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!

Making Memories and Making Art on O'ahu

Shannon's Orchid

Lucinda Keller

6 x 6" oil on panel with gold metal leafing

Hawaii 2018

Well, I'm finally up to 2018! Haha!

Here's a beautiful Hawaiian love song to listen to as you check out the post! :)

Kevin and I started New Years Day in Waialua at a Yoga Mala. 108 sun salutations, 27 in each of the four directions as well as setting intentions for the New Year! Not being in tip top yoga shape, along with the heat, I spent a lot of it in child's pose! Anyway, it was worth it to meet some of the wonderful instructors in such a gorgeous place. One of my favorites yoga teachers Darcie Peck, from the North Shore Yoga Co-op, is the "8" on the far right in the photo above.

Kevin surfed at this beautiful spot and we both jumped in the water for a swim. It was a perfect way to start the new year!

Shark's Cove

North Shore, O'ahu

Shark's cove is across from Foodland between Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach. It's a famous spot to snorkel and the bike path goes right to it. As you can see the weather was gorgeous on this day and it makes the water look even more turquoise. 

Another day, early in the evening, we hopped out of the car and climbed the lava rocks to check out the sunset!

You wait until the water rushes out and make a run for it! You run from one mass of lava, quickly cross a patch of sand, and then climb up onto the rocks that create one side of this huge cove.

During the summer you can swim through caves under the rock but you definitely have to know what you're doing! I'm pretty sure I would come up too soon and bonk my head so I'll leave it to the locals.

What made my second visit, in the spring, extra special was that my dear friend Shannon came to visit with her daughter! We met when we were 3 and 5 years old and are closer now than ever. Really, we are family. I gave her the orchid painting at the top of this post. It was on my 40th birthday at a party she hosted for me, at her house, in our hometown of Ventura.

It seems crazy to me that this was our third time in Hawaii together. As I've mentioned before, we were there for our bestie's wedding in '96. Then again a few months after her first baby was born!

Here we are with sweet Beckie, in 2002, out by the pineapple fields! I didn't realize it then but sunglasses in the mid 90s looked very "Three Blind Mice!" (You might have to Google image that.)

She was living on the west side of the island in Ko'Olina back then and her husband Shawn would send us off to the beach with sandwiches in the morning every day! Then we'd all have dinner together in the evenings. It was such a beautiful and memorable trip! 

Shannon's daughter Makena is an incredible surfer and athlete. She also happens to surf on the USA  Surf Team. She's a shredder and Kevin couldn't wait to show her all the world class surf breaks on the North Shore of O'ahu.

As you can see, she's also a super cutie pie!

Backyards at Sunset Beach

North Shore, O'ahu

At "Backyards" Looking toward Sunset Point ...

This next shot is Makena!

I watched quite a bit of surfing but I was also inspired to do more painting just as I did on the previous trip.

Quick little watercolors are so much fun!

 

Props to Kevin who picked out my cute pink suit for Valentine's Day! He got it at the Brazilian Bikini Shop in Hale'iwa! If you get to Halei'wa Town, it's definitely worth a stop!

For two decades in LA I haven't had my own outdoor space. I'm always pinning patio ideas on Pinterest and saving design photos for lanais on Instagram. I fantasize about a sitting area that is somewhere in my future but the thing is ...  Kevin did have a lanai and it was begging for a makeover! I'm not going to show the before (sorry) but just imagine a lot of beach towels and beach blankets covering up his beautiful teak Bali furniture, as well as a bunch of extra stuff he didn't really need.

While cleaning out a jar of shells I ran across this baby gecko!

 

Taaa daaaaaaaa!!!!

I found the beautiful screen toward the back of the lanai on the on Craig's list O'ahu and the Indian fabrics on eBay. I ordered the plant hangers, yellow chairs, prayer flags and groovy rug while I was in LA and had them sent to his place. 

As I mentioned, he already had the beautiful Bali furniture as well as the lamp and tiny flower table. I also added the string of lights. When I got out there we put it all together and went to the nursery to find the plants. 

My favorite, below, is a pitcher plant that eats bugs!

It was great place to hang out when Shannon and Makena arrived!

 

This was an incredible week of creating memories. I felt incredibly blessed to spend that time with Shannon and her daughter on the North Shore and so grateful to Kevin for be so generous in hosting. It was his idea! Thank you Kevin!!

Next up ... the wonderful Honolulu Museum of Art. Some of the works you might expect to see in Hawaii and surprises too!

Blessings, Light and Much Aloha!