What a good momma!

25 06 2014

The front garden, overgrown, seemed ideal for a hen to nest. I found a nest with four eggs a while ago. I collected three for breakfast–all were good to eat–and left one. Since we discovered the nest, DH intended to mark the one so we would know which eggs were newer when the hen laid again. We had heard that hens lay one egg a day. But DH said he didn’t have the heart to poke the hen off her nest. This morning I met her on the path, and out from under her appeared a teeny tiny white chick. I went to the nest and found just one empty shell! All these days she had been sitting on just one egg. What a good momma!

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Copyright 2014 Rebekah Luke


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Where I am in Hawaii today

24 06 2014

Every now and then we’re thrown a curve ball and need to perk up. So I left the studio and headed over to Ka Lahui Hawaii, a Native initiative for sovereignty, http://kalahuihawaii.wordpress.com, to offer some information to the Hawaiian community.

Representatives of U.S. Department of Interior were on island to listen to comments about whether and/or how there should be a government-to-government relationship between the U.S. and Native Hawaiian community.

I went to yesterday’s three-hour public meeting at the Hawaii State Capitol because I wanted to get up to speed about the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. I had the feeling the panel would be in for a surprise. The testimonies were emotional, for the most part saying the D.O.I.’s presence was inappropriate and unwelcome (I’m being kind here).

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The panel looked tired and sad after a while. Twenty such meetings are scheduled throughout the Islands and America. Two of my Hawaiian neighbors have asked me for a ride to Wednesday’s meeting in Kaneohe, closest to our homes. 

This morning I’m headed to Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden to create some cheerful collage art with hand-dyed tissue paper. The public is invited to watch the artists and see our exhibit in the Visitor Lecture Room showing daily, now until the end of June. The entrance is at the end of Luluku Road in Kaneohe.  This is my “Kalo.” Today I’m working on “Mango.”

"Kalo Collage," 15" x 30" hand-dyed paper on canvas. $385.

“Kalo Collage,” 15″ x 30″ hand-dyed paper on canvas.

 Copyright 2014 Rebekah Luke

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Categories : About me, Fine Art, Hawaiian

Six degrees of separation among cousins in the Islands

8 06 2014

I got a Facebook message late last week from Boyd, who wrote, “Hey cousin, my wife and I will be on island for a wedding this weekend, and probably cruising your coastline Sat. AMish . . .” 

Yes, yes, I’ll be home, please stop by, here’s how to get here, etc., etc. Boyd and I have called each other “cousin” since we met at Iole in North Kohala for my family reunion (mom’s side) in 2012. Boyd is a folk historian and a wonderfully engaging storyteller. I’d asked him to tell our group about what life might have been like in the old days, and what he knew of the Chinese immigrants; and he wanted to hear our stories to add to his repertoire. We gathered at Kalahikiola Church near the old homestead where my mother and her 14 siblings grew up before the clan moved to Oahu.

After becoming acquainted we declared ourselves calabash cousins because his ancestors employed my ancestors, living on adjoining land divisions—Iole and Ainakea on Hawaii island. My aunties told me the children played together between the properties on both sides of a gulch.

Yesterday Boyd came to my island to visit me, and I felt like “Mom” was coming, so DH and I tidied up to make the studio presentable. I wasn’t sure exactly what time he and his wife Becky would arrive, so I planned lunch for four. I thought of the old days before the Information Age when families would call on each other, traveling distances to meet, to talk story (as we say in Hawaii) and catch up on all the happenings. These visits have evolved into Sunday night family dinner for many of us.

Yesterday’s Saturday lunch was a lot of fun. They did arrive just in time for lunch. We ate lupulu—a Samoan treat baked with taro leaves, corned beef, onions, tomato and coconut milk. We had poi, sweet potato, alae salt, Cathy’s inamona (Hawaiian kukui nut relish), and Joe’s chili pepper water.

Boyd and my DH, who you recall is a volunteer docent at the Bishop Museum, traded information on Hawaiian history while we women dutifully listened to stories we’d heard before. I heard Becky mention she was more comfortable with bodies and energy, that she left the storytelling to Boyd,  so when there was a break in the conversation I asked Becky, “Are you a healer?”

