"Persephone"

"Persephone"

 

 

On my vacation to Hawai'i this past April, I visited with my sister and her husband.  They have a ranch in Waimea on the Big Island of Hawai'i.  As we were leaving my, sister (another one) who was traveling with us saw this flower blooming in the yard.  It was so uniquely different from any other hibiscus I had ever seen that I had to take a picture of it.   My intent was to paint it when I got home.
(I hate to admit it, but this is only the second painting I've done this year - shame on me.)

I scanned the internet to see if this particular hibiscus was a known hybrid.  I found it....it was exactly the one we discovered.  It was named "Persephone."  For those who don't know, Persephone in Greek mythology was the goddess of the underworld.  She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter and said to be a beautiful young woman who everyone loved.  For a moment there, I thought we had something that no one else had ever seen.  A one-of-a-kind.  Whatever the case, this is my rendering of one of God's beautiful creations.

Visit to Home!

Again, I have not posted to this blog in quite a while and I apologize to those of you who follow me.  Time has moved so fast these last few months.  But today I thought I would post about two weeks out of the time since I was last here.  That, for shame, was way back in February, four months ago.  I’m not even going to say that I’m going to do better.  I did that last time and it didn’t seem to make a difference.
     Anyway, the two weeks I am referring to was in April - specifically April 18th to May 1st.  I went to Hawai’i for a two-week vacation after nearly five years of being away.  Fortunately, it was during the time of the Merry Monarch - a hula competition that happens every year with hula halaus (schools) worldwide.  Most of the worldwide was from “stateside” (continental U.S.) and Japan.  This highly anticipated competition is attended by thousands.  Beside the actual competition; the food and crafts are amazing.  For someone like me who has been away from that for years, it was mesmerizing to hear the chants and the beat of the ipu heke (gourd drum with a top section). Seeing the different halaus perform took me back to a time when I was young and agile enough to be able to do those beautiful hulas.  Not only did I partake of a feast for the eyes and ears, but also a feast for the “tummy.”  Food that I have not enjoyed for years.  It was all so ono (delicious) and I made sure I had everything I had missed.  Surprisingly, I only gained a couple of pounds - Yay!!
     Let me
share a few pictures with you. 

Yes, men are also a part of a halau.  Their rendition of hulas are very powerful.

These were the Maori men from New Zealand - they were amazing.

The women were beautiful and so synchronized, as were the men.

Had to add at least one picture of family.

 

Isn’t that beautiful - of course I mean the sunset.  This is “ohana” (family).  I’m the one in the middle flanked by my nieces and sister on the right end.  I had such a wonderful time with them.  My sister came from Oahu (“off island”) and my niece next to her flew in from California with her husband.  We are at their timeshare in Kona, on the Big Island (Hawaii).

I had other pictures I wanted to post; however, I had trouble posting these so thought I'd quit while I was ahead.  Hope you enjoyed them.  Now I'm going to do some painting.

Children of the Rainbow - Family of God FINISHED!!

Omigoodness ... July 29, 2013 was my last posting - that was when I started laying in the color of the painting "Children of the Rainbow - Family of God."  This has proven to be quite an undertaking.

It started years ago while on vacation on the Big Island of Hawai'i with my sisters and their children and children's children - confused?  Anyhow, I took a picture of my nieces and nephews as they posed with a sea urchin that they retrieved from the ocean.  I developed the film and as I viewed the results that one picture said to me "these are children of the rainbow." The photo showed me  children from diverse ethnicity groups who were all of one family in the earthly sense - but also one family in the spiritual sense - the Family of God.  That was when I decided that someday I would paint a picture of the "children of the rainbow."

The painting reflects the event - and it truly is an event - getting 18 children together to take a group picture.  We have those who are so excited about being a part of it, those who would rather be somewhere else, those who dressed up for the affair and those who didn't.  Of course we have to have the cut-ups. Four generations are present in the painting.  The little blonde toddler with the boy's arms around her - that boy is her father.  Then the boy (blue shirt and tie) and the boy with arms around the toddler are brothers.  I am their mother in the pink dress with white flowers just above them.  I could explain each one, but that would take forever, just know they are all family.

This is where I started - the sketch.

Then the underpainting.

And here is the finished painting, almost seven months since starting...

Many changes made along the way - correcting and changing.  I am so glad it's done; however, I did see a few places that needed work.

Mahalo ke Akua!!  (Thank you God.)

Children of the Rainbow - progress

It has been almost four weeks since I started the underpainting on this piece.  Longer than I expected; however, four days out of the four weeks I was unable to paint because I had out-of-town company.  My niece, an artist herself and a tattoo artist for a living, was here from Hawaii so had to show her around.  I live in the Nashville, TN area, so needless to say, there was a lot she wanted to see and experience.

Anyway, today - July 29th other than details and touch-ups on the underpainting, I am close to laying the color in.  I can see areas where adjustments are needed.  So far it has certainly been a trip - the faces bringing back so many memories. Oh yes, one other thing - these children are all related and there are four generations represented.

More on "Women of the Bible"

Those of you who follow my blog know that I've been working on a series of 11x14 paintings of the Women of the Bible.  Each time I completed a painting I shared it with my Sunday School class, because it started as the result of one of my classes.  One of the ladies of my class thought it would make beautiful cards and that she would surely buy some.  So, I thought ... "Why not?"  I have had all five of them printed into cards and have packaged them.  In each card I quoted a scripture which related to the lady in the painting.  I don't intend to make any real profit off these, but it was a project I wanted to do - I'm satisfied with it - and am glad I did it.  Who knows, it may result in something bigger than I expect.

Here's the cards:

4-1/4 x 5-1/2 notecards

More on "Children of the Rainbow"

Been working on this since June 24th, did not think I would get this far in a little over a week.  Using photographs from days gone by I am showing three generations - all being children - "Children of the Rainbow - Family of God."  Ever try to get a bunch of kids together to take a picture?  Well this painting is supposed to show that event.  Even if they are in the family of God, they are still children. 
This group of children depict the many races that usually make up a family in Hawaii:  Hawaiian; Caucasian; Japanese; Chinese, Black; Portuguese - all blended together.

Needs fine tuning - maybe a couple more faces - then the underpainting.  Through the process I've wondered - "Did I bite off more than I can chew?"  Wish me luck.

Children of the Rainbow - Family of God

Many, many years ago while on vacation with my sisters and their children and their children's children (confused?) on the Big Island of Hawaii, I snapped a picture of my grandnieces and nephews.  After developing my photos and viewing the different races that came into play in those young faces the thought that came to mind was "Children of the Rainbow."  It was then that I decided someday I would do a painting of those children.  Below is my start.  Call me crazy, but I'm looking at it as individual little portraits.  There will be a lot more children in this painting than was in my photograph - in fact, I plan to fill the entire canvas, which is 21-3/4 x 27-3/4 with children's faces.  I intend to take my time with this piece and use photos of my children as well as my nieces and nephews when they were very young - now those children have children and grandchildren of their own.  It has taken me long enough to tackle this one.  I probably will not post for a while on this particular project, but I will post at a stage of much further progress.

I am a little anxious, but excited about doing this.  I could say that if it doesn't work out I can just "dump" the project, however, I'm keeping a positive attitude about it.  Wish me luck.