The Big Island, June 2010

We went to the Big Island of Hawaii June 8-15th, stayed at the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort in an ocean front room. This was our view from the room, which was awesome! I didn't take alot of pictures on this trip because I took quite a few on previous trips.

Here are just a few shots of the beach, the snorkel entry area, the rocks, some hula and a pretty sky.

Big Island Trip Sketch Book

 We went to the Big Island of Hawaii, June 8-15. We stayed at the Hapuna Prince Beach Resort. Here's my sketchbook of what we did:

Wednesday, June 9th

Had a GREAT SNORKEL - lots of fish & crystal clear water. Drove to Kona, shopped at Ross (our favorite store!) and found some bargains, had lunch at Don's Chinese, walked through downtown Kona (to the palace, the old church, the shops), swam at the hotel but water was rough, had drinks at the Reef Lounge and fed the feral cats (and a mongoose or two).

Thursday, June 10th

Had another GREAT SNORKEL in early morning, clear, calm, lots of fish. We drove to Hilo and saw all of the lush vegetation. We did some more shopping in Hilo at Ross & Macy's, looked around town. We've been there before, so didn't do any of the tourist stuff. I swam in the snorkel cove because the waves were high on the beach. In the evening we went to our lounge and then took the shuttle over to the Mauna Kea where they had hula.

Friday, June 11th

We went snorkeling again in the early morning - the water was more cloudy and wavy, but was still pretty good. Rick was bitten by mosquitos in the night and had welts all over his legs. We went to the King's Shops in Waikoloa and had lunch at Arnie's Clubhouse at the hotel. Afternoon swimming was GREAT. It was hula night at the lounge and we saw students from the local halau. Back in the room we went on a mosquito seeking mission to rid the room of insects.

Saturday, June 12th

We didn't snorkel today because it was wavy and Rick's mosquito welts were bothering him under the fins. We drove to Hawi on the north coast. The King Kamehameha statue was draped with leis from the holiday on Friday. I got a red garnet necklace at a cute jewelry shop. We had lunch at the Snack Shack (where we've gone several times before. Afternoon swimming.

Sunday, June 13th

Morning snorkeling was not very good today. It was wavy, windy and murky, though we did see three turtle! That was fun. Today we went to Waimea to look around. I wen to the bead shop and the Parker Ranch shops. We found out that feral cats who have been fixed have snipped ears to mark them! We'd noticed that a number of cats had notched ears and just thought they'd gotten in fights. There's a local group that spays and neuters the many, many area cats. In the afternoon I drove to the Shops at Mauna Lani and went through the Lahaina Gallery. I wanted to see their Darrell Hill paintings. Great afternoon swimming!!

Monday, June 14th

This was our last full day. Snorkeling was again wavy and cloudy, but we did see some turtles again. Had lunch at the Beach Bar and spent the afternoon reading, napping, and swimming! We didn't take the car out at all today.

Hawaii Paintings for Class

 Here are two paintings I completed during my Winter 2010 painting class. Both are reproductions of paintings that I saw in

Maui in December. I wanted to try to capture the colors and light of the originals.

This first is from Front Street in Lahaina. The original was painted by Larry Moore during a Maui Plein Air Event. I reproduced his painting called "On Front Street". His work is much lighter and airier than mine. And his is in oil. Mine is acrylic,
12x16".

It was a good exercise in using brighter colors and contrasts, and trying to work more with basic shapes instead of details. I'm a detail kind of person, so it's a challenge to be more expressionistic. I like that messier look, but it doesn't come naturally to me (except when it comes to housework and cleaning - then I'm plenty messy).

Here's Larry's website: www.larrymoorestudios.com/field_studies.html

The second painting below is a reproduction of an oil painting by Jan Bushart, another Hawaiian plein air artist. The original is called "The Workhorse", (referring to the tractor). She uses great colors and beautiful greens and blues in her paintings. Jan also uses wonderful loose brush strokes, which is something I need to learn.
Jan's website: http://curlyjan.fineartstudioonline.com/

I wish I could have purchased both originals. These were good learning exercises and are strictly for personal use. My copies pale in comparison with the originals.

New Tropical Flower Painting Blocked Out

Last night I blocked in the shapes and colors for a new painting - it's 16x20 in acrylic. I'm using a photo from our June trip to Maui. I can't remember what this particular flower is called, but it's a waxy, tropical blossom with beautiful variegated leaves. I have to decide how much to include in the painting and what colors to use in the background. So far I've just put on a thin wash to determine shapes and composition. I'll still tweak some things.....

Here's my original photo:

Hapuna Beach Painting

This was my frustration painting of the term! I painted and repainted and scrubbed out and painted again. I think I painted over the whole thing about four times. That's one of the great things about acrylic! You can "erase" it.

I tried leaves on the tree - no leaves, a variety of different colors, a mountain - no mountain, clouds - no clouds, flowers - no flowers, umbrellas on the beach - plain beach.

