When the Full Moon Was at the Zenith

This 10" x 8" watercolor in notebook is for sale $ 100
At her Hawaiian ShangriLa home when the full moon was at the zenith point of the midnight sky, Doris Duke would have jazz jam sessions. I painted a reflection of the past in a window by her garden. I imagined her feeding her pet koi when the moonlight spilled over her waterfall and moonbeams danced.

Comparing ShangriLa to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel

On my recent trip to Christmas Island, Kirabati I painted in the shade.


On the same trip on Oahu, Hawaii I toured and painted at both Doris Duke's ShangriLa, now a museum, and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Both were inspired by the exotic Orient but are as different as day and night. The Royal Hawaiian is a huge structure and the entry is more massive to support the weight of the building resulting in an imposing entrance giving a feeling of darkness and heaviness in the interior while ShangriLa is full of whimsy and light. The smaller home blends in tune the surrounding landscape with the arts of Islamic cultures. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel as I remember it in the early 60's had a male dominance over the landscape before it was hidden by skyscrapers. ShangriLa has a woman's artistry in every detail.

Comparisons

Two watercolors in 8" x 10" notebook, for sale $100 each










Doris Duke was the richest woman in the world and Agnes of the mini Hotel had about the least on a desert isle but they both created beauty in their homes. Their homes were both built around a courtyard and brought the outdoors inside. Both played with lighting effects. Light is free.

Playful Designer/Doris Duke

Two 10" x 8" sketchbook watercolor paintings for sale. $100 each.

Doris wanted to make her home reflect the mystery and the exotic Orient she knew from the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments."






I felt happy and playful painting a series of Doris Duke's bedroom garden. I think any woman can be playful in our homes. Having unlimited sources of money has nothing to do with effects of lighting and bringing nature into our homes.

A Painter Sees Doris Duke's legacy of ShangriLa, Hawaii

This 8" x 10" notebook watercolor painting is for sale. $100
Just a few days old Doris Duke's infant died. She was divorced twice. Her inherited fortune begot on people's dependence on nicoteen was not to be wasted. Abhoring what she felt was a shallow life of a debutant, she poured her spirit for the rest of her 84 years into heathy living creating beauty around herself. Doris created her own peace thorough blending the Islamic arts of architecture and organic landscaping in harmony with the natural Hawaiian life style, country side and ocean.

Immigrants' Dreams

A second painting following "Immigrant's Dream" is "On Community Spirit" It is also acrylic on museum wrapped canvas, 30" x 40"x 2", for sale $400. I painted this one out under our patio cover thinking of nature's colors and then these spirit swooshes took form. I gave them a name, the spirits of community. They embraces disparate entities and brings them together as a harmonious whole.

This painting is not for sale yet.
All people have in their ancestry immigrants. Their dreams are universal.This painting marks an end for now to a series including two other paintings "The Spirit of Community" and "Welcome Immigrants." A new series is beginning but I am not going to post a blow by blow account of the process. I'll wait to post my paintings until they are resolved the week of January 30th. I hope.

Oregon Tempest

This painting is not available for sale.

On the second day of 2006 the sun and my easel came out on the Oregon Coast just south of Lincoln City.

Explosive Surf near Lincoln City, Oregon