 The Molokai Hoe had a beautiful morning start. We found a view overlooking Hale O Lono Harbor with the sunlight on the canoes lined up on the beach. The escort boats idled in the harbor. The canoe team members huddled or milled about, little matching spots of color. I created a small painting as the pule (prayer) and last directions were given on the loudspeaker below. The first paddlers began to carry their canoes to the water, and I switched to a larger watercolor paper. Painting during an event requires alertness and quick action. The first paddlers rounded the harbor wall to their starting place. I dropped in their outline and color, adding more and more canoes along their arch to the starting line of buoys that bobbed beyond the harbor. An ocean swell followed the coast, pointing towards Oahu. It was a race on my end too. Speed was important because all could change in an instance, yet precision mattered as well. My brush and water, their paddles in the water, both finding their way. The paddlers lined up along the buoys, and at a signal beyond my hearing, took off for Oahu. So many people were involved in this race, paddling, organizing, and escorting. They all made this incredible event happen. So, I have done something I rarely do. I have made a limited edition print of it, available here. Were you or a family member involved in the hoe? What is your story of the day? (Tell me below!)  Putting in the colors on the first painting of the morning  Before the Launch, 7x11in, available original watercolor Would having this print in your home bring you back to the amazing memory of the Moloka'i Hoe? US Shipping included!
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Each painting on this site has a story. There is the time I spend on location translating the energy of the place into a painted image. There is the story of all I have experienced at this location, the culmination of many days over different times in my life spent at that place. There is the story of the ecology, the plants and animals that evolved to live perfectly suited to the place, and as a result, exist nowhere else on the planet, and are highly susceptible to outside threats. There is the history of the Hawaiian culture on this spot, how this land was cared for over millennia, and the history of transition since other peoples have come to Hawaii. Often, there is the story of the hands and hearts that are now restoring and caring for a place, helping it maintain its uniqueness. Here in this blog is where I will collect those stories, and I will link them back to the paintings, sharing the layers that exist within a single painting. Mahalo for reading, taking in the art, and as a result, also becoming a carrier of the story and a caretaker of these special places.  |
Maggie T SutrovThese are the stories of where I paint. Archives
November 2019
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