Byodo-In Temple and Colorful Koi Fish on O'ahu

Koi

Oil on Wood Panel

(sold)

When I was four years old my family left our home, in Alaska, to move back to Southern California. On our way we made a stop in Hawaii. Being so tiny I can't say I remember the whole visit but there are a few things emblazoned on my brain. 

I remember the smell of plumeria, men twirling "sticks that were on fire" and my sister and I dressed in little muumuus. I also have a vague recollection of feeling warm both in and out of the water without having to wear a snow suit! What I do have a very clear memory of was kneeling over a pond filled with huge brightly colored "gold fish." 

Mokoli'i, otherwise known as Chinaman's Hat, on our way to the Byodo-In Temple ...

When I was thinking about what to paint for my last solo show "Through Time and Place: Five Decades" I thought of places that imprinted themselves on me and had made a big impression. Some of those places even changed me. Hawaii made an impression on me at 4 and then in my late 20s when I went back for one of my best friend's weddings. I went back again after she had her first baby.

Now, 16 years later, I had a boyfriend on O'ahu. Hawaii was and is a place filled with incredible memories! Of course, it's beautiful there but there's also something that feels mystical about it. I find it hard to explain. I ended up doing two paintings representing the islands. One piece was the koi fish in the at the top of this post. The other was of a plumeria, one of my favorite scents on the planet! 

Byodo-In Temple

1968

Like I always do, before going to Hawaii for Christmas of 2017, I did my research! I looked up things to do and see on O'ahu and one that came up on all sorts of travel articles and YouTube videos was the Byodo-In Temple. It's a "non-practicing" Buddhist temple which welcomes people of all faiths. It really is a perfect place to meditate, pray, enjoy the incredible walking garden and just enjoy a bit of Japanese culture in Hawaii.

The temple is at the foot of the Ko'olau Mountains in Kaneohe. It's a wonderful replica of a 950 year old Buddhist place of worship in Kyoto, Japan.  It was built for the 100 year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants in 1968, which also happens to be the year I was born! 

It also has hundreds of very healthy looking koi fish ready for a photo op! I took so many pictures and definitely felt a painting coming on! 

Perfect models for my painting! Although, I'm pretty sure they were thinking they were going to get fed!

Valley of the Temples Memorial Park is located on the windward (eastern) side of the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu at the foot of the Koʻolau mountains, near the town of Kāneʻohe.

This golden Amida Buddha (Amitābha) is thought to be the largest figure carved outside of Japan. The 9 foot  Buddha was carved by the Japanese sculptor, Masuzo Inui. "Amida Buddha" is one of the five "Wisdom Buddhas." Amitāyus means "Infinite Life" so Amitābha is also called "The Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life" is the principal Buddha in a branch of East Asian Buddhism called Pure Land Buddhism which is part of the larger Mahayana Buddhism.

"There is no place where the moonlight fails to grace, 

but it only abides in and purifies the hearts of those who gaze upon its face."

Honen Shonin-

Buddhist monk and teacher of Pure Land Buddhism 

The photo below is of me in a beautiful silk shawl my Aunt Cheri designed with a plumeria in my hair!

I think I definitely need to paint the temple!

Waikiki 

After the temple, we headed down to Waikiki. It's definitely packed with tourists, hotels and traffic but it also makes for some beautiful photos, wonderful memories and great people watching. My mom lived there in her early 20's working at one of the hotels and even sung with Don Ho! I was there with my girlfriends at the famous Hawaiian Hilton with the big rainbow on the side, for our friend Beckie's wedding 30 years later. It's fun to go back and revisit places that inhabit wonderful memories.

This next photo is the Makua and Kila Sculpture based on a children's story by Fred Van Dyke. It honors "Hawaiian values of love and respect for Ohana (family) and the ocean."

The photo below is from O'ahu in 1996 for Beckie and Shaun's wedding. The bride is on one knee in the middle and I'm next to her in blue.

This next photo is in Honolulu, from 1973, with my Mom and my big sister Penny.
Dad was taking the picture. Maybe my colorful little muumuu is the reason why I still love a red and bright pink color combo!

link
Byodo-In Temple

Blessing, Light and Aloha!

Artistic Inspiration ~ Breathtaking Glencoe and Glen Etiv

Wherever I wander,

Wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands

Forever I love.

~Robert Burns

The Weeping Glen

pastel on sanded paper

9 x 12"

300.00 (Unframed)

Glencoe was one of the places I was most excited to see in Scotland and it did not disappoint! Neither did Buachaille Etive Mòr or Glen Etive. They are all right in the same vicinity and I had to have taken at least a thousand photographs that day, knowing they would eventually become studies for paintings and drawings.

Here's some beautiful Gaelic music, by the lovely Julie Fowlis, for the journey. Press play!

