Pareo Production at the Studio

When I first contemplated putting up this agricultural building for my studio I envisioned a spare, contemporary space devoid of clutter, something that could appear in Dwell Magazine. Well, five years later it has taken on the jammed, scattered and hurricane-struck look of a sloppy artist's workroom.

That said, here are shots of the studio with my friend/helper/apprentice Ben Ellis working on a stencil design. Tuko and I printed pareos, fabric wrap-arounds popular in Polynesia, in preparation for next week's Merrie Monarch festival, which we hope will bring customers into the gallery for souveniers. I used my paper stencil of a turtle.

Here is also a shot of a big new painting of the coastline at Opihikao which I am hoping will actually make it into Dwell Magazine. The painting is for my friends Mike Kurokawa and Paul Fishman, who recently built a house designed by Craig Steely, which is going to be photographed by the Dwell crew in a couple of weeks.

At Opihikao & the warm ponds....

After the massive winter rains we seized some afternoons to paint at our new favorite place, where a tidal pond shelters from crashing surf and the red road dips down in one of its famous beauty spots just south of Opihikao. We also joined the Friday Art Day group in the pavilion at the Warm Ponds, where Ken is working on a permanent decoration, and Mike was polishing up one of his watercolor paintings.