Evelyn Musacchia: Laupāhoehoe Farmers Market’s Little Old Rock Lady
By Jessica Kirkwood When I first met Evelyn she was sitting behind a table of brightly painted rocks, her slight frame illuminated by sparkling green eyes and rosy cheeks. “Welcome to the teenie tiny Laupāhoehoe farmer’s market,” she said with…
The Road Less Traveled—Destination: Diane Renchler’s Toulouce Gallery
By Jessica Kirkwood When traveling up the Hamākuā coast I often I often turn makai (towards the ocean) off the main highway, just seven miles north of Hilo, in favor of the old Māmalahoa’s four-mile scenic route. Each time I…
Meet Sustainable Reggae Artist Sahra Indio
By Jessica Kirkwood Reggae—with its catchy rhythms and poignant messages—was born on the island of Jamaica in the 1960s and made its way to Hawai‘i nearly two decades later—right around the time Sahra Indio first landed here, too. “I identify…
Marked Teachings: Tattoo as Transformative Art
By Jessica Kirkwood The tattoo is not just a form of art, but a sacred dance in symbolic healing. Marked in momentum, the rhythm beats fast from the coiled snake. Journeying, thoughts come forth from the void. Let them go.…
Professing Change
By Jessica Kirkwood As humanity faces ecological degradation, increasing social and economic inequality and a growing sense of fear, dissatisfaction and unrest, UH-Hilo Professor Dr. Catherine Becker wants her students to imagine and create a Hawai‘I that is environmentally sustainable,…
Healing Grass: the Amazing and Versatile Vetiver
By Jessica Kirkwood Just past the 7-mile marker, above Mamalahoa Highway along the Hamakua Coast, sits the quaint little town of Papaikou. The directions read: hang a left up mauka about a mile; there will be some cows on your…
Angel of Aloha
By Jessica Kirkwood Kalau Iwaoka will tell you without hesitation that her life’s goal is to be the embodiment of Aloha. And so far she’s good at it—really good. If you passed her on the warm and weathered street of…
