I have a friend who owns an art gallery in Waikiki. It is full of what I refer to as "tourist art", photos, paintings, and prints of palm trees, sunsets and waves. She only sells work made here in Hawaii and it must be reflective of the islands. I sell lava and kukui nut jewelry there and do quite well with it but it isn't a direction I would normally go in. I am more inclined to make dramatic costume inspired neck pieces or leis of recycled items I picked up off the street. But the kukui nut bracelets help pay the rent and sadly that is what it is all about these days.
Anyway, she has been after me from day one to do some art work for her, paintings or the collage boxes I am known for. The problem is, what I am known for and what she offers in her gallery are not the same thing and I have not been able to generate any enthusiasm for making "tourist art". But times are tough and I could use the money so... I thought about melting some wax....
I decided I could stay true to myself and do some tongue in cheek Hawaiiana works that would not be offensive to me or her clientele. And adding wax to the images definitely makes them stand out from all the other offerings out there in the tourist market. Hopefully I have made them interesting enough for anyone to consider.
4 comments:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, those are amazing! Please let us know how they do in her store!
Aloha,
Yoli
Glad to see you back...yes there is always that internal battle for me as an artist...creating something that will sell vs. something that makes your heart sing...and I find they are often not the same thing....Sometimes though a healthy compromise can be found.
I love these pieces you have done....the wax is a lovely touch..hopefully they will sell.
Thanks for dropping in to my blog.
Supria
these are quite lovely, bets. can't wait to see how the mermaids turn out.
;)
Thanks all of you, I so appreciate your support and kind words :)
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