Dog Eat Dog World

Recent concept for a graduation card- you know, it's a dog eat dog world out there...

Another trip to the lava flow...

I don't usually get up before 7, but if you want to see the lava, you gotta go when it's dark and the best time is before sunrise. You walk out in the dark so you can see the lava flowing from the mountain (it was), see the glowing fireworks (we did), see the sunrise (actually, the plume from the smoke obscured the sunrise, but still cool), and then a relatively easy hike back to the car. So yes, I did get up at 4:30 this morning. Totally worth it. I couldn't believe how close we got (and yes, I was a little frightened as well as awed by it).


















This is what I saw as I was leaving the area...

Portrait drawing at Arthur's studio

Arthur jokes that maybe he and I should take a trip to Barcelona and do portraits on the streets. Sounds like fun to me.

Obon in Pahoa

I've been kinda getting sucked into life drawing and beach sketching world and haven't really had much to report lately. This weekend Bon dancing came to Pahoa. Actually, Saturday was very busy but I'll just talk about the Bon dance. It's a Buddhist festival to honor the beloved departed ancestors. Pahoa was once a sugar cane town with a lot of Japanese workers. There's even a Japanese cemetary that I didn't know about located in the back areas. I never saw so many Japanese come out to one location in Pahoa (because now it's been taken over by the come lately hippie types that cruise the health food store and a few other shops. The town really has potential and it keeps trying to make it but it's pretty scruffy and has a ways to go before it's another Paia or even a Hawi. And bringing in a Long's Drugstore and some national chain fast food places on the other end of Pahoa isn't exactly amping up the charm meter.

Back to the Bon dance, held in the Buddhist (temple--it's hard to call it that because the building is very sterile and lackluster) parking lot. Here are some videos from that event. I especially loved this boy who really knew the moves. I tried to join in a little, along with my friends Y and C but we don't know the dances, at least my attempts were too feeble and I get embarrassed very easily, so I opted for being the camera person.



In the end we watched from outside the chain link fence (more minus charm points - ha) as we spotted a couple of friends dance by. Our friends acknowledged that they'd been practicing for weeks. Well, of course.

My friend, Y from Japan, was telling me that it wasn't so popular any more for the young to mix with the old in the real Japan. Similar to language (I studied linguistics a long time ago), how people who move to another area keep their old phrasing and don't "change with the times" of the original culture. So too must a cultural phenomenon that's huge in Hawaii and other parts where in this case the Japanese transplanted themselves many generations ago the traditions haven't changed so much in the host country. A kind of historical "artifact" of what the people brought over (a hundred years ago). It must be true in other cultures. That would be a fascinating study.

Coffee and Art at the Four Seasons

I'm trying to come up with some new images for the Cream of the Crop Coffee and Art Show at the Four Seasons Hotel this Saturday (10AM -2PM). I'm having fun. This will be the third year that Arthur and I have done this show.

Sketching at the beach

For I think the past two years I've been keeping a sketch journal of my trips to the beach. I keep the sketch book in my backpack with a few pencils so it's always there, whenever I want to draw. It's good practice for me and a fun way to pass the time, since I don't really like to lie around myself. But luckily, I have lots of subjects who do. It's a great way for me to combine my two loves, drawing and swimming.

Arthur's Life Drawing Class

Arthur had his first life drawing session at his studio. Today's topic, negative space and Arthur had a very novel way of demonstrating it with a large cardboard cutout. It made it easier to see the negative space.
I was his assistant. That means clean up before the class and after and make sure everyone has enough paper. Please read about his class at his blog. He asked me to upload some photos to his blog but for some unknown reason it's blocked at the moment so I'm including the photos here. Next week's class covers gesture. Drop in fee is $25, of which a portion goes to the model.

A J Gallery Notes: Art Opening, Friday, June 19th

A J Gallery Notes: Art Opening, Friday, June 19th

Friendship....the Bread.

