Calistoga Summertime...

Calistoga Paintings!

a sandy stroll at dawn...

Getting used to heaven....

 Sea grapes barely rustle in the wind, and the ocean slaps lazily at the tidal pools worn into the lava shore.  Could I love this wild Hawaiian land more every day...  yes, indeed I do.

I painted this inspired by a small plein air piece I did on site last month, then "winged it" and painted from memory. It's 4' x 4'...ahhh.. it feels great to be workin large again!!

a sandy stroll...
4' x4'
Copyright Lynn Capell 2013

Donkey Mill Day

Here's one I painted last month on the grounds of the Donkey Mill. It was way too windy to head to the ocean (my favorite) , so I had my class paint up mauka.  I liked the upended wheelbarrow in the garden, with the sun just hitting a few of the leaves...

Plein air
Oils on canvas panel
8" x 16"
Copyright L.Capell 2013

O What a Day!!

Soo... you see that nice blue sky and delicate bit of purple horizon...and ahhh ..those golden clouds? Well THAT's how things looked when I arrived at my painting location today, just north of the Honokohau Harbor. Warm and pretty, a gentle breeze..calm waters. Ha!!  It all quickly changed to howling winds ( ok REALLY strong winds!) , grey, grey skies and COLD (yes, cold!!) Yipes! I ended up holding my easel down with one hand while painting with the other, but still my painting blew off twice and I was working as fast as I could  to finish the darn thing. Two hours later the day looked nothing like it had in the morning. One couple walked by (bundled up in sweaters) and said, "gee, how can you paint in this wind?"  (sigh...maybe I better notice those clouds more carefully next time!)

Memories...

There's that thing about boats...the clanking of the halyards on the masts, the salty feel in the air,

the blues and greens and whites... takes me back to  being around the harbors growing up in Florida. Familiar sounds and smells and I'm a kid again, looking at the different boats and wondering where they're going, walking along the piers and looking for my  Dad.

"Plein air"
painted at Honokohau Harbor

Oils on canvas panel 8"x 16"

copyright L. Capell

Honokohau Harbor

Morning sun, swaying masts, lazy talk between boating friends...this was our background as my painting student and I worked some magic at the Harbor yesterday. As paddlers glided by, we quietly painted on till one BIG boat parked right in front of us and blocked our scenery! Aieee!! But still, I had worked just enough to capture this...

enjoy!

Plein Air
3/ 13/ 2013
Oils on canvas Panel
8" x 16"
copyright 2013 L. Capell

Pu'uhonua o Honaunau

"PLACE OF REFUGE" #10

PLACE OF REFUGE  #11

 I love the name of this place... I love the rustling palms that surround and hold me in their soft shadowy embrace...I love the massive stone walls that quietly hold a thousand more stories in their cool stillness, and the tidal  pools in black lava where the ocean comes to rest.  I love it's gentleness... its wildness...its forgiveness. I  look toward the blue mauka mountain haze. I lay my palm against stone... listening, feeling for a Hawaiian heartbeat generations old.

Both paintings were done on location, in oils, in "plein air".

"Wet Paint" for Wednesday!

"Red Pick-up"

Aloha Painters! Tomorrow's Plein Air class will be happening at the Place of Refuge picnic area. It's a wonderfully soothing spot with lots of luscious tropical views in every direction. We'll begin at 9 am, look for 'Ole Blue (my baby blue pick up). If you haven't been to the picnic area, go into the park (there may be a $5. fee) then head catty-corner through the parking lot to the gravel road, and keep driving. 

$30. drop -in fee, (a deal with your Donkey Mill Registration!). All levels welcome!

See you there!

"KAINALU"

 Woo Hooo...Finally!!
Weeks, months, years! of work (well, not really "years", tho sometimes it felt like  it ...)  for this small woodblock print. Lotsa carving, lotsa cranking (by hand) over and over through the press for the different colors.

 Here's the final result, I was able to make about a dozen prints from the 4 carved woodblocks and a drypoint (scratched onto plexiglass, then inked) for the fine lines.

Inspired by the Spotted Eagle Ray,"Kainalu", who lives in the sea water "pond" where I work at Four Seasons Resort,... here's hoping I did justice to his graceful beauty.

You can check out the carving process below... just click on the images...

The block for printing the ray and the fish.
The background was all carved away leaving the ray
and the fish as raised ares to be inked and printed.

The fish shadows block. 
All the rest has been carved away,leaving just
the shadows of the fish raised up to be inked.

The background block.
The ray and the fish and the water swirls were carved out,
leaving only the raised background to be inked and printed.

The block for the light swirls in the water.
The rest of the block has been carved away,
 leaving jus tthe swirls as a raised area. 

Calmin' down...

Painted this one a month ago... heading into Pine Trees (but before the "gnarly bump"!) and standing in the skinny shade of a kiawe tree.

Mornin...

Held my plein air class this morning down by the keiki beach on the north side of Honokohau Harbor. It was warm and sunny with  Hualalai Mountain's purple haze in the distance. A cute dog was "greeting"  everyone walking by while the song of a conch shell beneath the palms signaled a couple renewing their vow of 20 years. The sound of their laughter making ME laugh!
This is the painting I did... 8" x 10 " oils.

Ants in my paints...

  Started out just fine... Ole Blue (my Mazda pick-up) took the winding bumping sandy road with  the really (really) gnarly pitted turn into Pine Trees where I found a serene spot beneath a Heliotrope tree. Set up my easel, ...sweet crashing waves (music to my ears!),... cool breeze on my face, a lone surfer in the sea... I set out my paints and "dove in" to work. Mmmm...heaven! I was lovin it.

