I have not mentioned on this blog that Cosette lost her companion Joel to a heart attack late last month. We are all sending her our love and support as she finds her way through the sorrow. Tuko, Cosette, Joel and I were all scheduled to join painters from Maui and Kaua'i on a plein-air excursion to Hana, Maui the first week of May. Tuko and I were sorry to go without her. We stayed at the funky but beautifully situated government cabins at Waianapanapa, just north of the Hana Airport. I had stayed there with my parents and relatives many years ago when my brother and I were young teenagers, so it was a little trip down memory lane. We got to visit and paint at some amazing spots, including Oprah Winfreys private little beach below a towering red cinder cone, and the estate of Carl and Ray Lindquist, near the Blue Pool, which fronts on the most spectacular tall cliffs riddled with lava tubes creating cavernous spaces where one can clamber down and see waves splashing in the cathedral-like gloom. I had my usual urge to swim, and made it over the boulders and through the surf to enjoy the crystal blue waters beyond. Unfortunately Tuko bravely attempted to follow me and was tumbled onto the rocks and had to nurse a very sore back for a day.
On Sunday we were assigned Hana Town as our location to paint, since Jan had organized an "artist hunt" for hotel guests to amuse themselves in seeking us out. Tuko and I drove down to the bay itself where colorful outriggers were lined up on the curving pinkish sand, and the sun was bathing the heights of Haleakala beyond the cozy village. An hour or so later we were treated to the visual feast of crews hoisting big many-colored sails and launching their flotilla as part of a circle-island race.
One of the memorable images of our trip occurred the last morning. We didn't have a great view of the sunrise, but we did have front-row seats to the spectacle of Jan Bushart scurrying around in the early morning hours getting set up to do a last Hana painting of the rising sun.
We were treated to a wonderful cocktail and dinner party at a gracious home in the Koki Beach/Hamoa area, by a very beautiful young art collector, Tamara. Happily for me she selected four of my paintings to purchase, which of course made me feel great, and helped pay for my trip! Here are the four paintings she bought (I'll post the others later)
On our way back to the airport we dropped by my good friend Persis's house where she is letting me stash my art supplies which is an enormous benefit. Especially in light of the airlines' not allowing us to travel with our oil-based paints and solvents. I left her a little painting of Hana bay which -- even though I hate to paint at such small dimensions -- does capture some of the charm of that place.
