Palm Weavers

When you live in a tropical paradise like Hawaii, you can expect to have lots of visitors. It seemed like every other week, I was on the road to Hana with someone new, either friends or relatives or acquaintances that we hadn’t seen in years. On one occasion with my brother and sister-in-law, we stopped to check out the little stand that had some papaya and other fruits as well as a lei maker and a palm weaving couple. As we walked toward them, a giant breadfruit dropped about twelve inches from Linda’s head. From a height of forty feet a six pound breadfruit could have easily killed her. It splattered on the blacktop and reminded us all that anything can happen at any time of which you have no control.

I took a few photos and one of them, after removing Linda and Chris became the subject of this painting. It is a vivid reminder of that incident. There are times during our lives that we escape death without even realizing the peril we were in until it’s passed. This was one of those moments and I had to put the emotion back into it which is why I choose to use an impression of life rather than a detailed realistic painting. Our memories are impressions, fleeting as they are, but also effect everything that comes after them.

Original Acrylic on Canvas 16″ x 20″