Sensational One

"The Sensational One" is the result of my third travel to the Big Island and is the conclusion of Chapter 3. It's the third painting that captures my own reflection of the beauty and colorfulness of the Pacific island. This time I stayed at the Manago Hotel, very reasonable place run by the Japanese family. I'd go snorkeling and swimming with wild dolphins (the video is also on this blog), almost daily. During the day I would draw and paint, take photographs and make my little videos. I would meet interesting people, musicians, divers, artists, teachers from Hawaii University and curious students. I was even considering taking a part-time teaching job here on the Big Island.

I made numerous sketches of surrounding area, based on them I painted "the Sensational One". It's an artwork of excitement of colors, grace of shapes and complex circular composition that let me forget the miserable state of my mind and as a whole of the economy in usa as a whole. A tropical bush is lightened by morning sun rays and all its leaves seem to strive towards the sun. Every leaf is beautiful on its own with multiple color tons and texture, they create complex universe. The palm trees in the back only suggest the space and scale of these sensational leaves.

The artwork is 60x52 inches, oil on canvas.

The Majestic One

In April and May 2007, I took a month off from my commercial projects and flew back to the Big Island, this time I was on my own, other people and friends that went with me got married, were busy or preoccupied with their life's. I got a bit of tired of monotonous work I was doing and decided to do art for a month or so. This time I found a room in the house of the West side of the Hawaii island in Kona. It was a beautiful place on the volcano with a porch overlooking the ocean. We became good friends with a family and shared a lot of good stories and laughs together. Sparky, my new Hawaiian friend even thought me how to surf and his girlfriend Curly would give us free Starbucks coffee every day!

I would draw, take pictures and make series of cool journals on the island. This was my second trip here, I was already familiar with the landscapes and this time I planned to go a bit deeper into what I already saw on my first trip. I would go snorkeling on a daily basis and drive brand new Mazda 3, the Enterprise would lend me for a month. Of course I missed my friends and fun when you have real close buddies around you. By I've made new friends, sometimes I would give a ride to the hitchhiker and we would share stories. That's how I discovered a spot called Captain Coop and spinning dolphins. Other times I would hear stories about 100 year old tiger sharks and Humpback whales that come to mate and bread small calfs. And it's all very fascinating.

Each artist I think is on a mission to find himself/herself. For some it takes just a walk around the block and they find themselves, for me it takes to fly half of the planet. One beautiful morning I was visiting the Akaka waterfall, it's a spectacular site on the east side of the island, where rain forrest and volcanic mountains create waterfalls. It was around 8am when the sun would bath every plant in that area in its best colors and texture, lights and shadows would mingle and create something magnificent that i never noticed. It was the moment of clarity that gave me the signal to capture this beauty. "The Majestic One" is an oil painting on canvas 55 x 60' that captures this moment as I'd experienced. It concludes the second chapter and my second trip to the Big Island.

Coconut Groove

Back in 2004 in January there was one of coldest winters in New York City. At that time I was a junior at college and we were on the winter break. Me and my friends organized a trip to the Big Island also called island of Hawaii, an adventure of a lifetime! We did not stay in the fancy resorts, neither some overpriced hotels...instead we camped on the beach! 10 of us had some the best times. Daily we would discover a new wow place in the furthermost point from the main continents in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Waking up with the singing of the colorful birds, for a few weeks the idea of Utopia did really exist not only on the pages of the book but in reality. I guess when for the first time you discover azure colors of the ocean, warmth in the air and aloha spirit, it's hard to get back to reality. First time being in the exotic places,one is in constant amusement. We went hiking in the rain forrest one day and met a native Hawaiian, who just killed a pig and was skinning it on the tree. The experience was if you just met Tarzan in real life. He was surprised to meet a group of young kids from New York, and said to say hello to the Big Apple from untouched forests in old Hawaii.

On a personal note, I was very inspired of the far land and its beautiful state and atmosphere. After I got back to NYC, the cold weather was still in control, I thought of the landscapes and the idea to return to the island one more time. And it did happen, and not only once.

This painting is my memory or translation of the first encounters with the majestic beauty of the Big Island.
Oil Painting on canvas, 30 x 40'

actionscripting AS3 studies

I haven't posted in a bit here, because I was busy with different things: i am almost done with a large painting that I have been working for the last year, and I have been studying Flash and AS3. Adobe Flash advanced so much since last time I learned asctionscript that Flash is my new buddy! I like the simplified version of new AS3, it's much more "like a real language" and is great to play around and make some cool interactive and animated things. I also take a class at SVA with Zevan, who wrote a book "Learning Actionscript AS3". Here is a link to my studies in motion, ENJOY!