Hawaii Bound

Have you ever just felt drawn to a place? I have. I feel drawn to Michigan, where I grew up spending my summers, and I try to go back as often as possible. I never expected to feel drawn to Hawaii, even though my sister and I were born there. I just thought it was a beautiful place I hoped to get to see one day. Then, when I had the opportunity to visit there in 2009, I was struck by how that place spoke to me. I thought I was a lake girl, but now I know I'm an ocean girl as well. I know you probably wonder when I'll stop working from pictures from those trips. The answer might be "never."

My sister, Holly, and I are going to Hawaii soon. Both of us have had a rough year, and this trip seems like a good way to get away from it all and an opportunity to soak up the aloha of the islands. Since I will be staying a while, I hope to do some drawing and art journaling, and maybe even try to sell some artwork.

One of these days, I'll have to do a post about traveling to Hawaii on a budget. Not that I know how to do it for free or anything (haven't figured that one out yet!), but there are ways to make it cheaper than most people generally do.

I can't promise to blog everyday. I learned a long time ago, that that is a hard promise to keep. I'll definitely be posting some pictures though, and I'll try to post the good, the bad, and the ugly...whatever I draw while I'm there.

Queen Liliuokalani Gardens

 I did this page long ago, and wasn't happy with it. It's still not what I would have liked, but I kind of like the moodiness of it now. I added some pieces of maps, a fish cut from a tattoo ad, and a little journaling about the day.  The facing page will probably feature a geko....a tattoo influenced geko :)

Polynesian Tattoos..take 2

All done. I toyed with the idea of adding color to the background like the beautiful golden brown skin these tats were on, but I liked the black and white when I was all finished. There maybe be another page like this in my future (so many tats, so little time!), and I might try a bit of watercolor on that one.

Polynesian Tattoos

When we were in Hawaii we saw so many beautiful tattoos. I wonder at the meaning of them, but apparently the meanings could vary from one island to the next or even from family to family...and the meanings of some have been lost through the ages. As you can imagine, each person has a personal story or meaning behind their tat.