Seriously, someone gave me a starter for an Amish Friendship Bread with a sheet of instructions. 10 days later I made two loaves of very tasty bread and 4 starters of my own to pass on to friends... Now it's 10 days later again and I have two more loaves, my friends have two loaves each and we all have more starters to pass on. You see where this is going. It's a pyramid scam where we will run out of friends to give these to and the funniest part is we are all on the same schedule, baking 10 days later and having more of these starters (and so on). It's way too funny. Of course, I gave one to my paint buddy, Arthur. He was wondering if we really have to go through all this (the instructions call for mushing and mushing everyday and adding ingredients along the way) or if we could just bake using the recipe without the starter, really, because of all this dividing you end up using only 1 cup of starter so it becomes kind of a minor part of the recipe... I guess someone will have to do a test, but I suspect this is to just keep one on a baking schedule... at least no one said if you break this 'chain' something terrible might happen. Arthur, please do the test so we can find out if we can stop baking every 10 days...

Rogerio turns 50

A good friend is turning the Big 5-0, which of course doesn't seem so old in scale any more, but it's still a significant number (next one being 100?--).

Anyway, my friend is into yoga but his other passion which we all kind of share, though aren't as proficient at it as he is is Sudoku. But I thought maybe this image was a little more dignified. He is the king of Sudoku in our neighborhood though.

Cheers, Rogerio.

Our jobs.

Some people get the attitude that because we love what we do it isn't work anymore. But the truth to me is that this is what I do for a living so even though it's kinda fun, okay, really fun, it's still 'work'. Here's Arthur and Cosette discussing her painting (at the jobsite)--yesterday.

Adam should have won.

Want more American Idol videos? Click here.

Joy of drawing.

Sometimes we get a model that is so perfect they are almost too easy to draw. And because of this also a joy thanks to all the parts being in proportion. Such was the case last Saturday for our life drawing session. This is a drawing I just did here on the computer from memory. See, pretty effortless, even with a mouse.

New Pareos for the gallery

How I spent my Tuesday afternoon with Arthur, the silk screen king...

Kalani Part 3, Performance Art

The performance portion of the program was short, only two dances, one with hula dancers doing O Pele with a silk dancer and then Kimo doing a solo.

Kalani Art Show

Right after the opening ceremony Kalani hosted an art and performance show. It's a local style show, people from the neighborhood but mostly Kalani volunteers show their craft. There's always a lot of creativity that comes through Kalani. I participated with 3 new pieces, including a portrait of a hula dancer (because I was told that was the theme, notice how everyone complied...)

Kalani opens their Aloha Center

Kalani honua has a new office and cafe at the entrance of the eco resort. Sunday Kimo, beloved hula instructor at Kalani, headed a ceremononial chant to bless the new space with the help of Dottie.

Merrie Monarch Parade

It's already come and gone. We opened the gallery on Saturday so we could watch the parade. Here are some photos though half way through my camera ran out of juice.















I know it looks like mostly Pau riders but really we had some nice floats with hula dancers and music. I'll have to upload the videos later.

Welcome in Japanese

How about this. Our fourth year with the gallery and someone had the brilliant idea to capitalize on my knowledge of Japanese (with all the Japanese people that come to Merrie Monarch--usually half the audience is from Japan!! The biggest halaus-hula groups- are Japanese, not Hawaiian). Of course I don't think I want to work a whole week at the gallery, as good an idea as that one is, but I did the next best thing and made this sign...

Merrie Monarch Painting

Merrie Monarch is happening again in less than a couple of weeks. Hilo's biggest event. It's also the world's premiere hula competition and it happens right here. So finally the gallery got it and decided to hold a hula art show and opening. Duh, we're so brilliant sometimes... The opening was well attended because we also got it together to send out emails to let people know (finally all those years of filling out our guest book paying off for the guests--they heard from us). Here is my painting for the show. We also had actual hula dancers perform. Ehulani Stefany's dancers and even Ehulani herself doing the some modern hula (called ‘auana). A fun-filled evening at the Arthur Johnsen gallery. Go to the gallery blog to see photos from the opening (and Arthur's paintings).