Fire Tribute Art - For Maui and Island Ohana

 

Rainy Daze in Volcano Hawaii

 

Phil's Newest Art

On our very first visit to Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2011 we saw a beautiful bird called the Koa'e Kea who nests in the cliffs around Kilauea volcano. Info - Koa'e Kea.


We also purchased art done by one of the most widely recognized Hawaii artists, Dietrick Varez best known for creating over 200 linoleum block prints. Here is one of his beautiful block prints of the white tailed Koa'e Kea -- Tropicbird. INFO: D. Varez

Phil's wood shop is loaded with wood of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes a piece of wood will wait for a long time to reveal what it wants to be -- and Phil will patiently wait for that magic to happen. In this case, a special piece of koa spoke to him and he accepted the challenge. One piece of wood was split in half to create mirror-images of grain pattern for the wings. The base is also made of koa wood.

See more of Phil's art at:
One Gallery Downtown Hilo
Banyan Gallery- Banyan Drive Hilo
and at
http://www.onegalleryhawaii.com/pgphaysmer.html

Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

Beauty, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholders. Phil is continuing his exploration into creating winged beings, and having had good success with his butterfly (from a few posts ago - 3/2) he has just completed a moth that was inspired by one of our local moths. The wings are made from a beautifully patterned piece of koa that he carefully sliced in half to get the mirrored wing pattern; the body is from redwood, one of the few remaining pieces we brought with us from Humboldt County.

"Black Witch Moth"
(Ascalapho Odocata)
"CLICK" to enlarge

Here in Puna, on the Big Island, of course Phil has many different woods to chose from. And, while Phil's completed work is obviously beautiful -- one of the projects Lunel has recently chosen is full of beautiful potential.

One acre is 43,560 square feet, and of those square feet, approximately 85% of it has been "beautified" over the course of the last 4.5 years. That includes about 1,000 feet of boundary around the acre, and it is those edges that have been the most challenging because of the dense under-story of the forest, most of which is infested with various junk shrubs and invasive vines. But, since deconstruction is one of Lunel's favorite art passions, the tools for this "art project" include chain saw, machete, pick ax and the indispensable o'o bar.. and that is not where we go "pau hana"** - it a heavy, thick iron bar over 6' long used to break up lava. .

Before work began -- What's in there?

Ugly but full of potential beauty (Lunel says)

So....a couple weeks ago she attempted a initial excavation, without knowing what was under and/or behind an area about  12 x 10' along the south perimeter. The first photo shows the area before work began.The additional photos are anything but "beautiful" except to Lunel who seems to have no limit to her ability to both envision as well as manifest beauty using a wide range of materials.


Plans are to use this natural basin area to create either a fountain, or perhaps a waterfall. Nearby, about 30 plants, many from our ohana neighbors and friends** are waiting in pots for replanting around the water feature. (Mahalo Barbara, Geoff, Bett, Karin, Sam...and others)

OK, so maybe you can't see a fountain or a pond... (YET)

Many kinds of ti, anthuriums & ferns

Sort of like this, but only time and more creativity will tell.

We are including one photo that shows some of the potential we see, but of course the final version will be different.)  Stay tuned -- more news at 11.)

(** First, there IS a real Bar named "The O'O Bar" -- it's a Hawaiian thing. And, "pau hana" means the end-of-work, or -- a time when you might go TO a bar. (??lost in translation i think...??) 

Blooms and Butterflies

For artists on the Big Island of Hawaii inspiration comes from so many places. Of course the island itself is amazing -- the volcanoes, lava, intense blue skies, big cloud formations, and all the patterns and colors of the ocean.

Just walking around the property is also inspiring. The other day Phil took the camera out to get just a FEW of the artful explosions happening and I created a montage of some of them.

He also got a photo of one of Hawaii's Monarch butterflies laying eggs on the purple Crown Flower -- which then inspired him to use a piece of koa wood to create a whimsical butterfly.

Lunel's Newest Art

What a fun year for artistic exploration! After having spent four years working with the lava on our property and being inspired by the variety of shapes, I feel like I have received a blessing (and a few bruises too) from Pele -- and, a new expression of art!

The process begins with a very simple line drawing inspired by shapes I see, After developing the drawings, I load the art into the computer. I collect fabric samples that reflect the colors I want, and I also scan the fabric into the computer. Working with dozens of fabric options, one by one I "drop" them into the negative spaces. Sometimes it takes many days of experimentation  to find just the right colors and textures that will complement each section and the whole piece.


("click" on any image for BIGGER view!)

After perfecting the image, I can print the completed art onto note cards, onto canvas, and even onto fabric. I just finished my first fabric sculpture/quilt -- one of two that will be sold either singly or as a pair.

This past year I have created several images using this inventive technique, but these two were special because they illustrate the return of Pele's lava flow to the ocean. Hawaiian mythology tells of Pele meeting her ocean sister - Namaka and this is happening right now on the Big Island near old site called Mokuna on the Puna coastline a few miles from where we live.

(If you have an interest in these pieces, please let me know. LUNEL)

To the right you see a close up of some of the lovely fabrics......

Lunel's New Lava-Inspired Art

Lunel with two new canvas of her abstract art.

Those of you who know me well, also know I am a compulsively creative person.  So... leaving Humboldt County to retire in the Puna District of the Big Island would mean leaving one kind of inspiration for an entirely new landscape and inspiration! It is hard to be an artist here in Hawai'i and NOT be inspired by this vital living land!

For three years I have been working on our property with some rather unusual "art tools" --my o'o bar and pick ax as I am learning to create with a brand new medium -- LAVA!! The curving lines of lava, and the colors of the landscape are coming through in a brand new, bold and colorful way.