  I was about an hour into my painting when another car arrived that parked about 20 feet away.  Out came a partying beer drinking couple, their two huge and very curious dogs and a LOUD tinny sounding radio !! Now theres MILES of deserted beaches around, but noooo... I am at their musical mercy, and boy it was real tough staying in my mellow mood. 

Next (yes, next!) came an enormous truck, and now he drove past all of us to the TOP of the lava at the water's edge (almost into the ocean), flung open the doors and out spill all generations of folks ready for a fun day at the beach. 

"sigh"... I took a deep breath, and kept on painting. (My kingdom for some earplugs!) 

  And then... the drive home. After discovering my purse and my paints were filled with tiny ants from setting them on a tree stump, I dumped the little buggers and nudged the almost stuck truck out of the soft sand and headed south to the road out I remembered from years ago. Only now that road was closed for paving, and the "old" old road which has not seen a car in recent years was the only one left to choose. I got about 3/4 mile till I came to a big rocky pit. And after that stood a crumbly hill of sharp and jagged broken lava. Yet another "sigh". (No, actually it was more of an "arrrggghh!".)  Ole Blue is no 4x4  and she wanted to turn around, but there was no space wide enough. So, backing up a good quarter mile , dodging some tar patches and potholes, and listing into others, I finally got her turned around, nose pointed back to the beach.  Back to brave the gnarly pitted turn (which truly looked waaaay worse going back out)  and finally "whew".. we made it back to solid road. What a good lil' truck- I promised her a car wash!

   Anyway here's the painting!  Such memories are made of this...

  

Soon Come... my first "Hale Kai" Open Studio!

 In April I moved my art into this wonderful garden studio, painted  the floor deep blue (cause all I was missing was the ocean!) and "ta da!" - now I cannot wait  to show some of my newest paintings!  The opening is set for Tuesday May 29, from 4 to 7pm.  

Included are my newest luscious landscape "lava/sea" palette knife series (lots of juicy paint)  and my latest Tango dancers series. (Now there's a variety!)  Might even just put out that latest woodblock print of Natalia.... oh and those watercolors of the Place of Refuge... and hmmm..what about those contemporary pieces I did using Drywall compound... oh and maybe some wine and yummy chesse...

(hey, now it's sounding like fun!) 

Blacks 'n Blues

  Yet another fine day...especially when it involves painting! Once again my favorite spot  on the Kona side (it's a secret...shhhhh..) though I spent hours (really!) trying to escape the drizzle and set up long enough to paint. Soon as I would unfold the easel legs the first darn drops would hit! Ah well... rain IS always a blessing here in the islands. Mahalo nui loa, 'cause I  truly am blessed.

9" x 12". Big fat layers of paint with the pallete knife. No brush. Big mess!! (and crazy fun) Enjoy!

Aloha, Lynn

Woohoo whatta day! Up bright and early to meet with my painting students at Manini Beach, where it was just deliciously beautiful! Sparkling blue- green ocean, hazy purplish tint to the cliffs of Kealakekua Bay and a baby blue sky. We painted our hearts out trying to quickly capture those lava rocks, breaking waves and cliffside silhouettes,  then donned fins and masks and rewarded ourselves with a dip in those deep blues. Darlin, It just doesn't get better than this.

Aloha, Lynn
Ps: painting images "soon come"!

Back to Basics...the nude.

What is more inspiring...( other than the sea?)

I sketched this one a few years back, and recently added paint. 

PS: I'm planning some Life Drawing and Painting Classes for Women

I'll keep you posted... (and may be in need of models...)

Aloha, Lynn

Painting Away in Paradise...

This is  one of my favorite spots here on the Big Island. I 'm always happy painting by the sea and my lil truck ('ole "Dusty") seems to point toward the coast if I give her free rein.  So I took my kit to a small beach by the edge of the lava and painted contentedly for hours in the shade of a scrawny coconut tree. 

Afterwords- my reward!- relaxing in the cool tidal pools. Luscious!

This is my newest (and 'tres exciting!)  way of painting, all done with a palette knife. Very messy too, I might add, or hmmm...perhaps it it just me?  I can only hope I wear the colors well!

Aloha, Lynn

Back in Kona!  

You can take the girl outa Kona, but you can't take Kona outa the girl...

Missed my sunshine and wasn't real thrilled about winter's  howling winds and rain on the northern tip of our fair isle (and molding paintings - yipes!)  So... I moved back.  Now I call "home" a cute bamboo hale with a beautiful of view of the coast.  Ahhhh... now this is Hawaii...

Here's a new one I finished up last month, inspired by my own "lil darlin"...  enjoy...

"DREAMING IN COLOR"  15" X 56" oils on wood panel

KEEI BEACH

   I have a love affair for boats. Something speaks to me in the gentle curve of their sloping sides, their kinship to the sea (especially smaller wooden kayaks and canoes), shaped by hand with love and memory.

  So no wonder I was drawn to paint this plein air scene (on location) at Keei Beach in south Kona. The warm sun, the dappled shade, the boat resting softly on the beach before another voyage out,...always  feels pretty soothing to me.

It is painted in oils on an 8" x 16"  canvas panel  Enjoy.

Aloha, Lynn

WET PAINT!! 9/25/11

Oh inspiration is a funny thing. A phrase, "sea blankets", that I read regarding a different show of art, was the catalyst at first. Then, imagery unfolding, I saw flat bright blues and greens and a woman of the sea. She is big and strong and seducing, as the sea seduces me.... I cannot be away long from those cool waters, that warm embrace, that "other" underwater world. I happily dove into my paints, and here is my newest work from my little hale in Hawi, entitled, "the sea blankets". Enjoy!
Aloha, Lynn