Although these unbelievably beautiful birds are a nuisance to us at the studio because they regard our herb and vegetable garden as their personal salad bar, they land on the roof like the weight of an airplane, they hold conventions on the front porch, and they make both dogs crazy, I have to admit they have a certain visual grace and fascination about them. Their iridescent plumage makes up for their loud honk of a voice.
Here, showing off their “Analogous Tomatoes” at this morning’s art show, are my 8- and 10-year old pupils from the neighborhood. Bright and early at 8 a.m. they came with their families, friends, and refreshments to share what they did for the past six Saturday mornings at the studio. Everyone pronounced it a success. There were requests for another round of classes.
Of course, the boy on the left is not holding a tomato. It is a balloon, that is a type of ball or sphere and his 3-D choice for the BCCC (ball, cube, cylinder, cone) lesson.
The tomatoes are analogous because to model their form they are painted with colors that are analogous on the color wheel. I teach the “Tomato Theory” so called by my late fine art teacher and oil painter Gloria Foss.
To warm and lighten a bright red tomato, we use red-orange and just a little bit of white. To darken the red, we move in the opposite direction on the color wheel to a red-violet. This method makes the object appear most vibrant and is preferable to darkening a hue by adding black or the complementary color.
Ice cream break
The ice cream truck came later in the day during my Painting I class for adults, just in time for lunch. Dessert first!
Two women I am lucky to have as friends each reached a milestone in their lives and careers in the past few days, and today’s post honors them. Both happen to be foodies. Both have Hakka “blood,” as do I.
Author Linda Lau Anusasananan’s The Hakka Cookbook received the Best Chinese Cuisine Cookbook in the World for 2012 award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards ceremony in Paris. It’s a crowning achievement following a full career as a food editor at Sunset magazine, where we met, and many years researching around the world the “cuisine” (if you can call it that) of her ancestral Hakka roots.
Linda Lau Anusasananan
Hakka Chinese people descend from Han people who emigrated and still emigrate from their original land for a variety of reasons. Where they ended up in the world—in China it was mostly in the south in an area known as Meixian—they were not the first, therefore were known as “guest people” who did not get the best land. They were farmers, and their food was humble and of peasants. The book’s subtitle “Soul Food from Around the World” announces the good eats the reader can learn to make from the recipes Linda tested and fine tuned for the home cook. I guarantee they will work for you.
This is what Hakka families everywhere have looked for. The recipes show how regional cuisine influences basic Hakka food. Linda’s work fills a cultural need as well as explains what “Hakka” is with added stories and historical notes. Ultimately, it is a universal story about food, families everywhere, and how the world has gotten smaller.
Lori A. Wong
When I left the magazine test kitchens in Menlo Park, California, those many years ago, Linda became the person I would call when I had a question about food science. Then I met Lori on my island.
This week Lori A. Wong, with her mother Marian, closed Byron’s Drive-In, the last remaining of their 17 or 18—it’s easy to lose count—restaurants on Oahu, ending 58 years of feeding islanders. Old-timers will remember Leon’s tavern, Andy’s Drive-In in Kailua, Orson’s Restaurant, Orson’s Bourbon House, Wong’s Okazu-ya, The Chowder House, Byron II, Andrew’s, Coral Reef, The Chinese Chuckwagon, Fishmonger’s Wife, Oinks, Big Ed’s, Andy’s Ebb Tide, The Little Red Hen, Henny Penny Chicken, Orson’s Chowderette, and The Seafood Emporium.
The landlord is planning to redevelop the land near Honolulu airport where you could get a good meal before boarding your plane. On Feb. 28 it was bye-bye Byron’s Drive-In. The rummage sale starts tomorrow, March 5, through Friday in the parking lot. Everything must go.
Now that you know of the Wong Family restaurant empire, and as you read the list above, most started by Lori’s father Andy Y. Y. Wong who died in 1985, and others by Lori and her mom, you are probably thinking, “They owned that restaurant, too?!”
Yup, and Lori’s first thought is that they had a really good run and that the restaurant business is pau (finished, over).
I became acquainted with Lori through our mutual Reiki teacher and friend Alice Anne Parker. Both Lori and Alice Anne certified me as a Reiki Master. Lori is a healer and was working with hospice patients. Over time I figured out Lori was a foodie. She’s taught in the Food Service department at Kapiolani Community College and now teaches cooking to middle school students at Punahou during the summer. She free lances as a food and beverage consultant.
She loves to try new restaurants with friends—as does Linda (the more dishes foodies can taste and disect, the better; lucky for me), but she rarely mentioned her family’s restaurant empire. But now that it seems to have ended, the word’s out. Bob Sigall wrote a nice column in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Both Linda and Lori deserve a crown and a long rest, but I doubt they will rest on their laurels. These are my friends for a lifetime.
