Exhibit: Straddling Worlds 2020

October 1-December 31 2020 at Hub Coworking Honolulu

I work in a variety of media but watercolor is my passion. There is nothing else like it that responds so eloquently and honestly and lets light pass through the pigments and bounce back! Using my multicultural perspective, I listen for, and connect on an emotional level with mo’olelo (stories) of other times. These stories become paintings and projects that give gentle encouragement for alternate stories to be heard. Just as I switch between two homes, I also switch back and forth from solitary image making to working with others to help their stories come forth.

The dual worlds of our physical exterior places we can see and our interior life that can only be felt–everyone is at once alone and connected, Straddling Worlds. These two series are en plein air landscapes of Wahi Pana  created after meditation on the personal and family stories associated with places, and Color Bridges, universal visual prayers of encouragement from me to all.

These two series together show the duality of straddling different worlds, physically, culturally and internally.

Read about each wahi pana and Color Bridge in the exhibition list below or attend one of my three interactive all-inclusive workshops to create your own Color Bridge I will be offering at the Hub.

See slide show. List of paintings below.

The landscapes.

Arrival of the First Nations. 34x84inches. Diptych. Transparent watercolor on paper. $7000.  “Arrival of the First Nations” imagines Kane’ohe after Proto-Polynesian settlers began to terraform their home.

Let’s Go Fishing. 12x16in. Ho’omaluhia reservoir is where I used to take my goddaughter to feed the ducks. She now takes her little cousin to do the same. As a teenager, I hiked in and paddled with friends passing the summer. Transparent watercolor. $500.

Gathering lauhala. 12x16in. Ulumau Village has many edible and useful plantings and is the site of many baby luau and weddings. I have painted and watched the fishpond rise up over the years. Transparent watercolor. $500

Aloha kakahiaka. 12x16in. Mauna Kea 2019 was a time of discussion and building awareness of the mountain when the protestors blocked the TMT project from moving forward. I painted this from a dream, not actually being there, but the morning light bathed the lava fields and no one was there–no protestors, no scientists, no tourists. It was peaceful and I greeted the sun as it rose over me and the mountain. Transparent watercolor. $500 

Ke kau ho’oilo. 12x16in. Mauna Kea 2019 painted when I returned home from a summer in Sweden and following the teac-hins on facebook. Friends who had travelled there shared their photos and stories with me and this was the image I saw as I painted. Mauna Kea at winter.  Transparent watercolor. $500 

Kapu aloha. 12x16in. Mauna Kea 2019 this was painted on a boat thousands of miles away but as I watched live the protesters meeting with the authorities. I didn’t understand kapu aloha yet but the contrast of ideas and emotions was vivid.  Transparent watercolor. $500

Pōhaku Kulaʻilaʻi. 12x16in. This is the site of a mo’o that protects the inlet of fresh water to the ocean. It is also the site of a protective rock and sheltered pool that many children play in, safe from the surf.  Transparent watercolor. $500

Looking towards Mākuahine. 12x16in. From this beach, you can see the Cave of the Mother and it’s darkness stands out like a sentinel on the point. Looking the other way, you see Ka’ena where the souls depart this world for the next. Transparent watercolor. $500

Heading towards Kāena, looking back at Mother. 7x10in. This is the same view as the other larger piece, but on another day. That day, I was more focused westward but glanced back and could still see Mother watching over us all. Transparent watercolor. $200

Hā’iku Gardens. 7x10in. This is an old farm estate, turned into a restaurant, and the site of my wedding and reception. It has many memories of family dinners and events and the garden remains the same. Transparent watercolor. $150

Neowise Passing the Waxing Moon. 7x10in. 2020 saw many things, but also celestial events such as the comet Neowise passing by–another discovery by astronomers working in Hawai’i. Transparent watercolor. $200

Kukui lei, near Namahana. 7x10in. That morning, when I arrived to set up I had thought about painting the tidepools but saw the sprinkling of black kukui washed up ashore upon the light colored sand, it looked like a kukui lei around the graceful neck of a wahine. Transparent watercolor. $150

West side is Blessed Side, Nānakuli. 7x10in This spot always has interesting people whenever I visit. A family doing trash cleanup, a football team doing cleanup, fishing families, father and son fishing, children swimming. I feel there are lots of personal family memories made here daily, weekly, over the years. Transparent watercolor. $150

‘Ohikilolo Ranch. 22x28in. This valley is presently leased by the US Government and up for renegotiation. The ‘ohana of this area wish to preserve it as a cultural reserve and not let it get developed into resort or housing. I love the name–crazy crab–known to walk on land at certain times. Transparent watercolor. $800

‘Ohikilolo Ha’a. 22x28in. I was out painting at this site, trying to absorb the area after hearing the story of the Silva family in the area and the petroglyphs that are unique to this area. I didn’t see it while painting, but I was aware of the light changing and yet holding at a certain spot back in the opening of the foothills. When I got home, I saw the spiral, it feels like the breath of the valley. Transparent watercolor $1000 

The Guardian at Kula’ila’i. 18x24in. Kumu Glen Kila told the story of how the kupuna of his childhood saved Makua beach from desecration when they built a stone platform to mark their ancestral burial grounds and the area near the mo’o of Kula’ila’i and the hau tree on the beach that helped the military see what was plain to the kupuna but they were blind to. I feel joy and thankfulness when I look at this heroic tree. Oil on panel. $1200

Nā Ko’olau no ka Kāne’ohe. 20x23in. The mountains of my childhood town rise up and are always in my mind’s eye whenever I think of home, it is of the mountains I long for. Transparent watercolor. $1200

The Color Bridges. Each one a prayer.

Inori. Continuous Prayer. 8.5x11in. Transparent watercolor. $200.
Inori II. Continuous Prayer. 11x14in. Transparent watercolor. $250.
Prayer is not a one-way fast food order placed with God. As we pray to a Living God, not a deaf and dumb idol, we will be heard and hear a trusted voice answer. 

Kyokan. Sympathy. 8.5x11in. Transparent watercolor. $200. Whatever you wish for yourself that is pure and good, I wish with my whole soul that you will get it. It is more than sympathy or empathy, I actively join my prayer to yours.

Mikata. My Ally. 8.5x11in. Transparent watercolor. $200. It’s that person or divinity that you know has your back and is your supporter no matter what. Protection and standing in defense for your best interests and well being so you can lean back and relax.

Garyuu. Self taught.. 8.5x11in. Transparent watercolor. $200. The hard won knowledge and skills you have gotten through self learning and experimenting. A prayer for you to experience the joy of confidence in your own knowing and ability.

Kimben. Diligence. 8.5x11in. Transparent watercolor. $200. Continued strength and focus to stay your course towards the goal you have before you or the path you have chosen.

Chuushin. Center of Focus. 8.5x11in. Transparent watercolor. $200. We are not machines, a laser beam that you turn on or off with a switch. You can find your center again, with renewed intensity, whenever you notice you need to pause, breathe, adjust, and refocus your attention.

Saiki. Total Recovery.  11.x14in Transparent watercolor. $300 Continue to move forward because you will recover despite sickness, injury or a loss. Don’t give up before you have recovered what you have lost.

Sei. Effluence. 11.5x8in Transparent watercolor. $300 The flow of life always expands, finds a way from source to ocean, even when you don’t see it, life is there with you through the hills and valleys.