The Nature of Things

Our group show "The Nature of Things" is coming down in a few days. It has been a really lovely display far exceeding my expectations. I'm proud to be showing with Patti Pease Johnson, Don Albrecht, Patti Datlof and Marian Fieldman, all very creative individuals plus very nice people. It's sad that we can't just leave it up for a few more months!!

Diamond Head Revisited

Every year the shower trees at Kapi'olani Park, in front of Diamond Head Crater on O'ahu, burst into an amazing display of pink and yellow blossoms. I've been lucky enough to be staying on the island on several occasions and have done numerous paintings of the subject. At my 40th Punahou Reunion, I showed a big 3' x 7' version on linen canvas which I sold to one of my classmates, Bonnie Murphie, to hang in her new condo right across the street from all the flowering trees. Just for fun, and as a reference for another classmate who might order a new painting, here is a group of paintings that I did about ten years ago.

Crane Invasion and other stories

My dear friend Nikko Marott started folding cranes a couple of months ago, as a form of loving-kindness meditation. With each origami piece he sent out a prayer for all beings to be at peace and be free from pain. I love origami myself and of course I love color and design. So I got the idea of surprising Nikko with a pile of big origami papers that were printed with my Hawaiian Kapa linoleum blocks. This turned out to be enormously fun, since as the paper folds against itself numerous new and unexpected design combinations emerge, much like a kaleidoscope. Each bird became a one-person, one-time-only art experience, unpredictable, and never to be repeated.

Soon the house was filled with cranes, and Nikko made me laugh by making up stories about the crane invasion and lining them up in different arrangements. This project turned into a 1000 Crane installation at the Wailoa Art Center this month, as a part of the group show I'm in called "The Nature of Things," available to view until July 28.

Nikko is now in Hilo Medical Center with badly metastasized cancer, and he may or may not survive much longer. The wonderful thing is that he had, in his typical way, an idea to help other people by making the cranes a fundraiser for the Hospice of Hilo. Each strand of cranes is available for purchase and represents a donation to this very worthy organization. When the Wailoa show comes down, the cranes will be available at the gallery.