Monday, October 21, 2024

Waimea Horses
Acrylic 12 x 16
Gallery Wrapped Canvas

$440

 This painting was begun "en plein air" or on location near the war memorial in Waimea. The horses frequently can be found sheltering under the eucalyptus trees at this spot. I began the painting shortly before much needed cataract surgery curtailed my painting activity.  Finished three months later, this is one of several transitional paintings that straddle what was a significant event in the life of an artist. 


Tuesday, September 17, 2024

"When the Sand Goes Out"
Acrylic 8x10 Gallery Wrap
Available $250

 When I was a child we called La'aloa beach "White Sands". The sand moves off shore regularly with the storms of winter and fills back in during calm weather. I did my first swimming in big waves here, at considerably greater risk than my family had any idea. Sometimes called "Disappearing Sands" or "Magic Sands", this is a popular and crowded beach these days, but the pattern of the waves remains familiar! 

This is the second picture finished since the cataract surgery completely changed (for the better) my field of vision. Overwhelmed with newly visible detail, I struggle to redefine what I want to include!

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

High Tide at Kahalu'u
Acrylic 8 x 10 on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

sold


Each painting is both a celebration of a unique spot and a moment, day, week or several weeks of my own personal story as well. This is the first new painting started en plein air after my long awaited cataract surgery. I am loving the renewed detail and color in the world and finding them a bit overwhelming when I paint!

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Hoku'ula from Pa 'Eli Alanui 
Acrylic, 12 x 16 on Gallery Wrap
email the artist janewtaylor@icloud.com


Notes about this painting: It was begun on location and this is a real place. Cows are seen more often there, but I was in the mood for horses, which can also be found in the neighborhood. A favorite walk, this lovely spot invariably makes me happy. However second thoughts must dig deeper:

Every single plant in this view plane represents an introduced species. There are no indigenous plants in this location.

The plants in this picture are: Kikuyu grass, Cook Pines, Desmodium,  Bauhinia, and Wild Olive.


Kikuyu Grass - introduced from Kenya in 1925, this is a major pasture grass in Hawaii. It is probably the main pasture grass in both the green lush paddock and the distant dryer hills in this painting. When I was a child I heard the Parker Ranch cowboys discussing its spread. They liked it as pasture grass and related different places it had spread to.


Cook Pines were probably introduced from New  Caledonia by Captain James Cook. We used to call them  "Norfolk island Pines" and there is some confusion. 

The trees on the distant Hokuula hill were planted in the shape of a P to represent Parker Ranch.  Fortunately in my mind, the shape has deteriorated.  Those were pine trees.

Desmodium (lower left) is a legume introduced for pasture forage. It gets everywhere! There are several types. Desmodium intortum, also known as greenleaf ticktrefoil, was first reported in Hawaii in 1916.  Desmodium intortum is a naturalized cattle forage crop from tropical America. Locally it is often called "clover".

The flowers are Bauhinia. This plant is from Madagascar and  was introduced to Hawaii in the late 1800s or early 1900s, with Joseph Rock and Dr. Lyon of the University of Hawaii distributing seeds. Hawaii has 13 species of introduced Bauhinias. 

Wild Olive is the precursor to commercial olives. From Africa, it  was planted as a windbreak and ornamental ,and has spread widely since the 1950s as birds enjoy the seeds. There is not as much information available about this wide-spread tree as one might expect. 


Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Keokea - The Tide Turns and Wind Picks Up
Acrylic 18 x 24
Recently in the Mana Invitational Show
at Wailoa Center in Hilo

janewtaylor@icloud.com

 

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Kaloko #3
Original
Acrylic on Arches Watercolor Paper
10 x 14
$375
email the artist 
janewtaylor@icloud.com

 Begun en plein air, this continues a sequence of paintings of the Kaloko Fish Ponds. 

Wednesday, February 28, 2024


South From Pu'ukohola
acrylic 12 x 16 on gallery wrap
$440
janewtaylor@icloud.com

 The nice ranger at the Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site gave me permission to paint from the hill in front of the ranger office above the visitor center. It was a day of high surf, interesting light, and storms in the distance. Looking South from Pu'ukohola (the heiau is to my right and out of sight) I could see the campers at Spencer Park and the trail to Mau Mae beach beyond that. Surf was dramatic and I loved the vista from up there! I always love new points of view!

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Kikaua Storm with whales
Acrylic 8 x 10
available $250
janewtaylor@icloud.com

 What a day! I planned to join a group of plein air artists at Kikaua Point in Kona on the Big Island. The trades and rain that were normal around my 3000 foot elevation home stretched all the way to the shore. I had a lovely walk in the rain and was right there when the clouds lifted and the morning light came in. The whales spouted, the canoes went out, the surfer began to catch waves right there in the rocks - all very dramatic. You will have to zoom in to find all the activity! I did encounter one other intrepid artist but headed home to finish this after sketching in the rising wind.

Friday, January 5, 2024

Good Buddies at kaloko Fishpond
12 x 16 Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped canvas
Sold

 Down an unpaved road through the lava is a hidden gem - the Kaloko fishponds. I was out on the breakwater, looking back at the glassy and magical ponds. Newly arrived from Alaska, migrating birds were resting up and enjoying a comfortable inter-species companionship. (Ulili or Wandering Tattler, and Kolea or Pacific golden plover)