Lava Flow

Kilauea Lava Eruption

I haven’t posted in nearly two months. Right after my return from teaching in Maui in early May, the volcanic eruption of Kilauea began on the east rift zone in lower Puna on the Big Island of Hawaii. Molten lava started to flow from fissures just four miles from my home. I left the island to visit my family home in Connecticut just days after the eruption began. My trip had been planned months earlier and I was grateful to be 6000 miles away in a safe place where I took refuge with my family during the following weeks.

I have been watching news from afar as the lava continued to flow over much of lower Puna, destroying hundreds of houses and leaving many people homeless in its wake. I gazed hopelessly as I watched gorgeous coastal areas, tide pools and roadways get covered by 40 foot thick walls of black lava. This has been a heart wrenching time for myself and to so many who lost their homes and dreams in Hawaii. I’m fortunate that my house and subdivision has been spared destruction. There is no immediate threat to my neighborhood at the moment and I will return to my home in Hawaii in just a few days.

Only recently have I felt drawn to pick up my brushes and begin to capture in paint some of the images and videos posted online of the billowing laze, fumes and smoke as the lava enters the ocean. I am curious to see how my art will reflect this changed landscape when I am back on the island.

Earlier paintings I have done of Hawaii and the scenes of the Red Road are even more precious to me now than before. Without doubt this experience has been a lesson in the impermanence of life and a strong reminder to not take any moment for granted.

Art Workshops on Maui

The last two weeks went by so fast teaching at Hui No’Eau on Maui. Both the watercolor and the abstract painting workshops were full, and the students that attended were an amazing group of creatively inspired adults who sought to expand and explore their creative potential. I feel so grateful and honored to have been invited to Maui to teach at the Hui. I look forward to return visits. After all I’m just an island away.

Visiting island artist at Hui No’eau, Maui

To be able to travel, paint and teach art has been a goal of mine for quite some time.
So being invited to teach art in Maui at the Hui No’Eau is truly a dream come true.

Just a few months after moving to the Big Island of Hawaii last year, I was contacted by Hui No’Eau to come teach my workshops there as a visiting island artist. The school is a nonprofit, community art school in Maui, situated on one of the historic Baldwin estates. It has a view of Haleakala to one side and the distant coast to the other side. It’s upcountry, surrounded by rolling hills, lush vegetation and meadows. The school itself is set on 22 acres with a variety of buildings for arts and craft disciplines. The main gallery shows work by contemporary artists and the classes are well attended.
Yes.. it’s real. I taught my first workshop this weekend at Hui No’Eau called Tropical Expressions using Watercolor and Collage. It was a full class and so much fun to teach. Sharing my knowledge and inspiring others to tap into their creativity is truly my ultimate dream. Next weekend I teach abstract painting using acrylics on paper.
During the week my plan is to reconnect with island friends and paint, paint and paint. Maui is first island of the Hawaiian islands that I visited and first island I loved. The Big Island is where my soul lives now but Maui is still one fabulous place to visit.

Hui No'Eau photo

 

Watercolor Workshop on the Big Island

Aloha! I was so happy to teach watercolor again here on the Big Island. It was the first workshop I gave since I moved to Hawaii. I welcomed new students and was thrilled to have returning students as well. Some had experience painting with watercolor and others were painting for the very first time. Everyone enjoyed trying some new techniques that I demonstrated and discovered how fun it is to play with this colorful and fluid medium. Students created lovely images during a very rainy afternoon. Fortunately we had use of a large, light-filled studio so that we could spread out and stay dry despite the afternoon deluge. I’ll be offering continued workshops so please check my Workshop schedule for art classes I will be teaching here on the island.

 

Private art collection in Berkeley

My collector painted her walls to match my paintings!

What a trip! I’ve been traveling for over two weeks now, visiting my friends in California. Lucky for me I have been able to stay as a guest in beautiful homes and settings from Marin county to Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Berkeley. Recently I spent a few nights with my collector in Berkeley and had the joy of not only visiting her, but my paintings as well. This year’s theme for me has been a wondrous retrospective, as I’ve revisited so much of my past art and have been so inspired by my earlier paintings.

Cape Cod painting retreat

Cape Cod painting retreat

Wow! Talk about creative juices flowing. I just returned from an off-the-chart inspiring painting retreat in Cape Cod with my two painting buddies… Laura Levine and Clay Fried. We took off the day after our art opening at the New Haven Public Library Ives Gallery, with my painting group, CALM. The three of us went on the same painting retreat last year, and i hope it becomes an annual Cape Cod art inspired trip every year.