We took off from our little place in Onich and headed East for Glencoe ...

The Three Sisters of Glencoe

It was gorgeous! This lovely piper was there playing which made it all the more incredible. It didn't matter that there were cars parked up to the view and people all around. We were all under the spell of the "Weeping Glen." 

There was a little girl in plaid with the piper selling tiny bunches of heather. It was so darling. My dad got one for my mom, of course. He does sweet things like that. :)

You can see many streams of water making their way down through the rocks and lushness of the landscape. I suppose it is one reason for calling it the Weeping Glen. There is also sad history of one clan slaughtering another at the behest of the British Crown. But, the earth in its beauty is healing and this place has a mystical beauty and energy that transports you.

My Travel Journal

Around the bend is a lovely waterfall.

And just a 10 or so minutes East of Glencoe is ...

Buachaille Etive Mòr 

Glen Etive

Then just another 3 minutes East on the A82 is the road to Glen Etive. It is a one lane road that seems to go on forever. Perhaps because we stopped every couple of hundred yards to take photos!

Above, is a little demo I did for my private student Parker. Below, is my demo with his large watercolor painting of Glen Etive. He was 12 at the time! 

It wouldn't be difficult to convince me that this place is what heaven looks like. It is truly magnificent.

After our Scottish photo safari we headed South to Kilchurn Castle, which will be in my next post. Check back for that, it's coming up soon!

Later in the day we drove back past Glen Etive and Buachaille Etive Mòr and through Glencoe. You can see how different it looks when the weather changes, and sometimes quickly!

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon

your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

~Langston Hughes

The Weeping Glen in the rain ...

Saint John

Scottish Episcopal Church

Ballachulish 

1842

For my solo show in December, I had three paintings of Scotland. One was Edinburgh, another was from the Isle of Skye, and the third was of Glencoe, the Weeping Glen.

All the paintings were done on wood panels. You can see how loose I start the painting with only washes of color. I begin by mixing the paint with a lot of mineral spirits. The tape you see peeling off is to protect the sides of the panel from getting messy which, only occasionally, works.

Another layer and a a lot thicker ...

Adding in more light and contrast. At this point I was getting ready to add the silver leaf, which all the Scotland paintings had.

Only a touch of silver on the horizon.

Glencoe, 2017

9 X 12"

Oil on wood panel

550.00

I love this gentleman. He does videos of his walks around Scotland. They are not a high tech, masterpiece, extravaganza but very charming and I love his voice! In this video he walks around Glencoe in very early spring before things turn green.

I am leaving on another trip soon and my boyfriend suggested I should probably finish Scotland  because I haven't even gotten to the part of the trip where we went to Italy. Alas, it was a slow year for posting. I got so busy with various things, including my solo show and now training for my Via Di Francesco Cammino of which I am doing a 165 km section.

Anyway, stay tuned!

I ran across this young lady, Claire Hastings, on YouTube and just adore her voice and spirit when she sings. Enjoy!

Blessings and light!

Memory Creating the Self: Genetic Memory and my Maternal Ancestors

Without memory, there is no culture.

Without memory,

there would be no civilization, 

no society, no future.

~Elie Weisel

Memory Creating the Self:

Genetic Memory Series

My last post was a few of the patrilineal paintings, and these are from my matrilineal side. (A few from each side were in my post about the reception.)

Here's some music from my reception playlist

The first two portraits I painted for the show, were of these gals. I'm not even sure how many times I went back into them. I started with sanguine color conté pencils to sketch in the portraits.

Normally, if I were working on canvas I would start with just a wash (thin layer of oil paint) of burnt sienna, over the whole thing, then draw the figures in with a brush and paint. On this project, however, because I wanted to let some of the wood show, I had to be more specific and carful not to stain the wood. 

Sedalia and Nancy

I was not even sure where the gold leaf was going to go on the paintings, until they were done. That was the case with most of pieces. Once they were done, I could tell where the gold "wanted to be."

Here, below, the brushstrokes on my great great grandmother Sedalia are very loose, as I am just finding my way around her face and trying to find some structure. The photo was very blown out and pale, with so little detail that I had to imagine it by looking at the shape of her cheekbone, in profile. (She's my maternal grandmother's paternal grandmother. Got that?!)

I must have gone into her portrait dozens of times, moving the ear, the earring, adding layers and layers to her face and softening her skin and then going in adding to the velvet jacket ... I just kept talking to her and trying to get the feel of her.  By the way, I would love to have her jacket! 

Lots of earth colors!

For those of you who missed my last few posts, here is my artist's statement for my solo show:

We are made of memory; genetic, experimental and body memory. We embody that which has come before us, as well as what we have experienced on our journey here. How much do we hold from our own past that we do not remember?

