Art Is Where You See It

Main building is nearly 100 years old (before permits)

Redwood water tanks collect rain water

Of course we are deeply saddened not only at the loss of our home to fire and 99% of contents, we have been dealing with the loss of our ART SPACES. ***

Anyone who visited our home or followed our blog knows about Phil's beautiful wood working shop and his amazing collection of tools. We also shared a huge bright space upstairs as well that was full of our art supplies, journals and completed art.

BUT WE ARE BOTH ARTISTS so we tend to see the world, through artists eyes -- even the mundane and ordinary has depth, color and composition as illustrated by these images. We have expansive views of trees and sky and barnyard, but a couple that Phil took are somewhat more abstract views of what we can also see from our lanai; Lunel did her 'magic' to draw out the interesting perspectives.

Recently a dear friend gave us back a gift we had given to her -- a golden paper star that was identical to the one we had in our Leilani home for so many years. We were able to find just the perfect artistic place for it in our east facing window.

The mundane can bring out both the worst and best in artistic expression as the two images below illustrate. We were dismayed the other day when Phil pulled into a parking space and lightly touched the bumper stop. "Bumper shredder" might be more appropriate as even that little nudge managed to literally shred the cheap plastic bumper out of its cheap plastic "snaps" (not even screwed together.)

In any case, after several trips to the hardware store and a pair of borrowed wheel ramps we managed to reattached the bumper. The space beneath was too small for Phil to maneuver under but he handed screws, washers, drills and screwdrivers to Lunel, who was very annoyed at the quality of this 2016 versa that seemed expressly designed to cause the owner unnecessary expense because of cheap materials. What ever happened to METAL?

Anyway, as she normally does, she created ART from her perspective -- that of being under the car for the repairs.

And life goes on, as does ART, when you have the eyes to see it.

"Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed." Kahlil Gibran



*** We again wish to acknowledge the generous gifts from friends, neighbors and even strangers who contributed funds (and art supplies) that have enabled us to continue producing art.  Phil is producing art and has three galleries now!

Romance on the Ranch ***

"I am so lonely without Michael"

In our last blog entry, we posted a photo of the bright lime-green chameleon living in the olive tree just outside our back porch/lanai. At first we though it was an iguana, but found out she is a Jackson's chameleon - apparently the only one left because the barnyard cats seem to enjoy catching them.

Yesterday, however, our landlady invited me to "come see what the cat brought in." She'd rescued another chameleon from the cat (who thought it was a play-toy) by wrapping it up in a towel. She was planning to tuck him into the bromeliads and camellia bushes near our front door. I protested, offering to re-unite the three-horned colorful male with his  mate pining away in the olive tree.

Lunel taking Michael to the olive tree

"Mahalia - hang on, I'm coming home"

So, our family has just expanded! 
Meet the Jacksons -- Michael and Mahalia!  Of course we're reading up on their preferred habitat, food, habits, life-style and sex life.

Perhaps one of the reasons there are only two (that we have discovered) is that the babies are born as tiny creatures -- not in eggs and the offspring are often gobbled up by hungry parents. The adults can grow up to 15" and live over 10 years. They are chameleons, so spotting them up on the olive tree isn't easy, and when the local nesting hawks fly over, they quickly scurry under a branch and tuck their tails up in a tight spiral.

Phil introducing "Makenzi"

Since Lunel is fascinated with the local Hawaiian mythology concerning the Mo'o giant lizards and her six foot Mo'o sculpture is now part of the Pu'u of our property, we'll just call this a good omen.


*** HOLD THE PRESSES!!  

Just in from a trusted source The Village Voice (reporting from makai side Volcano Village)  This monogamous reptile family has turned out to be a  menage a trois! Meet the "other woman" newly arrived at the olive tree. Her name is Makenzi Jacksons. 

Green Green GREEN

Clear day view of Mauna Kea

Many decades ago (1963) the New Christy Minstrels sang it, and most of us sang along (though we probably wouldn't admit to that or any other kind of "green" we may have done soooo long ago).

Green, green, it's green they say
On the far side of the hill
Green, green, I'm going away
To where the grass is greener still...

Lonely female chameleon who lives in the olive tree
just outside our back door lanai

Up here at 3500 ft elevation, there are different kind of flora and greens than we had in Leilani Estates on Luana Street. Although there are still hapu'u ferns and ohia trees, there are also walls of bamboo, eucalyptus and several kinds of pine trees.

"Instant picnic" just out our front door

View of the farm

We went on a guided walk early this week offered by Volcano Art Center and were awed by the size and shapes of several different kinds of ohia trees and some massive koa trees as well.

"Their grass is greener..."

The Volcano Art Center offers many opportunities to learn about the island from many different perspectives -- geological, ecological and cultural.

LINK to Volcano Art Center

Here at our new temporary home, we are enjoying new greens -- some of which come from the organic and hydroponic gardens. The view from our back porch/lanai is of the back portion of the farm/garden where there are many varieties of rare chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, and goats -- their milk is made into taste cheeses!

The corgyn (who surprisingly enough are green-grazers) are particularly interested in the goats, and have decided that the greens on the other side of the fence just must be better than the grass on their side.

Life After Flow

No photo credit was given on Google-Share.  We believe these photos were taken from the street next to ours.

While the lava flow appears to have stopped, and there is evidence of life returning (especially after the huge dump of rain from recent hurricane) lives are still in turmoil.

Over 700 homes were destroyed, of course many of them were our friends and neighbors. Many are in evacuation zones and cannot return, many are still living in Leilani, and there are those who want to return because their homes are still there. Those living there face an uncertain future, partially due to the possibility of future lava flows, unsafe air quality, etc. Many others simply cannot return as lava flows have block streets, or because the toxic fumes have penetrated the structures making them unsafe to live in. There are many variations for each resident, and it seems that the confusion is compounded by lack of clear communication between Civil Defense and both County and State governments.  LOTS of unknowns lie ahead.  Here are some photos posted on Google-Share.

As most of our dedicated blog followers already realize, a few days after our house burned, this cinder cone began to pile up and eventually reached about 200' in height completely covering our home and neighbors close by.  Yet, life returns -- and we are nestling into our new temporary home in Volcano.  Click on link below to see more ---


To see more about Volcano Village