I have entitled this set of images Moku Moe'uhane "Island Dreams" because the energy of the 'aina (land) works on and through me in a rather dream-like way. Everything here is always moving -- charged with energy. These images are my response to that movement and energy.

Phil's Koa Root

Ancestor Root of Koa - P. J. Haysmer

Photo by Kim Kornbacher (kimkornbacherphotography.com)

Part of fun of the art process Phil and I share is seeing the before and after -- for this one I really regret not having a "before" photo to show how Phil brought out the beauty of this gnarled koa tree root.  The Koa tree here on the Big Island is held in high esteem culturally.  


In the Hawaiian language (one of the two "official languages of Hawai'i) KOA has many meanings, but the first is brave, bold, fearless, valiant with the second meaning of soldier, warrior, and the third meaning being the largest of native forest trees...formerly used for canoes, surfboards and calabashes.

Ke Mole o Koa

A familiar story: Trees in Trouble -- For 22 years we lived in Humboldt County, the land of the giant Redwood trees that helped built major cities all along the West Coast.  Decades of clear-cut logging created a significant decline in the number of ancient giants with lives spanning 2,000 years and more. Here in Hawai'i 10% of the original Koa forest ecosystem is still intact.




The ancient Hawaiian delicate ecosystems evolved without any grazing mammals. Therefore, the native plants developed no natural system to resist the development of grazing lands for cattle in the 1800's. Since Koa is a legume and is a nitrogen fixing species, it is highly desirable to non-native grazing animals such as pigs, cattle, goats and sheep.  Deforested cattle grazing areas also impacted many bird species whose ground nest building was negatively impacted as well.

There is a Hawaiian proverb that says:  I ulu no ka lala i ke kumu which translated says, "The branches grow because of the trunk."  It is part of the consciousness we have found here in Hawai'i that honors heritage, lineage, and the malama o ka 'aina. the care of the land.

(Phil's piece is for sale:  $800)



  

New Art Arrives for our Anniversary

"Fathom" by Rose Adare

Several weeks ago while visiting some of our local galleries, I was deeply moved by a single gigantic canvas at the East Hawaii Cultural Council (aka Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art).

While Phil wandered around the rooms full of art, I found myself staying very still, hardly breathing, in front of this painting. I felt it captured how I feel about being in the water, carried and held by the energy of the ocean.  It was mysterious and haunting, and even more so because I felt the woman looked a bit like me. Phil finally circled back around and suggested I take a photograph of it. The large size canvas (approximately 5x8') was not something we could accommodate, so we left without  a lot more consideration.   Except, I kept returning to that image both in my waking thoughts as well as my dreams.

Fabric of the ceiling

Finally, I realized how beautifully the art would go in our lanai -- the Chihuly Studio glass piece and the fabric ceiling incorporated not only the same amazing colors but the wavy texture.of watery depths.  Eventually, I decided to just contact the artist to find out if a print might be available -- and it was.

Yesterday, for our 3-year anniversary of living in Puna on the Big Island, the artist, Rose Adare, delivered the print to our home. Phil is going to use some very old koa wood to make a frame for it.

Meeting Rose was a delight -- a pixie-goth-fire-dancing-artist! Visit her website at: www.roseadare.com.

"Cloudy With a Chance of Pastels"

A couple evenings ago my friend, Lucina, and I headed off to Ahalanui Warm Ponds down on the Red Road, just north of Pohoiki, all well-loved Puna places on the Big Island.  The sun was going down as we left, and the clouds were moving in with a promise of rain.

After a good time of vigorous swimming, we both became entranced with the light show we were observing -- lots of greys, lots of lavender, pinks and peach.

As we kept discovering new colors and cloud shapes, I commented about the colors.

 "These are all pastel colors, and greys I rarely used in my art palette."   I drove home with my eyes closed (not really) but concentrating on the colors I had seen, determined to create something that would graphically illustrate their beauty.


Laying out the colors, I came across barely-used colored pencils with names like "Rosy Beige," "Clay Rose," and "Peche Deco."  Then came the challenge of drawing the scene with my own vocabulary of shapes, and, I'm really pleased with the end result as I think this sketch can translate into "something more."

"We're All in our Places...."

During the past two years Phil has been painting watercolor images of local native birds -- including two Io (hawk) which visited the Ohia trees in our yard!  Recently, he has completed a third painting in his series of native birds -- the handsome Nene (geese.)   He is now laying out his fourth painting -- Koa'e Kea (white tailed Tropicbird.) Yes its name is "Tropicbird" one-word.

The light in the art studio is perfect for painting, as Reba-Bo-Beeba offers her encouragement.


 In the meantime, with the help of our yard helper and friend Sam, Lunel is continuing on-going terraforming projects in another part of the property, using the accumulated lava for new terraces bed.

The cairn of lava was created by digging up and leveling areas of the yard, particularly as we dug holes for fruit trees and Hapu'u ferns.  The lava pile dwindles, however, as the walls are created for new beds. 

 

Phil's Hawaii Inspired Art

"Royal Ancestor"

We are pleased to invite you to 

visit the wonderful gallery 

where Phil's art can be seen.

If you are unable to visit Hilo, Hawaii in person, just click on the colored link below and you will instantly be in Old Town Hilo.  Just follow the 3 steps to see Phil's new Hawaii-inspired art!


1.  http://www.onegalleryhawaii.com
2.  Once there scroll about 2/3 down the page.
3.  "Click" on the wood Polynesian sailing vessel and you will then see all Phil's current wood art.


Of course we would be happy to arrange shipment of a piece of your choice.  If you have any questions, leave a comment via this blog.  And while you are visiting ONE GALLERY, take a look at other inspiring artists.

PS  Phil's BIO that appears at the end of his art selection is quite nice -- of course I wrote it. :-)