I perched in Truro which is likely the most gorgeous spot on Cape Cod. The light is completely magical on the Cape. Being a slender slice of land flanked by two bodies of water, the reflected light creates luminosity wherever you look. If you’re an early riser like me, you can catch the glorious sunrise over the ocean on the vast beaches. One can also see sunsets on the bay side. Cape Cod offers glowing vistas from just about everywhere — from undulating sand dunes, ever changing shadows and sunlight, incredible cloud formations, cliffs and ocean views, and classic rustic Cape Cod houses and gardens. Everything calls out to be painted. 

Painting alongside two accomplished painters, Clay Fried and Laura Levine, my week in Cape Cod was as an inspiration on many levels. I painted more in the last week than during the entire last year! May this be a kick start to a fruitful year of creativity and painting.

Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard

This summer finds me moving forward in life as well as in art.
Treating myself to a beautiful gift of nature and painting, I revisited the place of my teenage summer stomping grounds… Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.

Martha's Vineyard Watercolor

I spent a glorious week painting in Cape Cod in the company of my pleinair painting buddies, Laura Levine and Clay Fried. Inspired by one another and the illuminated light, we painted along the shores in Truro, Wellfleet and Provincetown. We especially enjoyed finding that ‘golden hour’ when the lower angle of the sun sets the landscape ablaze in rich light and elongated shadows. Our painting retreat was filled with pleinair painting, discussions about art and artists, figure drawing in Provincetown, and soaking up the mid-day rays on the beach.

I then ferried over to Martha’s Vineyard where I met with family and friends to embrace the island magic along the beaches and lagoons. Returning to nature as inspiration, my paintings reflect the color and light of the east coast summer shore line.

Watercolor Painting Workshop in Hawaii

Go with the Flow ~ Encouraging Playfulness with Watercolor

Yesterday I offered my very first painting and collage workshop in Hawaii. Eighteen students showed up eager to explore watercolor as a new medium and expand their painting skills. I demonstrated watercolor techniques and later revealed to my students how they could collage their paintings and discover many wonderful and unexpected surprises. The emphasis was on process and self discovery.

I felt honored that we were able to use the late Arthur Johnsen’s art studio. It’s a large and beautiful, light filled space infused with Arthur’s energy. I believe everyone there felt inspired by the creative spirit and artistic legacy he left behind.

Everyone truly had fun. I look forward to offering another workshop in drawing before I leave the island.

Tiles made from a watercolor painting

Just saw this today.
Ceramic tiles made from my watercolor painting done in Brazil this year.
My friends are installing the tiles in a fountain.
Think of the possibilities.. a whole set made from one painting.
Please view my Shop for other artistic ideas made from my artwork. Watercolor Tile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opening night at my NYC art debut!

Arriving in style at the Blue Mountain Gallery for my NYC exhibition debut!
June 18th-July 3rd.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11AM – 6PM
530 West 25th, 4th floor – New York, NY 10001

Works are from my MFA thesis: a portrait series of my elderly parents expressing their enduring love. I’ll be showing again in the Blue Mountain Small Works Invitational show: July 7th-July 25th

Painting the lava coast of the Big Island

Lucky me! I spent a week recently during my winter break on my beloved Big Island of Hawaii. I was lucky to be invited to paint along the black lava coast with my friend and esteemed Hawaiian artist Arthur Johnsen. Pele was kind to us. The road to lower Puna was still open and the weather was beautiful. Rain left rainbows and we painted the light along the coast among the graceful ironwood trees. Arthur painted me painting the coast and surf.

Sonoma Holistic Center & Spa ~ current exhibition

Now showing in Sonoma Holistic Center & Spa,  525 Third Street West, Sonoma, CA
Landscape paintings and floral studies currently on display and available for purchase.

Just returned from a fantastic visit to sunny California! There I connected with old friends, including Barbara Bailey and owner of the Sonoma Holistic Spa in Sonoma. She asked if I would display my work on her beautiful spa walls. How could I resist displaying my paintings in a healing environment where the art of relaxation and beauty are practiced?
Enjoy my art while receiving a relaxing and rejuvenating massage or ayurvedic treatment in Sonoma, CA.

Anthurium Rhythm

Art in Miami: Art Basel

miami beachLast week I visited Miami to see friends, walk on the beach, and feast my eyes on art!
My trip coincided with Art Basel, the most prestigious art show in the Americas. Hundreds of leading galleries from the US and other countries showcased works by more than 2,000 artists. It’s a way to take a quick peek at the contemporary ‘art scene’ in just one place but impossible to see or take everything in during such a short stay.
The questions the show sparked for me are: How does an artist earn the title ‘contemporary’? How does a dealer determine which artist has or will have value? Is an artist’s work valued only by his/her commercial viability? Who and how does one judge the artistic merit of an artist or piece of artwork? These are questions I ponder in the vast array of art I viewed and the questions I ask myself at given points along my own artistic journey.