This ain't perfect, but I can live with it. It's 9" x 12" in acrylic.

EP

EDM Challenge # 166: Draw a Fish

This is my drawing for the EDM Challenge #166: Draw a Fish. It's a White Spotted Pufferfish, my favorite fish to watch..

We see them when we snorkel in Hawaii. They look almost like a dog or a seal - they're very curious and slow and cute.  They follow you along as you snorkel, watch you with their eyes and flutter their little yellow fins.They come in a number of colors, but my favorites are the taupe with white spots.

We're going to the Big Island in one week, so will get to see them again!

I used wikipedia for a source picture. Here's the link and pic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pufferfish

June 2007 Trip to Maui

We just got back from a week in Maui. We stayed at the Maui Prince on Makena Beach in South Maui. Above are photos of the entrance and some exterior grounds. They hosted the King's Trail Triathlon while we were there. In the past we've gone to a luau, taken a boat trip, driven to all the sights. This time we mostly did.....not much! Which was great.

 

Here are two shots of the interior courtyard and garden area of the hotel.

  

These are the interior garden stream and large koi fish pond. You can buy fish food and they all come with open mouths.



Hotel pool and beach, where we spent alot of time just lounging, swimming, snorkeling, iced tea drinking....

 

Beach area - there are coral reefs, fish, and turtles right off the shore! We had great snorkeling every day.

 

Bailey House Museum - an old missionary house and girl's school. The huge outdoor stone was used for various pounding needs. The museum houses a number of really nice paintings by Edward Bailey. Museum link: http://www.mauimuseum.org/:

 

Old Keawalai Church (1832) and graveyard near Makena Landing. http://www.keawalai.org/:

 

Below is the main street of Makawao - a quaint upcountry town with lots of nice, artsy type shops.
 

Kitty in an urn at the Greek Bistro!



We had a great time!

Emma Pod

Maui Roadside Attraction

 We just returned from a week in Maui - and guess what I found! Another roadside attraction to add to my collection!

Here are the front and back photos of a giant whale, probably made of concrete. It's located in a park on the main drag in the town of Kihei, on the southern coast of Maui.

Humpback whales spend the winter in Maui and hang out in the channel waters between Maui and Lanai. They have babies in the Hawaiian waters and then return north to Alaska.

Here's a link to the Island Marine Institute for more info on the humpbacks:
http://www.whalewatchmaui.com/index.html

We had a very nice trip and I'll post some more photos later.

Emma (tanned) Pod

HAPA at the Aladdin Theater

Barry Flanagan & Nathan Aweau

On Friday night we went to a HAPA concert at the Aladdin Theater. HAPA is a Hawaiian band that performs a mix of traditional and new Hawaiian music and chant. They produce an amazing sound for just three guys! The concert was really good and we had a great time. HAPA is Barry Flanagan, Nathan Aweau, and Charles Ka'upu  and two hula dancers.

Not only are these guys good musicians, they are very funny! And Charles, the chanter, is a thoughtful, spiritual person. The place was packed with folks who are from Hawaii originally, or who just love going there to visit.

Nathan & Charles

We first heard HAPA when Keli'i Kaneali'i was the lead singer. Our favorite album is the one called "Collection", which has their best songs.

The Aladdin Theater is a funky, old, art-deco style stage theater. It's a smaller venue that has been renovated at various times over the years. It looks like someone in the 1970's used that "antiquing" paint that was popular and put a wash on the columns. Gold lame curtains were added to the upper boxes. The original painted lampshades are still there, but I wish the place could be restored with true art-deco colors and style.

Just Four Days Ago We Were Swimming...

It's hard to believe that just a few days ago we were wearing swimsuits and shorts and drinking Mai Tai's! We spent seven days at the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii. On Thursday we drove over to Hilo to see the sights on the wet side of the island and visit the University of Hawaii campus.


On Friday we went south of Kailua-Kona to Kealakekua Bay for snorkeling. There was no beach, just mounds of old volcanic rock to walk on and hop off from. The photo of the Bay on the right is from HawaiiWeb.com.

The reefs and fish were beautiful! I'm borrowing a couple of photos from the website: www.leler.com/hawaii/ . You can see how bright the fish are and the water is so clear and blue, it actually looks just like this!

On the way back north we stopped at Holualoa, an artist village on the slopes above Kona. We especially wanted to visit Darrell Hill's Gallery to see his paintings. We love his Impressionistic style and gorgeous colors. The painting pictured here is titled "Kohala" and is very similar to a Darrell Hill painting we bought on Maui called "Mauna Lani Beach".

On Saturday we drove to Hawi, another artist village on the north tip of the island. Then we drove over the Kohala mountain range to Waimea. This is ranch country, with lots of horses and cattle. The green colors are really vivid. These photos are from http://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu

 T


Two of our very favorite things about Hawaii are watching the hula dancers and the sunsets. We never get tired of either.