Koloa Town Gallery Hopping and Kim Starr

So!  We've returned from a lovely time away to Kauai.  This is me just enjoying the property at the Hyatt, our home for a week.  It was pretty hard to take having people cook all of our meals, make the bed every day, clean the toilet as needed, etc. etc.

We drove to Old Koloa Town one afternoon.  It's a very quaint street of shops and restaurants and was actually the site of the first sugar plantation in the 1800's.

As I was enjoying paintings in a gallery there, I was drawn to a piece done of a woman strolling on the beach.  The movement of the woman along the shore was so calming, and I immediately recognized the pallet and style of the artist.  The owner had just explained that most of the art in his gallery was his, and ALL of the art was done by local Kauai artists.

I think I squealed a little, quickly turned around and asked in an excited voice "did this artist do a series of ocean scenes with a beach ball years ago" to which he replied yes.  All of a sudden I recalled Jack and I day-tripping around the isle years ago and happening upon an artist's gallery which was located all alone in an isolated area farther up the coast.  I really admired the art and the artist's husband explained that his wife had just done the series that I was seeing of a colorful beach ball at the shore.  Her pallet was what drew me initially; then each piece had a little different focus from the beach ball, to the shadow of the beach ball, to the ocean, to the sky, then to a differently colored beach ball.  Her husband shared that Kim had tied the ball to a pole and he held it while she painted, or photoed or she held it and he photoed, can't remember specifics except that there was a very specific plan for this series of paintings.  He gave me a brochure of her art and I kept it, admiring it for many years.

Back to present time and Mr. Riso is telling me he has one of those beach ball paintings in the window at the side of his shop.  At first I can't find the side window and am embarrassed to bother Mr. Riso again as I think I have insulted him by being so interested in the beach ball artist and not his art.  Finally around the corner, in an inside alley-like corridor I find the painting by KIM STARR, Kim Starr is the signature on the piece.  It's a beach ball dancing lightly in the air at the shoreline with the waves coming down behind and around it and there is the wonderful shadow on the sand below it!  This beach ball is in different colors than I remember so apparently I didn't see the whole series back 10 years ago, or the series continues.

Back at the hotel, I google Kim Starr and find all kinds of sites that she is a party to, though I haven't found a blog or any kind of words from her which would make me sooo complete.

The Universe has spoken though and my pallet of color will be changing in 2013.  I also began sketching every day while away and will continue that here at home from my window.  I may even begin another blog...At My Window...stories that are about life and not necessarily art stories which I will still be sharing here.