That was fast. :oD

Sold this Color Study yesterday. :o) Just wanted you to get a chance to see it!

1: natural light

2: glowing

The Big Island Chronicles - Pua (Flowers)

Pretty. :o)









Next up: The CAST of The Big Island Chronicles! :oO

The Big Island Chronicles - Honu

I'm not sure there's anything more calming in Hawaii than floating above a turtle, occasionally making eye contact with it as it moves ever-so-slowly along the sea floor. At one point, the turtle in question reached out and grabbed some coral (I wasn't even aware that they had grabbing abilities) and swung himself around to look at us. He wasn't upset we were there, as far as I could tell. It was more like he turned around to say "Hey. Howzit? I'm just gonna hang here a sec, cool? How are you? How you doin'? Having a nice day? It's a little choppy out here I guess, if you're not used to it. ... Well, anyway, I should be heading out. There's some good kine coral out over there. I guess I'll see you guys later." And then he swam away.

Okay that might not have been exactly what he was thinking, but that's what I'm going with.







I didn't get as close to the turtles as these pictures might lead you to believe, but I did have a really great camera and a telephoto lens. :o) I sat near them for awhile, and they could hear the sound of the shutter, and would slowly open an eye to see what I was doing. Once assured that I was just another tourist, they shut their eyes again and went back to napping.

Personally, I would never question a turtle.

Tattoo

Not mine. Colin designed this for Becky. She wanted a tattoo of her sons' names.

Max & Lucas.

Indelibly Scarred For Life

Can you imagine the pressure designing something that she will be looking at for the REST OF HER LIFE?! Me neither.


It looks AWESOME though. Yay Beck!!


By the way, Colin has a new blog! Woo!

The Big Island Chronicles - St. Benedict's Painted Church

Always a very interesting place. One thing that I notice upon exiting our car is the silence. I'm sure it's simply because everyone visiting has respect for the grounds (and anyone that might be praying within the church) but it feels more intense than that. It's a powerful silence.

The church is surrounded by a beautiful cemetery, which overlooks the whole area down to the ocean when it isn't voggy and overcast. The vog was a little depressing here. It wasn't just that it made the area cloudy and gray. The real evidence was how the leaves and flowers were all singed and brownish along the edges. Kind of weird. I could also taste it slightly in my mouth. Bleh.

The church is really neat, and the paintings inside are quite interesting, but to be honest, I really go there for the incredible gravestones. I love that picture with the bougainvillea. :o)

My favorite image is the last one. I am intrigued by the haunting, sad words on the cross set against such a gorgeous, diverse, colorful background. Really neat.

St. Benedict Roman Catholic Church
84-5140 Painted Church Road
Captain Cook, Hawaii (HI) 96704
Phone: 808-328-2227

The Big Island Chronicles - An Overview

Hawaii was amazing. Three universes of awesome. This was our third trip there. Each time we love it more. We felt very comfortable getting around in Kailua-Kona.

There were a number of firsts for us, though, which I'll write about in detail once I have the pictures to post with them. We took lots and lots of pictures. I'd estimate around 4000 pictures. In fact, one of the best parts of the trip was getting to experiment with our new camera equipment. I can't wait to show you some.

In the meantime, here are some iPhone photos I took at various points along the way.

I have so much to say about our time there. I became entranced with Waipio Valley. I enjoyed so much Kava. I was saddened by the amount of vog plaguing the island. I saw so many whales. I saw baby whales. Whales, everywhere you looked.

It was amazing. Hawaii is nothing short of magical.