Beginning Sketchbook Journaling Workshop

Beginning Sketchbook Journaling
at the National Tropical Botanical Gardens Southshore Visitor Center
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.(lunch break will be from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m.)

Join Kauai artist, Marionette, as she teaches you how to start your own sketchbook journal using the beautiful surroundings of the botanical gardens for inspiration. She will teach you how to use pencil, pen & ink, watercolors, watercolor pencils, and colored pencils to create field sketches of Kauai's flora and fauna. She will also suggest what information to include to make your journal unique, full of your own observations, and a lasting memory of your time on Kauai.

What you should bring: A light weight folding chair, a hat, sunglasses, suntan lotion, water, a sack lunch.

Optional to bring (but recommended): Insect repellent, a digital camera, a raincoat.
The gardens do have bottled water for sale and if you need a folding chair, please let Marionette know in advance so she can provide one.

Cost is $75 per person and includes your own high quality sketchbook journal to take home. Prepayment is required to guarantee your spot in the class.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the gardens.
Class size is limited to 5 people.
In case of bad weather the class will be canceled and all students will be given a full refund.

For more information or to register, please visit: http://kauaiartclasses.blogspot.com/

Second Annual Summer Fine Art Festival

Join us under the tents at the beautiful gardens in Poipu, Kauai (across from Spouting Horn) for a free, fun and exciting family event.

Visit with local artists Helen Turner, Anna Skaradzinska, Lilian de Mello, Dava Shepherd, Patrice Pendarvis, Elizabeth Ferris, Susan Strom, and Marionette.

Fine Art will be for sale in a variety of mediums such as paintings, photography, mixed media, and more with a portion of the proceeds going directly to the gardens.

Live entertainment will be provided by Anela Saxon, Jeff Iglesia, and Dr. Matthew Miller.

Happy Snacks will be offering their delicious Thai food, smoothies, and other snacks. Shave ice will also be available.

For more info please visit www.womenartistsofkauai.org or www.ntbg.org .

Kauai Fish Tales

Yesterday we finally found some time in our busy schedules to take a day and GO FISHING! My hubby took me to this secret spot on the island of Kauai which is one of his all time favorite fishing and relaxing beaches. We only saw one other person all day, and he was far off in the distance collecting opihi by the rocks.

On Kauai it is pretty difficult to find "whole" seashells as they are usually smashed against the lava rocks and reef by the waves. Here is a closeup of some tiny shells that made it along with a nice piece of beach glass and an opihi shell which is quite common.
These beautiful flowers called pohuehue were found all along the beach. They remind me of morning glories.

Here's my hubby getting our fishing gear ready.

Here he is getting ready to throw his pole out over the rocks and into the reef. This is no easy task!
The first catch of the day by my hubby. This is a rock fish and he called it by it's Hawaiian name, opo kai. I tried to look this up, but couldn't find it. Maybe it's the local name for this kind of fish.

Here's a crab that's seen better days.

And, here I am finally fishing after taking lots of photos. I was trying to catch something in this small pond made by the rocks. I figured, that every time a wave came, it would bring some fish into the pond.

I was right! Another rock fish and it was a little bigger than the one my hubby caught!

Here they are in the bucket. Mine is the larger one :-)

Fishing is such hard work ;-) that I thought I would take a coconut break!

My hubby's second catch of the day was a two foot eel! Yikes! Luckily he was no longer alive when he pulled it in. I guess they can be quite aggressive and bite. Well, this one will go in the freezer, and we will use him for bait on another fishing day.
I actually caught another rock fish just before we left our beach for the day! It was even bigger than my first one! (The one on the right). This is how they looked once they were cleaned up and scaled.
Here they are pan fried crispy with a little salt and pepper! They are bony fish, but had a nice, mild and sweet taste. Very delicious. I think I'll go catch some more!


