Mandala Painting

I finished this henna style acrylic mandala painting on 24x24 wooden panel today. As my month long art show at Mother Fool's coffee house in Madison is wrapping up (last day is 3/1), I am excited to start some new projects. I have sold 6 paintings so far from this show and three of the pieces were really popular! As everything else in life is kind of roller-coaster crazy for the last few months, painting has been very therapeutic and seems to be the only thing to keep my mind occupied without getting distracted. All the paintings in the show are listed on Art by Bala and will be available for sale on March 1st. Affordable original art supporting the community :)

Dinner at Hilo Bay Cafe

Ever find yourself in Hilo, don't skip out on having a delicious dinner at Hilo Bay Cafe! And don't get put off by their location. Though they are located between office max and wal mart, once you enter, you will be pleasantly surprised by their upscale ambience. We had to convince a couple of our friends to go there for dinner, but the food makes up for all the trouble. The art on their wall was inspiring for me. They do have almost daily specials too. And what more, their food is local and organic. Yum!!!

We shared the appetizer, another daily special. 

S had the Hamakua mushroom potpie

I tried the three cheese and mushroom pastry, with spicy green pesto. Was the best dish of the evening!

And we finished with a rum-infused panna-cotta, mango & pineapple coulis and a macadamia nut shortbread cookie. 

Punalu'u Black Sands Beach in Hawaii

In contrast to the Green Sands Beach, the Black sands beach is very accessible and have facilities around! This is the perfect place to watch the Green Sea Turtles. We saw so many of them feeding by the tidal pools among the rocks. And you can also see them swimming. I was surprised to see them tossed around by the waves. Something I hadn't quite thought of before. That before the force of nature even the mighty turtles are not so mighty :) The black sands are basically from the weathered lava rocks. They are soft and very light. We also watched a local fish here and catch some of the species we didn't see while snorkeling. 

Vastness of black sands interspersed with the coconut and palm trees

Don't touch the turtles!

It is quite fantastic to see the turquoise and white waves against the black sands!

Green Sands Beach @ Hawaii

The follow-up to my post on the South Point. We have been reading about the Green Sands beach and were intrigued. Only draw back -- not allowed to drive there with a rental car. Even if it was a 4-wheel drive. So from the South Point, we drive to the parking lot for the Green Sands and were debating if we could just hike to where we can at least see the beach, as the guide book we were looking at said we have to jump down 4-feet rocks to make it to the actual beach. Guess what! The guide book was wrong and missed some important stuff. Like how there are locals who do shuttle people back and forth from the parking lot in 4-wheel pick up trucks. $20 for a couple. We paid $15 and it was worth every penny. And there is a path to get down to the enclosed beach. We even saw a few turtles there. If you find yourself in the neighborhood, don't bother with the hike. And more importantly dont try to drive there yourself and get stuck! We shared our ride with about 7 others and it was fun :)

From the view point!

Green Sands from Olivine crystals, a by-product of volcanic activity.

Surrounding cliffs, not olivine.

The paths to the beach. Definitely a bumpy ride!

Panel: 4 -- Henna Style on Wood

Here is one of the latest in the series. I love the copper + teal blue color with white henna texture. The panel measures 11x15 inches. Acrylic and finished with varnish. Needs to be hung at a slight angle to avoid reflection on the metallic color. Saw this color theme by one of our local artists during the art show in October and wanted to try it out. Mirror in the center. Will be listed for sale as soon as I can get my act together with Bees Beads & Colors! Last month was pretty busy with a lot of travel and this month is looking more crazier with work and also job applications. I got to spend part of today painting on a few gesso boards, after a delicious brunch of homemade Columbian style Arepa at a friend's. I am starting a couple of diptych's like this and also a small 5x5 four piece. Hopefully I can finish them sometime soon :) I have promised myself that I will sit and work on an Artist's statement after I complete 10 in the series and send samples to coffee shops in the city. Goal is to have an exhibit in town before I finish this position in June!

South Point in the US

On the last day, on our way back to the airport, we stopped at a few beaches. One of them, which turned out to be more of a cliff than a beach was the Southern most point in the US, simply called South Point or Ka Lae. Huge Cliffs with a lot of people fishing and the vast blue ocean in front. We were surprised by how crowded it was there with mostly local folks. The drive to this point was about 12 miles from the highway and is paved. We passed an out-dated windfarm and another new one nearby. As you drive here, you will see beautiful scrub trees bending with the  wind with squiggly branches. In the nearby towns you will find everything "southernmost" -- bakery, restaurant, etc.

We went to the South Point first, spent some time, chatted with a few out there and enquired about Green Sands Beach (on the next post).

This is one of the boat pulleys at South Point. These days I think it is just used for cliff jumping.

The water was so inviting. This is apparently the best place to catch a 150-pound yellow-fin tuna!

And there was also this little hole into which some adventurers were diving! And one of them invited us to try it too. No way :)

Carrots & Peanut Soup

It's not quite soup season in my home yet, so here is a recipe from the archives. I need this motivation to start thinking about using the butternut squash from our garden this year into a batch of delicious soup! I am a  big fan of texture in food and even my pureed soups have to be textural :)

Ingredients: Carrots - 4 diced, Potatoes - 2 - diced, onions - 1 yellow - sliced; Peanuts - 1 cup (I used raw); Peanut butter - 2 tbsp; Red Chilies - 2; Salt & Pepper - to taste. Vegetable broth; 

• In a soup pot, add olive oil (I might have also added a little butter :) )
• Once hot, add red chilies and let the flavor infuse in the oil for a few minutes.
• Add the sliced onions and saute till translucent.
• Add the carrots and potatoes, peanuts and let it cook for 8-10 minutes. 
• Add water and vegetable broth. Stir in the peanut butter.
• Bring to boil, simmer for few more minutes.
• Season with salt & pepper.
• Puree to desired consistency.
• Serve hot! Mine was garnished with a spoon of yogurt and crushed peanuts.

Art Inspirations from Hawaii

One of the best things out of spending two weeks on the Big Island, Hawaii, is finding quite a few artists similar to my painting style. Big inspiration. I hope I am able to find the time to channel some of this inspiration and have some creative fulfillment. Expect to see some of their influence in my future works, especially similar to the last but one (Its acrylic on wood). I couldn't quite keep track of the names of the artists for many of these, and one whose work I have not pictures here, is Pamela Sukham. I am in love with her work! But for now, check out the paintings below and revel!