conversations in the past year or so with other artists. Many assume that artists are all visually stimulated but I’ve found that not all of us find our inspiration in the same sensory way. I am auditory–which is why mo’olelo or story is so important to me in creating and processing my world. I talk to myself. I don’t like to listen to music while painting–it disturbs me. But as artists, weRead More

Shadow Artists

August 24, 2020 Book Reviews, Commentary-Debate, Community, Living Aloha

Shadow artists as described by Julia Cameron, author of The Artist Way, are those who are artists but won’t acknowledge it and thus, just like water, find other ways to direct their creative instincts. Some become shadow artists, hanging around the edges of ‘real’ artists’ lives and patronizing cultural institutions, financially supporting a struggling talent, or in some cases, becoming vicious ravagers of fledgling artists. As an artist, I’ve met all the variants of the Shadow Artist, and each timeRead More

Filling the well

June 21, 2020 Commentary-Debate, Living Aloha

Water is flow. It always finds a way forward, it can be still and collected in an eddy or a pool but it will always find its way out and forward and sometimes it can rush forward in a mighty river or it can cascade down a small set of steps or a high plateau. The COVD19 stay at home order is lifting and we can go out to parks and beaches but still many activities I do are prohibitedRead More

Kupuna Watercolor

April 2, 2020 Artistic practice, Commentary-Debate, Community, Hawaii, Living Aloha, News

Teaching besides making art myself and with others is my newfound passion. I was reluctant for many years to teach because I didn’t want to be ‘that’ teacher who crushed instead of helped my creative self confidence soar. Teachers have so much power, especially to kids and those traumas are carried all the way to our graves if we don’t recognize and nurse and parent our inner Artist Child back to trust and joy. I also hate being told whatRead More

Teaching Art

February 4, 2020 Artistic practice, Commentary-Debate, Community, Living Aloha, News, Social Activism

I spent a semester as a Teaching Assistant for the 2019-2020 school year at Farrington High School. I wanted to help out a friend and gain some experience teaching young people so it was a win-win arrangement. This project was on collage and each student had to do their Chinese astrological animal. It was a good example of combining different teaching goals: learning and appreciating other cultures, learning new techniques and skills, and practicing problem solving and thinking skills andRead More

TLR Total Life Recovery

December 21, 2019 Commentary-Debate, Community, Living Aloha, News, Social Activism

Turning Stories into Life Changing Lessons The Total Life Recovery Program (TLR) at the only Women’s Community Correctional Center in Hawaii is a faith-based, gender specific program that addresses every area of a woman’s life mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. TLR equips participants with the knowledge and tools they need to live successfully everyday with dignity and self worth – bringing hope to incarcerated women who are now committed to changing their hearts, changing their thinking and changing their goals.Read More

Bezalel-Finding our artistic heritage

November 24, 2019 Artistic practice, Commentary-Debate, Exhibits

I’ve written before about searching for my artistic heritage in a cross-generational, cross-cultural personal history and how recently I’ve come to see Bezalel as my artistic ancestor and inspiration. As an artist, there are certain themes and symbols that are recurring and others that evolve along the way, building upon past experiences and knowledge collected along the way. A recurring image for me is the Ko’olau. I love when traffic is slow coming down the Likelike because I can openRead More

Mauna Kea

September 14, 2019 Artistic practice, Commentary-Debate, Living Aloha, New Work

The debate on whether or not the TMT project should move forward has been fraught with emotion and strong viewpoints. I knew there were protesters regarding the project and was not that informed but in general, not knowing anything, I would have answered anybody asking, that I was for the advancement of science and to put Hawai’i on the map as the premier place for advancement must be a good thing, right? I had recently been to a conference whereRead More

My Patsy Mink Moment

August 6, 2019 Commentary-Debate, Community, Hawaii, Living Aloha, whattodoinoahu

The Honolulu Biennial closed March 8-May 5 2019 with the theme To Make Wrong / Right / Now and I was very happy to be a part of it, both as a volunteer bearing a pohaku in Bernice Akamine’s opening installation piece at Aliʻiōlani Hale, to being a docent and to being a speaker in the public programming on Wahi Pana and my Color Bridges series. At one of my favorite installations at the YWCA, at the entrance to theRead More

Premiere of HI on art

July 4, 2019 Commentary-Debate, Community, Hawaii, Living Aloha, News, TV Serial Reviews, whattodoinoahu

A new tv program ”HI on art”produced by former Hawaii State Senator and arts advocate Wil Espero will premiere on Saturday July 20, 2019 on Oceanic Cable Channel 11@11pm. It is a weekly program that will focus on local Hawai’i artists of all media and practices in various stages of their career. The program seeks to bring visibility to artists working in the islands and to showcase the wide array of talent and issues being tackled by these creators andRead More