Boyd answered, “Yes, she is!” So with my experience as a Reiki Master and hers as a massage therapist and Healing Touch practitioner, we hit it off, and I was able to hear about the wonderful healing environment going on in Kohala.

Continuing to talk about people and places we knew throughout the afternoon, we revisited the family reunion Welcome Dinner two years ago held at Kahua Ranch and hosted by the owner Monty and his new bride Elly. They had invited our family over. “How do you know Elly?” Boyd asked.

“She’s my first cousin,” I said. “Her father and my mother were siblings.”

“Well, then,” Boyd gleamed with a twinkle in his eye, “we really are cousins — through marriage!” Indeed. It turns out that both he and Monty descend from common ancestors.

Copyright 2014 Rebekah Luke

 

 


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Categories : About me, Food, Friends & Family, Memoir, Reiki Healing

Sweet memory—“Blue Koolau Mountains”

25 05 2014
Blue Koolau Mountains by Rebekah Luke

“Blue Koolau Mountains” by Rebekah Luke. The study of shapes and values and their relationship is what makes this oil sketch abstract.

The afternoon of day 2 of the Native Hawaiian Arts Market in Honolulu. Many visitors to the Bishop Museum have stopped by the display of my landscape paintings and admired them, but no sales. The sky is threatening thunder showers, and DH who is my “easel” is hinting to pack up.

My things are high-priced items for the average craft fair, so I don’t expect any volume. If I make one sale, it is a good day. I make up my mind that the next person who stops will go away with a new piece of art. It’s a young couple.

“You know,” I say, “I haven’t sold anything all weekend. If you are art collectors and you see something you like, I’ll work with you on the price.”

They discuss something and then show me an image on her iPhone.

“Do you have this one?” she asks. It’s my “Blue Koolau Mountains” from my website. A tiny 5″ x 7″ oil sketch made in 2008!

“I do! But it’s not here. It’s a small one. If you’d like it I can deliver it tomorrow. Where do you live?”

They explain that they live in Minnesota and are leaving Honolulu tomorrow, Memorial Day. They saw my paintings at the Native Hawaiian Arts Market last year when they lived in Hawaii; then they moved to Minnesota. They explain they were looking for something with the colors of “Blue Koolau Mountains,” found me online (obviously), read that I would be at the Bishop Museum today, and came looking!

Oh, for goodness’ sake! “If you want it, I’ll ship it to Minnesota for you at no extra charge,” I say. I close the sale, and everyone goes home happy in the rain. Some things take a long time, but I’m willing to wait. I hope they like the wide gold frame I chose.

Thank you, Lovey! Mahalo e ke Akua!

Copyright 2014 Rebekah Luke

 

 


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Categories : Fine Art, Hawaiian

Let me escort you on a fine art tour

10 05 2014

Counting the number of places to exhibit my art is like counting my blessings. All of a sudden my calendar is full. I’m excited to share my summer “fine art tour” of fresh, new work with you. If you have never viewed my paintings in person, this season offers multiple venues. Mark you calendar. My “tour” starts this afternoon, just in time for Mothers Day!

"Kalo Collage," 15" x 30" hand-dyed paper on canvas. $385.

“Kalo Collage,” 15″ x 30″ hand-dyed paper on canvas.

“Collages & A Bit of Clay at Ho‘omaluhia.” A jewel-like showcase of collages and fine craft items. 2D and 3D works by sister artists Joy Ritchey, Dorothy Brennan, Hiroko Shoultz, Barbara Guidage, Susan Rogers-Aregger (who wrote the book on paper dyeing and collage), and me! These are my two very first collages and the most recently completed art pieces of mine. At the Visitor Center Lecture Room at Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden, end of Luluku Road, Kaneohe, Oahu. Daily through June 30, 2014, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Free admission. The items may be purchased off-site by making arrangements with Susan, phone 808 395-4702, email sraoahu@hawaii.rr.com.

"Hydrangea Collage," 30" x 15" hand-dyed paper on canvas. $385.

“Hydrangea Collage,” 30″ x 15″ hand-dyed paper on canvas. Sold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The MAMo: Maoli Arts Month Silent Auction.” A bonus opportunity for attendees of the MAMo Wearable Art Show at the Hawaii Theatre, downtown Honolulu, up in the Weyand Room, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Please contact the theater box office for more information about the evening fashion show.

