I’m a conservationist—maybe even a bit of a scavenger. I feel compelled to make use of everything I can. This painting, in this shape and size, came about because I had a leftover piece of 20″x40″ Arches paper. Too good to waste! I’d considered making two 20″x20″ pieces, but I also had a wide-format image I’d been contemplating painting for years—one taken long ago on film at the now-vanished lily ponds on Kauai’s south side. What drew me in was the intense blue.
I started this painting during a trip to Kauai that ended up being more about rest than work. Once home, it didn’t call to me—I shifted gears to paint the fiery colors of Jubilee. A year later, I brought it back to Kauai, this time with the energy to paint.
It wasn’t easy to love. The painting came through looser and more imprecise than my usual style, and I doubted it. Painting the flowers last helped me see the full dimensionality.
While scanning it with my friend Julia, we talked about titles. I mentioned “dancing”—she lit up. I’d also been exploring Hawaiian words. Hula was perfect: simple, memorable, and rich in meaning. According to legend, hula—the dance and chant—brought the world into being. Out of the primordial soup: life, beauty… this painting.
June 2015 – 15″x30″ – Watercolor on paper
More from the Tropical Gallery
Dazzling
You'd think that with all the paintings of Kauai's beauty I've done, this would be among them. It's not. These orange hibiscus grew in a pot, brightening up the kitchen patio at our house in Fairfax. Hibiscus don't survive the winter frosts in the San Francisco Bay...
May
This painting came from the unexpected. While hanging an art show at a community clubhouse, I stumbled upon a lily pond in full bloom—an unplanned gift. As I painted, my brush reached for surprising colors: purples and oranges shimmering in the out-of-focus lily pads....
Ho’omana
I just love plumeria. They’re my absolute favorite tropical flower—the way their petals spiral inward, their pristine grace, their elegant simplicity. And then there’s their scent: fresh, clean, heavenly. Even though I already have hundreds of photos, I always take...
Imagine
Another waterlily from the south side of Kauai, but not just another painting. When I took the photo that inspired this painting, I was drenched. While out for a morning walk, it just poured rain. And then, as it does in the tropics, the clouds broke up, andthe...
Melia
When Joe and I go to Kauai, I often take morning walks along the Poipu coast with my camera. I love the plumeria trees—their graceful, lightly scented blooms. I’ll climb rock walls to get close to a flower that catches my eye. For this photo, I even climbed onto the...
Lily Reflections
This painting reflects a world that no longer exists. These lilies floated in a pond outside the Plantation Gardens restaurant in Kiahuna Plantation on south side of Kauai. The restaurant didn't survive the pandemic and most of the ponds are all dried up. The sight of...
Southside Lily Pond II
I met Joan and Scott Brown at an art festival in La Jolla. They really loved Southside Lily Pond, but the space in their home needed two pieces of art side by side. Could paint a companion piece for it? I said, yes, sure! - not realizing that I was headed for a fall....
Manualoha
On the first trip that Joe and I took to Kauai we stayed in a place called "Manualoha," which translates from Hawaiian as either "lovebird" or "parrot." "Parrot," I read on one web site, because parrots can express love. So sweet. Our end unit had a private garden...
Birds in Paradise
These bird of paradise flowers were growing in the front yard of a home in the Marine Street-Wind-and-Sea part of La Jolla, CA. As a result of the La Jolla Festival of the Arts in June 2009, I was asked to submit three ideas for the poster art for the 2010 festival....
Southside Lily Pond
When Joe and I go to Kauai, I take walking trips around Poipu with my camera, hunting for painting subjects. These waterlilies are in a resort garden. This image intrigues me because of the various elements it represents -- below the water, above the water and...
Pink Plumeria
This painting was fun to paint and yet I could never find myself really satisfied with the outcome. It just looked like a overgrown tropical postcard. I collaged leaves in - hand cutting paper photos - to replace the all-black background behind the flowers. I kept...
Plumeria
We go regularly to Kauai to re-generate our energy and spirits. I took this photo on one trip and painted most of it on another. I spend lots of time painting when we are there; there are many more tropical paintings in me wanting to come out! Although initially drawn...