Hope you have enjoyed this "Slice of Kauai". Aloha from the Garden Island!
Marionette
www.kauai-artist.net

Warning! Pirates Coming to Kauai

Ahoy Mateys! This summer "Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides" will begin filmin' on the island o' Kauai. Aye. T' celebrate Me will be ha'in' my 'ery own Treasure Hunt on Etsy. Gar!

Startin' today, go t' my Etsy shop at www.kauaiartist.etsy.com and look through my items t' find the treasure chest image. Aye. When you have found it, send me an email at Marionette@kauai-artist.net tellin' me the title o' the item whar the treasure chest is located. Me will collect names until May 10, 2010 and will draw one lucky winner out o' my pirate's hat. The buried booty that is the prize is my original watercolor paintin' Beautiful Na Pali measurin' 7"x8.5".

Arrr, check my blog often for clues. I be wishin' you much good luck in your treasure hunt, matey! Aye, me parrot concurs. The winner will be announced here on my blog on May 11, 2010. Well shiver me timbers!

Clue #1: The treasure chest will not be found at Shipwreck's Beach nor any other beach.
Clue #2: Don't bother looking in the bamboo.
Clue #3: I wouldn't go knocking on any doors.
Clue #4: No "BIRDS" of Paradise.

Drum roll please.................................And the winner is Nancy MacGillivray! She was one of several people who found the treasure chest hidden under my "Love" print. Mahalo to everyone who participated in my first Treasure Hunt!!!!

Aloha,
Marionette

Kauai's Orchid and Art Festival 2010

This past weekend I was honored to be teaching "Painting Kauai's Exotic Orchids" at the Hanapepe Orchid and Art Festival. This is a photo from Friday's class that took place at Amy Lauren's Gallery.

This artist said that she normally does oil painting and that this is her FIRST watercolor. I think she did a beautiful job on this one!

Another gorgeous start to a beautiful orchid painting!

A lovely orchid painted by a young lady who just turned 13 years old! Happy Birthday!

Now this was the most unique and imaginative painting! This eight year old student painted the top painting, and then she decided she wanted to put her orchid in a pot. So she drew out and did the bottom painting to connect the two all from her own imagination!

Here's where the class was held.

After the class I took a walk around to see the "Orchid Show".

Then I took a stroll around Hanapepe Town to visit the art galleries there.

They even had a classic car show.

Here's the painting I worked on during my second class on Saturday.

Another beautiful piece by one of my students.

Here's a glimpse of Hanapepe and the famous Banana Patch Studio.

www.kauaiartclasses.blogspot.com

I hope you've enjoyed this pictorial about our little orchid festival!

Aloha and Happy Creating,
Marionette
www.kauai-artist.net

Online Watercolor Class - The Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise

reference photo

This is the second of my online art classes, Watercolor Tropical Flowers of Kauai - The Bird of Paradise. We start with a reference photo (above) and then I show you how to draw and paint this amazing flower step-by-step through video, text, and photos. I also provide a detailed art supply list. Plus, you can work at your own pace!

Here's a sneak peak of one of my videos:

If you are interested in taking one of my online art classes, please email me. You need to have a Facebook account to participate. The class fee is a voluntary donation of $10 per class. I am currently offering a watercolor landscape class, the watercolor bird of paradise class, and a beginning sumi-e (bamboo) class.

PAINTING PARADISE ON FACEBOOK

New Sumi-e Style ACEOs

I love to dabble in this beautiful art form by creating these precious, minature original paintings from time-to-time. Each one measures just 3.5"x2.5" and are sometimes referred to as Artist Trading Cards or ACEOs. ACEO stands for art cards, editions and originals. They are like sports trading cards for artists and are a very popular item being sold and collected over the internet. The only requirement for creating one is that it should measure 2.5" x 3.5" (the standard size of a sports trading card). The medium used to create one is limitless - watercolor, acrylic, pencil, photography, oils, just to name a few.

These original watercolors can be purchased for only $15 each at my Etsy Gallery: http://www.kauaiartist.etsy.com .

Aloha and Have a Wonderful Day,
Marionette
http://www.kauai-artist.net