90 in 90 on Molokai, Day 35, Pig Farm

     When we stopped at the pig farm two things stood out, one of them be grateful I can't share. The diversity of animals running around in the field, clearly used to each other, was a surprise, especially the kitten sitting around with the pigs. But the air was so full of methane it probably wasn't safe to light a match. Pigs really aren't cute. This painting is to preserve the memory. It looked like a petting zoo full of happy animals, but in reality it was muddy, stinky and loud. The trick of painting is that only the best part can be preserved. 

90 in 90 on Molokai, Day 34, Pork Bau Bun Sandwich

     Today at the Food Expo in Kualapu'u I found a new home for the baby chicken. Not as a sandwich of course, but with a family whose kids will happily raise the lost chick. After staying up all night comforting the peeping baby I couldn't bring myself to paint a chicken dish, even though all the food was amazing. Quitting my potential career as chicken whisperer we left the expo and stopped by a pig farm to photograph baby pigs, so it's been a circle of life day. My friend who took me to the farm introduced me saying "Hey cousin, your pigs are gonna be on Facebook." I'm glad he laughed, I don't always know how to explain what I do.

9th Annual Molokai Chamber of Commerce Business and Food Expo

molokaichamber.org

Sandwich Tribute:

Chef Chris Schobel–Hula Grill, Kaanapali, Maui

 Pork in a steamed bau bun with pickled veg, fresh cilantro and a smear of Hoisin, garnished with hot sauce.

90 in 90 Molokai, Day 33, Lost Chick

        The babies are hard wired to peep like the house is on fire as soon as their mother is out of sight. Walking back from town today, I heard the racket before I spotted a tiny chick on the side of the road, no mother chicken in sight. Of course I scared the baby and sadly it ran into traffic, missed getting flattened by inches and plunged back into the grass where it was soon hopelessly tangled. Great, still no Mom so I picked the chick up and and went looking. I set it down every now and then so it would make a racket and hopefully the Mom would respond, but no luck. After half an hour of this routine the chick was running back to me. Just to say, I'm typing with one hand because the peeping doesn't stop unless it's curled up in my other hand. I did the entire painting holding it (don't know how to tell if it's a boy or a girl). I've made a few calls looking for a home and I'm sure someone with a farm won't mind one more chicken.

90 in 90, Day 32, Bird of Paradise

     Looking around the yard for flowers I found a huge Bird of Paradise plant, pulled the weeds out of it and cut a few flowers. The first time I came to Hawaii thirty years ago I was amazed by 'house plants' growing like weeds. In a storm huge chunks of philodendrons blew down the road. People use machetes to hack back hedgerows of plants and flowers that we baby indoors in colder climates. Giant clumps of grass grow out of the tops of stop signs and sprout from fence posts. I'm trying to grow vegetables, but the bugs like them as much as I do. The flowers seem nearly immune though.

90 paintings in 90 days, Day 31, Mamo

   

     Puppies simply have to be cute to survive. If  a person chewed off the end of a quilt and pulled all the stuffing out, they would just have to move out. This little guy burns up all his energy chasing something seriously important like a gum wrapper, then passes out face down in the doorway. Time management isn't remotely part of his world. He is so happy that he wags fur off his tail. No kidding, his fur is wearing thin from exuberant wagging. I'd like to have half his energy, even if it meant jumping up and down for no apparent reason and doing naughty things. 

     First 30 days

      I've avoided ranting about what actually makes this project feel like a marathon, but here it is. It is way harder than I thought it would be. I'm a slow painter because I don't draw naturally well. I really have to work at it. I should have done a drawing everyday for a year before starting this. I stand up to paint simply because it's faster and my back would whine if I sat for six or seven hours a day leaning forward at an easel so my feet hurt instead. Some days I feel about as inspired as a banana slug. I'm at the point where I can't judge my own work very well, being critical apparently takes time and setting a deadline means I have to post something whether I'm satisfied or not. I see ways to improve all of them and so far I'm only completely happy with one of them. Plus I have the time management skills of a puppy on my best day. I never guessed that staying organized would be so absolutely necessary.
     Friends have asked to buy them or put them on Ebay for auction, but I can't do that right now. If they didn't sell I might loose my enthusiasm. As a learning project that has turned into a spiritual journey requiring me to forge the depths of my soul for motivation I doubt my fragile ego could survive public apathy. They'll be for sale eventually, after I've moved on to another project. Some of them may need to be used for ho'okupu (see day 30), to request divine inspiration. Only two months to go.   
 

90 paintings in 90 days, Day 30, Offering

     Ho'okupu

      These ho'okupu are small objects tied in ti leaves. They're used for an offering, like lighting a candle in church, to ask for acknowledgement from God or a higher power, what you believe. The inside is personal. I used a flower lei that I'd worn to an event and left the offering among others in a special place.
For more information;
http://hawaii.hawaii.edu/hawaiian/KHaili/hookupu.htm

90 paintings in 90 days, Day 29, Moon

      New Moon

Janet, this moon is for you!
       Tonight I went to friend's house for dinner and we ended up chasing insects with a vacuum cleaner. A bloom of carpenter ants had taken over the house. Life in the country, I swear. They ran up my arms and I couldn't get them out of my hair. While I was chasing the bugs with a shop vac a gecko fell off the ceiling and bounced off my head. Actually, it was the perfect Halloween night complete with primal squealing. Forget ghosts, giant winged ants in Biblical numbers and falling lizards are way more creepy.