On The Willamette

18x24 oil

I grew up in the shadow of one of Hawaii’s most talented plein air and studio painters, William Twigg-Smith (1883-1950), whose art filled our home and the homes of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I have five-year-old memories of being in the luxuriously mysterious hideaway under his house where he framed and stored his art. He once stuck a nickel in my ear and pulled it out the other side. Never did figure out how he did that. One of my aunts, my mother, an uncle and several of my cousins (even once and twice removed) were, and are, accomplished artists as well — painters, musicians, multi-media craftsmen, fabric designers, filmmakers, photographers and sculptors. My artistic contribution as a young person was the oh-so-uninformed yearbook caricature rendering of each of my fellow students in my graduating high school class. Art — most prominently my grandfather’s oil paintings — was a huge part of my growing years.

Today, after a lifetime in literature and music, visual art has arisen inside me once again. Besides utterly enjoying what I do as an artist, my only intention is to create personal interpretations of the miracle that surrounds us all. That’s it. I have no other agenda. Enjoy!