Inspired by Japan: Hawaii Potter's Guild

Esther Shimazu, "Cleaning My Head I and II"

My family and I left our car at Jiffy Lube for a jiffy lube and we decided to walk around the corner to get a burger for lunch. Before arriving at the burger joint we noticed that there was an event taking place at the Japanese Cultural Center which we decided to check out. There in the distance was my high school English teacher Pat Takeshita who articulated that we were at a ceramics show sponsored by the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation. The work speaks for itself with a very high level of talent from the Hawaii Potter's Guild. I hope that you enjoy these photos as much as we enjoyed the show!

Shelle Avecilla, "Smoke Stacks"

Judy Okimoto, "Angelina Flying"

Domenica Sattler, "Light:Happiness"

Yoko Haar, "Drifting"

Patti Gallagher-Jones, "Lost at Sea Fish"

 Pat Takeshita, "Copper Earth Willow"

Queenie Kwock, "Dimpled Shadows"

 Esther Shimazu, "Cleaning My Head I and II"

 Aaron Padilla, "Red Swril"

 Esther Norwell, "Lion Dogs"

Maile Yawata, "Boy Soldier"

Open Wide

Bathroom art to remind me to floss every evening.

What a Find!

I was gallivanting around on a lazy Saturday morning right after the sun had risen. I had noticed a garage sale sign so I decided to follow the direction of a hand drawn arrow on a piece of cardboard which led me to a junk filled backyard. There was an old typewriter, some vintage metal frames, a trunk filled with old letters and black and white postcards, a few ceramic bottles, some trinkets and jewelry, and a couple of used surfboards that looked dinged up. Good stuff but nothing that I would collect, I thought. Then I peered across the way to find this painting. The guy only wanted a $1! What a steal I said to myself, so I whipped out a dollar and secured my purchase!

Painted by Clare I. Tyler

Forty Views of Diamond Head

Splash!

Hi everyone, I've been quite busy so I wanted to be the first to wish you Happy New Year for 2012! Yay!!! Wooohooo!

I know that it is winter and chilly so I thought that it would be a great time to share a flavor of summer with this post through some of the outtakes from my project of compiling photographs into a book called  "Forty Views of Diamond Head." The book was inspired by Hokusai, a great Japanese woodblock printer who is probably most famous for his print of the Great Wave. He did a series of 36 prints of Mount Fuji in Japan called, "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji." Being that I'm not very good at printmaking, I decided to use a camera instead chipping away at woodblocks like the old master. These photos were taken with a Nikon D-40. Although not obvious at first, all of the images shown have an image of Diamond Head in the background.

I love the red Lehua flower... legend has it that if you pick it, it will rain.

A lifeguard stand and Diamond Head in the background.

This house was burnt and totally ruined!

To my surprise, a kitty cat was there to greet me!

Japanese tourist missing Diamond Head behind them as they were busy photographing Koko Head.

Deborah Butterfield displayed at TCM and Diamond Head peering through branches.

A couple enjoying the day at the beach and a view of Diamond Head.

For some a view of Diamond Head is right at their doorstep!

A view from one State monument to another

A nostalgic drive in and a view of DH with a big honkin tree blocking my shot!

I wish that that lady didn't step into the shot!

University of Hawaii

We have VOG... Volcanic ashes causing a cloudy haze over the city!

A blurred background of Diamond Head! 

The view of Diamond Head was too small.

They turned away once they saw the camera come out.

Ilford HP5 Plus 400 film

 My favorite black and white film that I like shooting with is Ilford HP5 Plus. The results that I get with my 1966 canon ft are sharp low key photos.

The photograph above is of two elderly gentlemen that were sharing a conversation and a bottle of congnac.

Bell Peppers

Bagels

No Biodiesel 

Iolani Palace

The perspective of the photograph of Iolani Palace tells a story of how the monarchy fell when the Queen was held captive in her own palace in the early 1900's. The palace fades into the background and the foreground are of arrow tips of the front gate which is the way I had planned to take this photo. What I didn't plan for was very neutral contrasting and so the photo doesn't pop but nevertheless, it stands on it's own because it captures the essence of the subject matter. Perhaps if I had used a film with a lower ISO, then the results would be better contrast.

All Tied Up

 

As a sailor of the high seas in old ships, Mike Lawnsby has been to corners of the Earth that most of us would only be able to view in shows like Planet Earth. One evening over a shots of espresso, he told all about sailing to the Midway Atolls Wildlife Refuge and the natural beauty of this protected bird sanctuary. As an amateur photographer, he captured stunning and breathtaking shots of the landscape, the seascape, and the wildlife. In describing his two month expedition it led into a conversation about his knot tying knowledge which is a requirement for sailing the types of old fashioned ships that he did. 

Pulling out a green glass flask with raised lettering at the bottom which read, "POISON" he showed me a complex weave decorating and protecting the narrow body of the bottle. Inspecting it with my fingertips, my first impression was that some kind of adhesive must have been holding the weave together for it to adhere so tightly to the slick surface of the glass. Mike explained that the decorative quality is repetitive knot tying and the tightness of the entire weave is pulled by hand and leveraged by an awl like instrument one knot at a time. He was very generous with his knowledge by giving me a Turk Head knot tying lesson on the spot.

Pulling out a needle case that he crafted from bamboo and a wine cork, Mike used raw materials to make cool functional art that had a pulse. Of course he highlighted the art of tying tight knots on this piece and it's decorative quality. He burnt the image of the ship that he had sailed onto the bamboo as modern day scrimshaw on wood instead of on bone.

Thanks Mike for the lesson and for the opportunity to hear about your experiences!