Painting in Kapoho

I went with Arthur and Lino into the gated community of Kapoho. There was a protected bay that we painted.

Arthur had a commission so he had the access clicker from the owner.

Here's Arthur doing his "thang".







Lino is very methodical in his plein air technique.




And here's the start of my little painting.

The best part of the day was getting into the water and swimming around. The area is known for it's geothermal pools and though this was a bay and not a pool the water was still definitely warmer than the open ocean waters.

A friendly sea turtle came up to us and allowed a closer look. Sweet.

Sushi Saturday

One of our fave sushi spots is the former little hole in the wall restaurant called Ocean Sushi. Now of course they moved across the street and expanded. We went there Saturday. I ordered the Chirashi sushi bowl for only $7.95. What a bargain.

Confession

I have to admit it. I've gotten caught up in this American Idol thing. I'm actually watching it for the first time this season, though sometimes it's almost painful to watch and most of the time I agree with Simon's comments. I'm glad they have Paula there to have something nice to say to all the contestants, no matter what. Anyway, I did this sketch last week, before last night's show so of course it's way off because this singer was sporting a fake mohawk. There's a whole movement out there in the blogasphere to try to keep this kid in because in the beginning he really wasn't very good. But now I think he's as good as any teeny bopper pop star, he's emerging as a little star, as Simon said, in his own league. And he's so darn cute. And his hair was fun to draw.

P.S. My vote for the American Idol to make it to the end, Jordin Sparks, the other 17 year old. I did a sketch of her too, maybe I'll post it later.

P.P.S. Not that I really vote, of course.

A Night in Kalapana

Had a very magical night in Kalapana with Uncle Robert's family. Once a month they have a fund raiser dinner to benefit the children of the Hawaiian school there. It's not just dinner but also entertainment, first by the students and then some of the adults, like my friend, Puna and his sister Princess and cousin Leia, etc. Tonight though there was a special guest, Kealii Reichel who came and sang on stage with Uncle Robert's clan. Various members of the audience came up to dance the hula, all true Hawaiians, making it a truly special evening. Our friend Jeff was gaga over Kealii who sat at our table after he finished singing. Check out http://kealiireichel.com to see who he is.

Weekend in Honolulu

copyright 2007 by tuko fujisaki

I went to Honolulu with fellow illustrator Esther Szegedy over the weekend to attend a conference for children's book writers and illustrators. Though I was told I had a very professional looking portfolio--one I had dusted off and put together specifically for this conference, we were also told no one looks at them anymore. Duh, welcome to the 21st century.

Being in Honolulu reminded me how much I sometimes miss city stuff, though Puna traffic is about all I want to handle these days. That means 1 car every 5 to 10 minutes.

Anyway, I'm posting this illustration to illustrate my own pain. This conference was good medicine for me.

Heavy the rain.

I don't enjoy driving in it but I do like the rain here. Besides, I just shot this maybe a half hour ago and now it's sunny and dry. Well, wait another minute...

Avocados in the Hood

In Kehena there are old Avocado trees that bear lots of fruit. We have a long season, from August until April or so (with all the various trees). They sell these at the farmers' market for about a dollar apiece but we locals just go around the neighborhood and pick our own (from the vacant lots of course).

Kehena Beach Sunday

It was a cloudy Sunday afternoon and there weren't as many people at the beach. There was this tiny kid that had climbed up the tree that I love to draw whenever I go to this beach (my beach). Notice how much the beach has washed away by all the exposed roots.

Road back to Hawaii

At the beautiful San Diego airport I noticed something I hadn't seen before at any airport... this cute little HEART STATION where they house an emergency defibrillator. Cool.

Stress

Character developed for Freespirit for a book about handling stress.

Today's sunset

I had another busy day working on a freelance book project. But I always have time for a sunset like this one.

One afternoon...

Seen at the grocery store

　Did you know that now you can buy Green Tea in pill form? I guess that's for people who don't like the taste. Still it seems weird. What will they come up with next?

Being here in Southern California for the past month there seems to be a theme here -- people with more time to devote to thinking about health (and others profitting from it).

(art by Tuko for Free Spirit)

When you take exercise too far...

My sister and I were driving down a very steep hill when we saw a middle aged man running up like this...a very fit middle aged man...

Switching

My boyfriend thinks that I'm always second guessing things. Should I do this or that? I guess I like options.

All images on this blog are copyrighted and cannot be used without permission by the artist.

Puna on YouTube

I guess this means I'm spending too much time on YouTube today but I found our friend Puna (whom I've painted on previous blogs). He wrote original songs and has produced his own CD which as of now you can buy directly from him at Uncle Robert's in Kalapana.

Forgetfulness - Billy Collins Animated Poetry

I love Billy Collins' poetry. I first saw him in Santa Fe when he was the poet laureate.

Morelenbaum2 Sakamoto - AMOR EM PAZ (Live)

Ryuichi Sakamoto is one of my favorite musicians so I thought I'd post this since I haven't posted much lately.

Fashion

Look Arthur, I'm wearing heels!

Old Life

I'm on the mainland and I'm driving around areas of my youth and it's been quite nostalgic. Though I come to San Diego frequently, I haven't lived here since 1993. Much has changed and much is still the same. I like driving down Garnet in Pacific Beach, one of my old neighborhoods. I couldn't believe all the people trying to get into clubs on New Year's Eve. I saw maybe a hundred people standing and waiting in front of one place. And it's not exactly balmy here in the evening. It's definitly winter, especially when I'm used to living a little closer to the equator. It's more fun for me to take these streets than zipping along highways, just to save a 5 minutes. The highways are actually kind of unnerving. I've become a country potato as a 'friend' used to call me.