A Beautiful Hawaiian Day
Lately there has been a lot of renewed interest in the book I illustrated called“A Beautiful Hawaiian Day”.
Let me tell you how that came about.
Many moons ago, I did a painting of a little girl on Lanikai Beach.
“Lanikai Afternoon”
Watercolor on Paper
22″x30″
That painting touched a lot of people. It was one of my first giclees and it sold very well.
That was really exciting! I loved the sweetness of this little girl all by herself on the beach.
I was thrilled that other people liked it too.
I must confess that as an artist, I am a teeny bit insecure (ssshh – don’t tell anyone).
I love the paintings that I create. I love the process. I love the suspense of watching the paintings evolve and when I am finished, they are like my kids. I am tickled that I can look at them and think “I did that”. Who knew! But the even more amazing thing is that other people really like them!
I know that I am not a middle of the road type of artist. My work isn’t generic. I know my colors won’t appeal to everyone. However, they make me really happy. Over the years I’ve been told that if I were to just tone down this or be a little more subtle about that, I might sell more. Possibly. But then I wouldn’t want to paint them. One of my first art teachers told me that I had to “take it easy with the color”. I hate to sound like a stubborn brat, but I just don’t want to.
(Sorry, I have digressed a bit)
So….
For several years I used the painting of the little girl on my business card.
My husband, Steve (aforementioned Webmaster, BT) who also happens to be a brilliant editor, Apple trainer and all around computer Guru was working on a project with the fantastic singer and songwriter Henry Kapono.
If you aren’t familiar with Henry’s work, please check him out at http://henrykapono.com
I asked Steve to ask Henry if he would like to collaborate on a children’s book. Steve gave Henry my card. Henry was touched by the image of the little girl on the beach. Not long after that, he came up with the story for “A Beautiful Hawaiian Day” which begins with a girl picking up a magic shell on a beach.
Because of Henry’s incredible reputation, we found a publisher immediately. That is when we discovered that if we wanted the book to be ready to hit the shelves by that Christmas, I had to create 14 paintings in 5 weeks. Gasp. Now I can be as obsessive compulsive as the next person, but 5 weeks?!!!!
I did it! Stay tuned for how it happened….