There are places and people we are linked with forever because they have left their mark on us. What is it that we will imprint on others and what will we leave behind?

My work integrates gold metal leafing, which incorporates memories of Thai temples and Italian altarpieces, from my own experience, as well as some deeper sense memory, that cannot be explained. There is a connection to history and tradition that I feel, as if I have been doing it for centuries.

And here is the finished painting ...

1890  

10 x 8"  

Oil on wood panel with gold metal leafing

You're never alone, 

even during what you think are your weakest moments.

You have thousands of years of powerful Ancestors within you,

the blood of the Divine Great Ones in you,

supreme intellect and royalty in you.

Infinite strength is always on tap for you.

Know that.

~Author Unknown

There are different kinds of gold leafing. This package I used for these ladies was "gold" on some kind of wax paper you rub on the backside of and hope it's actually sticking from the front side to whatever you are working on. I personally prefer the loose leaf.

Then you have to burnish and rub it down into the adhesive size (glue) because there are little "bubbles."

Nancy Jane, came out a little extra intense but I decided to just go with it.  (She was Sedalia's Mother- My great great great grandmother!) 

I did have to go back into a few spots where the gold didn't stick, add more adhesive size, wait for it to become tacky (It can't be wet) and then put more gold on those spots. Then I would wait a few hours and then put a layer of sealer over it so that it doesn't tarnish too much. If you use the real 24 carat gold leaf, it doesn't tarnish at all but the squares are tiny and much more costly.

Nancy Jane's maiden name was Pattie and her paternal grandfather was Sylvester Pattie, who I was told, was the first European-American to be buried in Califonia. He was born in Craig, Kentucky in 1782 and died in San Diego in 1828. 

There is a memorial by the Mission down in San Diego that reads "Sylvester Pattie: Pathfinder. Leader of the first party of Americans into Alta California over Southern Trails. Arrived at San Diego Presidio March 27, 1826. An officer in the war of 1812." Then it gives his birth, death and commemorates his son and others on the expedition. 

1837-1914

10 x 10" 

Oil on wood panel with gold metal leafing

A man finds room in the few square inches of the face

for the traits of all his ancestors;

for the expression of all his history,

and his wants.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This painting, below was of my grandpa Milton's family. You will see that he's the little guy on the runner of the car. This one became the postcard of the show. 

The portraits of the kids faces are the size of my pinky nails. (And mine are very small!) I went through a LOT of 000 brushes. They had to have a perfect point and there was a lot of squinting involved (as well as new frown lines!)

The gold on this piece was the loose leaf type and I put it on in a more textured way, letting it crinkle and then filling in the spaces like a patchwork quilt. 

I loved the photo.  As soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be a painting but I though, Am I out of my mind? All the tiny figures ... and a car! Well, you never know what you are capable of until you give it a shot.  

The photograph was taken in Los Angeles, in 1924, but it reminded me so much of Dorthea Lang and the Dustbowl photos and it really was fun to paint!

1924

9 x 12"

Oil on wood panel with gold metal leafing

We all grow up with the weight of history on us.

Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains

as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden

in every cell of our bodies. 

~~Shirley Abbott

This tiny painting of an old wedding photo, is the mother and father of lady in the previous painting, with the car. They are my Great great grandparents and they came up from Chile, just after they were married. They had their wedding reception at Olvera Street in the oldest part of Los Angeles. (I've done a lot of Olvera Street Posts on this blog!) At one point he owned a saloon! 

1877

8 x 6" 

Oil on wood panel 

with gold metal leafing

After doing our DNA through ancestry.com (and making my great aunt spit in a vial) we figured out that my great-great grandma must have been 3/4 indigenous South American. It comes up just as "Native American" and it can mean North or South America. 

Our DNA also shows Iberian Peninsula so that makes sense with his surname being De La Barca, that his family would have come to Chile from Spain. (By the way Frida Kahlo was a De la Barca, as well!)

On my front stoop, before they were all loaded into the car  ...

And here are all 13 of the genetic memory paintings on the wall, at my show! 

There is so much going on in my head right now, it's been hard to sit still and focus on posting. The world is a crazy place, and our country is a crazy place, but for now I'll still be posting about the show, at least until I'm a little more grounded. Not sure when that will be but after "mysteriously" dropping 5 pounds, today my doctor prescribed "Taking a break from the news, and eating something!" (Not that I mind fitting into my old pants.)

Anyway ....

To see the post of the Solo Show Reception with more of the art, click here

To see the Body Memory Series from the show, click here

To see the Patrilineal Works, click here

Walking, 
I am listening to a deeper way.
Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me.
Be still they say,
Watch and listen.
You are the result of the love of thousands.

~Linda Hogan

Blessings and light!