Art Inspiration, Velzyland and Turtle Bay ~ The Last of Hawaii

Nature always wears the colors

of the spirit.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kevin Surfing Big Sunset Beach 
Pastel on sanded paper
9 x 12"

I can't believe this was a year and a half ago! Both the pastel (above) and my time in Hawaii.

Here's some Hawaiian music to enjoy while visiting this post!

Velzyland

North Shore, O'ahu

The last year and a half has flown by, as time does, but really it is hard to believe! It was such a special time being with Kevin, Shannon and Makena on O'ahu. Velzyland was the first place Kevin took Makena to surf and it was beautiful, as always.

Kevin and Makena putting her fins on her surf board ...

The next photo is of my sarong drying in a tree. It was designed by my Aunt Cheri and handmade by batik artisans in Bali. I love the bamboo design!

Waiting on the beach watching Makena and Kevin surf some fun waves at V Land ...

Come forth into the light of things.

Let nature be your teacher.

~William Wordsworth

Turtle Bay

North Shore, O'ahu

Turtle Bay wasn't too far up the road from Kevin's old place, at Sunset Beach, and maybe a couple of  miles north of Velzyland. It's really the only big resort in the area and it is in a prime location, as you can see!

They also make a great poolside Mai Tai but I suggest limiting it to one! They are tasty but they do pack quite a punch!

I don't know what the name of these trees are, pictured in the photo below, but I love that they look like they are wearing hula skirts!

Kevin took the next couple of photos of me on the beach in my "monkey dress." Difficult to see the monkeys in this photo!

Here, below, you can a monkey! Anyway, it's on the beach to the West of the main part of the resort right by the horse stables.

Turtle Bay has a number of horses on their property. It was fun to photograph my friend's daughter with the horses because they absolutely loved her!

I was so inspired by this moment I decided I had to paint it! Of Course, with some silver leaf and a bit of artistic license!

A Moment in the Grass

12 x 16" 

Oil on Wood Panel

One of my absolute favorite things about the islands is listening to live Hawaiian music, especially at sunset. It is so magical and you feel you have been transported to another world ...

The view out of the car window heading to the airport.

Malama Ka 'Aina

Respect/Care for the land

A little goodbye Hawaii sketch of my lei ...

Hope you enjoyed the Hawaii posts even if they were about a year and a half after the fact!

Lots of art and other adventures coming up.

Hope you're all off to a beautiful fall!

Aloha nui loa!

Blessings and light!

Subtile Beauty ~ Grey Days on Hawaii

The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, 

bracing and delicious. 

And why shouldn't it be?

--it is the same the angels breathe. 

~ Mark Twain

A little watercolor painting I did on the beach at Laniakea ...

When the sun shines, color pops and we all "Ooh and aah" over the beauty. When the skies are grey the colors are more muted. It calls for us to slow down and see a more subtile beauty.

Some music for the visit ... 

Hawaii, as everyone knows, has a tropical climate so there is bound to be an ample amount of rain. It happened, though, that on my two trips in 2018 it was grey about 90% of the time. It was around the time that a lot of the flooding on the North Shore of Kauai and O'ahu were reported in the news.

When the sun came out I would run outside and take a zillion photos! That's why, after all the posts I've done, you might be surprised about the weather. Of course, it's Hawaii so it's always pretty temperate and very beautiful regardless of it being sunny or not! The colors are softer when the sun is obscured and everything has a more muted palette.

Well, hello green turtle!

 A gray day provides the best light.

~Leonardo da Vinci

The color of truth gray.

~Andre Gide 

A walk in the rain ...

The soft pastel color of sea shells ...

And signs of love in the sand

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky;
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die.
For after the rain when with never a stain
The pavilion of Heaven is bare,
And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams
Build up the blue dome of air,
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,
And out of the caverns of rain,
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,
I arise and unbuild it again.
- P. B. Shelley

Hope you are finding beauty

wherever you are.

Blessings and light!