Painting en plein air
One of my favorite sanctuaries on Oʻahu is Moanalua Gardens where I went with my students to paint en plein air earlier this month. A pleasant place to rest, picnic, and entertain, it is privately owned but open to the public. I find it peaceful and healing to go there.
We can go there for free during daylight hours most days. It is popular with young families, pre-school groups, Japanese tourists, artists, and lovers. That sounds busy, but the park is large enough that you can find a spot for yourself. Lucky for us at least a bit of the area of the cultured Gardens remains, for it used to cover three times the area. Imagine the beauty back when.
Every July, the day-long Prince Lot Hula Festival draws an audience of about 10,000 people who relax in the shade of the trees and enjoy viewing the dance by invited hula hālau (troupes) on the outdoor hula mound. This year the event is scheduled for Saturday, July 20, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On three outings there this month, while busloads of Japanese tourists came to photograph the famous Hitachi tree (Hitachi, Ltd. pays for the rights to use the image of the grand, old monkeypod tree as its logo), while the gardeners operated their loud maintenance equipment, and while the elementary school children next door enjoyed their recess, I could still find my zone to paint the hula pā, romantically back-lit by the morning sun.
Japanese visitors come to see the “Hitachi tree” and have their photo taken in front of it.
A koi pond adjacent to a loʻi kalo (taro garden) attracts ducks, youngsters and photographers. The banyan in the background is just one of many mature trees here.
My finished painting “Kamaipuupaa,” 24″ x 18″ oil on canvas panel. The grassy hula mound is the venue for the annual Prince Lot Hula Festival at Moanalua Gardens in July. If you plan to go this summer, please verify the date in local news media.
“The lovely blue of sky and the sapphire of ocean…,” wrote R. Alex Anderson in his “Haole Hula.” That’s what greeted me on my morning walk today. Alice Brown and Pua met our neighbors Meda and Ian with squeals. Ian always has biscuits for them. Down the way the fishermen already had their poles out, and I wondered if it would be the gusty wind or the fish that would ring the bell.
The child got up from her chair in the middle of class, twice, sat on the floor in the lotus position, closed her eyes and ohm-ed audibly. In the bucket-list painting class, an adult began to doze. Out in the landscape I wondered if my suggestions were simply going in one ear, if at all, and out the other.
I don’t have a Hawaii fifth-year university teaching certificate, but I do have a few years experience in the field under my belt and consider myself in the “working professional” class of faculty, like the teachers who taught me—desirable by a top art school I know and distinguished for excellence from the rest.
But in the first Saturdays of February, I see I can still learn something about human nature and various styles of learning. I’m finding it a challenge. And I like challenge! Like DH who’s developed an immense respect for mothers since taking on the role of caregiver for his two granddaughters, now ages 3 and 1, since their birth, now I have a huge respect for classroom teachers.
We each come to “class” with different paradigms, different backgrounds and existing points of view, and previously learned behaviors. Somewhere, sometime, I hope the twain will meet.
If I may generalize, there are two approaches to teaching/learning art. One is by beginning with the basics and then allowing our abilities and talent to develop. The other is for students to freely express themselves, uninhibited, and color “outside of the box” right from the beginning.
I advocate starting with the basics. By learning the basics, what follows is so much easier. In visual art, much is about the logic of light. In life, much is about kindness, gratitude, and respect.
One of the reasons I decided to offer art lessons to kids in the neighborhood is that the public schools allegedly do not teach it anymore. It appears there is more than art that they aren’t teaching anymore, i.e., I see what other educators describe as “out of control” in my own studio. The other reason is I want to pass on what I know how to do and give something back to my community in return for what I have received.
There are two adult students this semester who wanted to join an advanced class without taking the basic courses. Before giving the okay, I asked to see their portfolios or that they enroll in Painting I—in fairness to the other students who have done the lessons in sequence and to have everyone on the same “page.” I am so glad I did because it prepared me for their added and different energies, and to spot what is missing.
Both my youth and adult classes are designed with the same curriculum, but the lessons naturally vary. For the children, who are bright youngsters, I know I must change the activities often to accommodate their attention span and high energy, as well as to challenge them so they don’t get bored and act out. I give them individual attention, rest breaks, and try to make the time fun with surprises. They really keep me on my toes!
As for the adults, I understand that we are older now and perhaps our brains are starting to slow down, so I will be patient and offer reinforcement, such as assigned chapters to read in the textbook in addition to demonstrations. I’ll encourage them to remain open and to try something new, even though they are used to doing things in a familiar way.
Colds and flu have been reasons for absences already, but, yes, please stay home if you are ill and you can catch up later. We will wash our hands when we first arrive, just as we learned in early ed.
I wish we would all get a good night’s sleep on Friday and eat breakfast before coming to class. Do meditate first. Then, please show up with your tuned senses. I am happy to share what I know. And as your aunty and kumu (teacher), I am so very grateful to learn from you.
Rebekah’s Studio 
Recent comments