The Majesty of Honopu Valley

Inspired by my time touring and exploring the NaPali coast of Kauai.   Honopu valley, also known as the “Valley of the Lost Tribe,” is considered a deeply spiritual place, known to have once housed temples and burial grounds.  Legend has it that this valley was home to the last of the Menehune, a mythical people who some say inhabited the islands before the Polynesians landed.  Just staring up and into the valley, I was overcome with reverence.  There is a majesty to this remarkable place that can only be felt by being there. This was the first of the series to be painted.  I had to abandon control of certain elements of my style and open myself up to a bolder looser expression of the brushstroke and subject matter.  It was a lesson in moment by moment letting go of control and at the same time, an embracing of both deliberate and spontaneous laying in of color.  I felt free and nervous and excited and anxious and grateful all at the same time.