Aloha Spirit

16x32" oil on canvas w/ custom mixed media/ash in paint depicting new growth sprouting from the ashes of Lahaina's historic Banyan tree with custom burled wood frame

"With the lights all gone, leaves turned to ash and rose colored glasses removed from my eyes - I finally see you.

No more birds singing from your perch, people chatting beneath your bough, and stillness all around - I finally hear you.

I too was planted here and allowed to grow strong; every branch a new journey supported by local soil, a community holding me up as I grew. For years I walked by you in a hurry; on my way here or there and now, with all that static come and gone, I feel you... still standing...stronger than all those things which masked themselves as "important". I feel you Lahaina.

You can never be taken by mere elements because no one part of you stands alone - your community is rooted in the soil of pure love. of Aloha. I see not a burnt tree but something beautiful, as if for the first time. What do you see?"