Abstract doodles

Just having some fun in the abstract vein... I'm thinking maybe the Christmas ornaments I do this year will have some of this. I did these on some old chip board that I found left over from a color class I took with Arthur at the EHCC over the weekend. If I'd done these on the computer with the help of my Wacom pad I did think how much faster I would've been (instead of the hours it took to fill in the black areas they could've been filled in in seconds). Still, there's something to that hand done look that's kind of nostalgic to life before computers...

Shark!

2008©tukofujisaki

Now of course I have a dilemma. I went swimming later than my usual mid morning because I thought I'd go paint with the Plein Air Painters of Hawaii Island (Amy has started her own blog about it). They were just down the street in Kalapana. So when I got back I still wanted to get my swim in (I get obsessed like this, in New York it was rollerblading everyday, in Santa Fe, hiking). I went with my friend, Rick. I like to swim with a buddy. We usually swim to these rocks across the bay and then to another close to Kehena Point and back. As we were heading towards the point I came across a menacing looking lone creature...

My first shark encounter, too up close and personal. I think it was a reef shark, not all that dangerous except in murky water. We both made it out safely. But still, there have been a lot of sitings lately and even beach closings on the west (Kona) side. So here's my question. How long do I wait before I can venture out there again? I'm a little scared now...(and yet, incredibly, Arthur, who was born in Oahu, has never seen a shark in Hawaiian waters in his life!).

A J Gallery Notes: Anne's Show

A J Gallery Notes: Anne's Show

Arthur posted some photos from our retrospective show for Anne Whitmore. Click on the link.

Life drawing

Recently we've gotten into a nice groove of having a life drawing session every Sunday either at Richard's of Kalani or Arthur's. This week we had two handsome models and I had fun with color, which seems to be my colors of the week, as you can see from the floral I also did this week.
as always with all images here, all copyrights belong to the artist.

Anne's Art

These are actually from our gallery website: www.arthurjohnsengallery.com.

Arthur has also posted photos of Anne on the gallery blog.

Video of Kehena Beach

Someone posted this on youtube.com of our little beach. I thought it was well done. The spider was a nice touch.

Anne Whitmore

Our dear friend and gallery mate Anne Whitmore passed away last night after a hard fought battle with cancer. She was our watercolor artist, a jewel among us oil painters with a wonderful style that said she was in command. I love her work, I love work that is simple yet strong, no extra frills, just whatever was needed to convey what she saw. I regret that I didn't paint with her. I saw her last Friday night at the abstract show opening. She had a piece in the show as well. She was so joyful, throwing kisses and big smiles. I'm glad that's my last memory of her.

This photo of one of her paintings is one she had in our recent SMALL Show. Sorry the quality of my photo is so poor. I'll try to get something better up next week.

Abstract portrait

I thought I'd try a blend of this abstract thing, my new "thing" and portraiture. This is from a photo of a friend who lives here part of the time and part of the time on the mainland.

Lava smoke

Meanwhile, the lava keeps on flowing. Huge plumes of smoke can be seen from miles away and hundreds of visitors are still making a pilgrimage there daily. I took this photo a couple of days ago and upon uploading onto the computer thought hmmm, the cloud looks kind of devilish. What do you think?

More Abstract Art

So now, thanks to the juried show, which Arthur and I did get into, I'm on this abstract art roll... It's fun which I think is reflected in the art. It's my 'play' series. The opening is tomorrow (Friday, 08-08-08--a very lucky day) at the Wailoa Center in Hilo, from 5 to 7 or something close to that.

abstract show

This Saturday the Wailoa Center is taking in art for their biennial Abstract Show. I've never really painted an abstract before but Arthur thought we should just experiment and see what we could come up with (yesterday afternoon). I don't know if it will get in the show but it was fun to do. My boyfriend thinks it should be a vertical, I'm just not sure.

My perfect day...

Yesterday was absolutely one of my best days. It started with a life drawing session at Richard's at Kalani (kalani.com) from 9 to 10:30. We had a beautiful model, someone visiting the islands for a week, I'm sure she was a dancer or a yogi. Then Kehena beach was warm and easy, a quick swim to the rocks and back and then painting in the afternoon with a group of painters taking a plein aire class from Saim Caglayan from Kauai (great painter and nice guy). I was kind of crashing. It was their last day and he was kind enough to let me hang... they were painting on my turf afterall. The volcano has been going off like fireworks lately and a giant plume could be seen from our vantage (we are only about 5-6 miles from the flow). Draw-swim-paint, life is good...