"Heliconia in Vase," 14" x 18" oil on canvas board, to the highest bidder

“Heliconia in Vase,” 14″ x 18″ oil on canvas board, silent auction item

"Red Trunks," 16" x 20" ink on canvas giclée reproduction, re-marked and re-signed, to the highest bidder

“Red Trunks,” 16″ x 20″ ink on canvas giclée reproduction, re-marked and re-signed, silent auction item

“The MAMo Native Hawaiian Arts Market.” Native Hawaiian artists and craftsmen wrap up Maoli Arts Month at the Bishop Museum, May 24 and 25, 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Entrance on Bernice Street in Honolulu. I will bring to market my inventory of original oil paintings and selected giclée reproductions. This is a chance to meet many other Native Hawaiian artists, watch some demonstrations, and support their work. $5 reduced price of admission for kamaaina (Hawaii residents) and military with valid ID gets you in to the market and all museum exhibits. This is a deal!

“Ko‘olauloa Hawaiian Civic Club Diamond Emerald Anniversary.” Brunch, Hawaiian music entertainment, and silent auction. Turtle Bay Resort, Kuilima, Oahu, June 14, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.  I am placing two landscape paintings–one of Ko‘olauloa and one of Ko‘olaupoko—into the silent auction. Individual tickets to the 90th anniversary party are $100 per person. Please contact president Ululani Beirne, 808 237-8856, or Francine Palama, 808 341-9881, for tickets.

"Kamehameha Highway and Kaaawa Place," 16" x 20" oil on canvas, at auction

“Kamehameha Highway and Kaaawa Place,” 16″ x 20″ oil on canvas, silent auction item

 

"Heeia," 24" x 18" oil on canvas

“Heeia,” 24″ x 18″ oil on canvas, silent auction item

Beginning Oil Painting Lessons by Rebekah Luke. I have scheduled my Painting I course for adults starting June 21, and extending through Oct. 25, 2014, at my physical studio in Kaaawa, Oahu. Twelve sessions on selected Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lessons generally follow those taught by the late colorist Gloria Foss. Tuition is $300. Cost of materials and supplies is additional. Those who have this on their bucket list, please email rebekahluke@hawaii.rr.com for complete details.

“Pacific Cup Craft Fair.” Come visit my booth at this event held in conjunction with the Pacific Cup yacht race from San Francisco to Kaneohe. Kaneohe Yacht Club, 44-503 Kaneohe Bay Drive, Kaneohe, Oahu, July 25, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Images of beautiful Kaneohe Bay.

"Bayfront," 18" x 24" oil on canvas board

“Bayfront,” 18″ x 24″ oil on canvas board

 

So many blessings! Thanks for coming along on my tour! ~ Rebekah

Copyright 2014 Rebekah Luke

 

 


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Categories : About me, Fine Art, Hawaiian, Travel

I thought it was finished…

27 04 2014

… until I looked at it again in a different light. Even my teacher said it was “pau” (finished) when she saw the first photo of it on Facebook.

When I brought the collage to the next studio session for a group critique, we stared at it from a distance and under a skylight. The consensus was to strengthen the value of two areas on the bottom.

So I did, and to me the change made a more successful and more attractive piece.

Isn’t that true of life? Sometimes we ponder and struggle to make things just so, willing to put others’ opinions above our own, but the something isn’t quite right. Something about it bothers us.

Then, by letting it rest and revisiting it from a different angle in a new light, we notice just a small tweak here and there brings the subject into focus.

 

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The “before” — a collage from my hand-dyed paper

 

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“After” I added darker pink tints of paper at the bottom. It’s a subtle change that shifts the viewer’s focus.

Copyright 2014 Rebekah Luke

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A peace of Easter – Colomba di Pasqua

20 04 2014

My friend Lori asked for an Easter photo. Here it is on a repost from 2012. Happy Easter to all! ~ Rebekah

Rebekah Luke's avatarRebekah’s Studio

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My version of Colomba di Pasqua – the Dove of Easter, a bread of Italy. Delightfully delicious with lemon and almond flavors. Enjoy your holiday! Especially our family in Naples. Happy Easter!

Copyright 2012 Rebekah Luke

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Categories : Food

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