Hawaiian Art

We just returned a couple weeks ago from Hawaii where we visited Kauai and Kona on the Big Island. When going on vacation we plan our visit around farmers markets and art fairs. Last year we just happened upon the Kailua-Kona Village Stroll. So this year we made certain we’d be on The Big Island for that monthly event.

This stroll is the third Sunday of every month and they have a lot of wonderful artists. The main road is closed and lined with booth after booth of local artists’ art.

I bought this scarf from Kona Silks at the Ho’oulu Community Farmers Market at the Sheraton Kona. The artist is Val Pagni. I love that the scarf has a turtle on it who I call Timmy. (In our household, all turtles are Timmy!)

I knew Val would be vending at this event, so I was looking forward to meeting her.  The picture below is of her booth at the Ho’oulu Community Farmers Market.

She had such lovely scarves and jackets. Anyway, she was not there. Her partner said she was at another fair just up the road about 15 minutes or so from us. So I didn’t get to meet her.

However, I did get to meet another artist whose work I had seen earlier in an art gallery. Peri Enkin of Designs by Peri makes lovely jewelry, sun catchers, and more that involve a lot of handwork. Here is one of her suncatchers I brought home for a birthday present for my bud, Barbara.

Here’s a closeup. I love her work. Her bracelets were also lovely.

While in Kauai we stopped at the Koa Store for another present. This is a sushi box made of koa with an 8-piece set of chopsticks.

Next door to the Koa Store is Kapaia Stitchery. When we visited Kauai in 2008 for our honeymoon I had stopped in this store while Dave shopped for wood. You will notice I didn’t buy much – just a couple patterns.

Here is the inside of this shop.

A visit to the Big Island always involves a visit to Kimura’s. If she doesn’t have it, you don’t need it. I wrote a post about Kimura’s last year.

As soon as I walked in one of the ladies asked me what I was looking for. I asked her for lace and she pointed me to a section where there were bolts and bolts of lace, some under plastic. It’s a neat store that is kind of junky – my kind of place. I left with a bag of many different laces.

On The Big Island we also stopped by another quilt shop,  Quilt Passions. I bought a few more patterns here.

My interest in patterns this year is because Dave and I are talking about creating a joint project which will include my fabric and his woodworking. We wanted something that would remind us of our love of Hawaii. I’m not sure how or when it will get done, but I’m looking forward to collaborating with him. He’s a fine woodworker, but doesn’t have much time for it with all of his gardening.

I decided to get warmed up for our project by cutting out some Hawaiian leaves and flowers from stencils I made. Now I’m ready to quilt it.  I’ll tell you more about this project once I’m finished.

We also bought several bars of soap – love to see what other soapers are doing – honey, and chocolate. Also, while Dave was in Aloha Woods shopping for wood, I was at the Goodwill down the street where I found two neat dresses and a top.

One thing that was so neat on our trip this year was we both wore mostly the shirts I dyed. EVERYWHERE we went, people commented on them and were so surprised I had dyed them. Of course they all said they loved our “tie dyed” shirts, which I didn’t correct them. The day before we left we stopped in a bookstore and one of the guys working there went up to Dave (I was in another area) and told him he really loved his shirt. When Dave told him his wife dyed it, he told Dave to tell me that it was beautiful. I did see the guy later in the store when Dave and I were together and he said that I did a great job – so different from regular tie dye! Anyway, I just smiled and thanked him! Makes me want to do some more dyeing right now! However, the dye studio aka garage is way too cold right now.

Hope you’re week is going well and thanks for dropping by.