Model session

Arthur and I had a life painting session with an Hawaiian model a couple of weeks ago. She's agreed to come back tomorrow. Should be fun.

Meanwhile, we went to the coffee tasting show in Kona, representing the gallery. I sold my heliconia painting which was gratifying, affirmation is always nice.

We actually did a little plein aire painting before heading back to the east side.

Oahu trip part 4 - Chinatown

Day 2 of the Paintout was in Chinatown. It's become kind of an arts district with lots of galleries in the neighborhood. The hard thing about painting plein aire here was all the noise and big busses that would come by and block our view. Not to mention the smog. Still, artists are pretty typical in Chinatown, though maybe not this many at one time...

Oahu trip part 3

After Kailua (morning) it was a mad dash to Makapuu Beach, a body surfer's haven.



























Here's Lynne again with Jan Bushart, PAPOH prez, down in front of some crashing waves.

I love that Oahu has so many islands off of it. That's Rabbit Island in the distance.

Oahu Part 2

The point of our trip was to paint with PAPOH (Plein Air Painters of Hawaii) and AHA (Association of Hawaiian Artists?--I think). First day was at Kailua Beach. Arthur and I perched ourselves under the closest tree cover to the beach. If you click on the photo you can see that I used the sand as a convenient brush holder.

Here's a painting start by Mark Brown of Oahu. He also teaches on the island, there was a small contingent of his students who were a part of the paint out.
And here's my friend, Lynne Boyer, painting her fave, the ocean. (I miss those gentle Oahu waves too, now that I'm back in the land of Kehena Beach where the swells are 6-7 feet at times and it loves to grab your ankles and pull you back out to sea... thanks to the full moon action.)

Arthur of course had time to start another painting.


A group of local girls came to practice their hula while we painted.

Oahu trip part 1

Some people can be so creative, even in their gardens. We saw this in Lanikai, where we were staying. Just a neighbor's house.

We spent the first day running errands, picking up supplies (like mineral spirits, something you can't fly with). Then we passed the time doing a little sightseeing...





We went to the Hawaii State Art Museum. The only free museum.

It was great, they showcased contemporary island artists.

Making assumptions

It's amazing to me sometimes how people just make an assumption with no information other than what they see at that moment... I was spraying the plants outside our gallery when a woman came walking by and told me to water it, very directly, like an order. I just had and was now just spritzing it for a little more moisture (even though Hilo is a very humid place, it's a pretty warm day today). Anyway, I guess she was just trying to be helpful, but it seemed a rather rude way to do it... am I being overly sensitive?

The Small Show

Here's the beginning of our Small Show... we decided to make more affordable art for these tough economic times.

Follow Your Bliss

These are words to live by. Arthur and I went on a painting trip to Oahu and we stayed with his grandfather's 81 year old friend. It was the first time I spent any time on that island off the tourist track. I have a new appreciation for an island that is the most developed of all the islands, yet still with so many unspoiled areas and so much beauty. I'll load photos later. I didn't realise there were so many small islands off it, many that you can canoe to. Swimming is an option to some but there are shallow waters with coral all around so a kayak would be better.

I titled this entry Follow Your Bliss, wise words that I first heard from Joseph Campbell, the philosopher from the Bill Moyer series on Myths. That is because the 81 year old friend used these as her parting words to us after a very productive week of painting, seeing lots of art at galleries and museums, not to mention an infusion of culture, and making contacts.

Then, yesterday a man came into the Arthur Johnsen Gallery (it was my once a week shift) and started telling me about his life. I guess he didn't really start by telling me about his life, I kind of pulled it out of him as he was going through the gallery and talking to me about different things. What struck me was how happy he seemed. At first he told me he used to grow roses. I found out that he had actually studied oceanography. That he actually had a Ph.D and even had been a college professor. But he didn't like the pressure of the academic life, of always having to publish papers (or lose your job), not to mention that he didn't enjoy teaching that much. So, even though he had all this training, he was able to put it all aside to pursue something he would rather do. Why spend the rest of your life doing something you don't enjoy. He figured he cut his losses. So he grew roses for twenty years. I don't think I met anyone so content as this man.