Artist Highlight: The artists of Oahu (My Travel Diary)

Hey there! Blog's been quiet for a bit, hasn't it?

Kewala Barim - Vida mia by Rebecca Snow

As you may have heard on twitter, I'm still pausing our Soul-Linker series to do some mental cleansing of the concept, but that will be back soon. In the meantime, I've been exploring some great art from across the USA (and the world), and I'd love to do a quick series celebrating artists!

For the first little highlight, I want to invite you to visit Hawaii through the images of Rebecca Snow and Patrice A. Federspiel. Both of these ladies immigrated to Hawaii from the mainland and fell so much in love with its colors and stories that they've dedicated their work to its beauties and become kama aina, or "of the land," which means they've completely adopted Hawaii as home over many years.

Rebecca specializes in tropical, multi-colored interpretations of the island's surfer girls, which are her most popular creations. She also enjoys translating views of her favorite spots on Oahu into splashes of orange, pinks, and all the other colors of laughter. Here are a few more of her pieces I have hanging in my home.

She labeled all the girls after ladies in our family!

These trees are my favorite.

You can buy Rebecca's art at several stores on the island--just ask the local art shop if they carry Rebecca Snow--or if you can find her online at rebeccasnowart.blogspot.com. On a personal note, Rebecca accomplishes her pieces despite fighting some tough medical battles, which makes the joy and exuberance in the images even more touching. It's much harder for self-employed artists to deal with things like health insurance, so whenever you purchase someone's art, you're contributing to their well-being, as well as your own.

Wellness and its association with color is a common thesis of Patrice's work. She sells most of her work with attached thoughts on personal well-being, occasionally sharing recipes as well, and in her personal life she gardens a portion of her own food. Her husband, Keanu, runs a tour guide service all around the island of Oahu, and I had the opportunity to enjoy some of his expertise and hospitality (for free? What?) while I was stationed there for military duty. Keanu's tours last the whole day, are fully customizable to riders' needs, and include literally any snacks and drinks (alcoholic or otherwise!) that riders request, at no extra charge. He's much more flexible (and his van can enter more hidden places) than any of the larger, more corporate tour services, which often only take you to a few scattered, well-known spots you could've found yourself. The best part of Keanu's tours? He gives away one of Patrice's prints to each rider. (Are you kidding me? Free art, yes please!) I picked up these little numbers on my trip.

These pictures, to me, really evoke feminine strength. I was really torn between the mountain-woman you see here and a glorious, sun-rise-evoking pineapple painting, which you can hopefully find online by visiting Patrice's website.

That brings me to another artist who celebrates female strength in Hawaii: Rose Adare. I didn't get to meet Rose, but I saw some of her pictures in an art gallery and I just wanted to share the find with you. You can see her art by clicking on the picture below!

At the same gallery I also got to see the work of Colin Redican. He's got some pictures with a slight Dali-esque surrealist quality, and his nudes are incredible and weird. You can find his work by clicking on his picture below:

And finally, I saw several pieces by Ed Furuike. His stunning landscapes are all done with a very impressionist-inspired style, and he's got one starry night that's really a Hawaiian-fusion Van Gogh. You can find him here:

Unfortunately, I lost the names of some of the other wonderful artists whose work I enjoyed, so you missed out there, but I'll try to collect more next time I go. In the meantime, check out Patrice and Rebecca, and let me know if you have some favorite Hawaiian artists you'd like me to highlight! Leave a note below!