Beauty and the Beasts: The Art and Craft of Hawai‘i’s Big Game Lures
By Jim Harrold If you ever venture on a Kona sportfishing charter, you’ll likely note that the fanciful handcrafted lures trolled behind the boat don’t look anything like common bait for ono, mahimahi, ahi, and marlin. The colorful lure heads,…
Talking Story With Jerry Benson, Master Canoe Builder
By Mary L. Moody When I first met Jerry and Leina‘ala Benson in October 2011, I was unaware that their neighbor and good friend, Herb Kāne, had died earlier that year, in March. Having recently moved to the island from…
Ipu Stories—From Seed to Stage
By Nancy S. Kahalewai There are few things as unique as the feel, shape, sound, texture, decoration, source, and even lineage of a Hawaiian ipu drum. Pahu (drums) are part of the bedrock of traditional Hawaiian hula traditions, dancing, and…
Aircrete: A Versatile DIY Building Material
By Mālielani Larish Adopting a yoga tree-pose, Stefanie Fisher effortlessly holds an aircrete block skyward. Surrounded by the model aircrete home that she is helping to build, the sunlight streaming in through the dome’s atrium illuminates her smile. “Here, try…
Kawaihae I: Bringing an Ahupua‘a Back to Life
By Jan Wizinowich During Kamehameha’s time, the ahupua‘a (land parcel) of Kawaihae fed thousands of people with its rich ocean resources and highly developed field system, irrigated from the abundant Kohala watershed. Now there are only remnants of that time…
The Meaningful Construction of Daifukuji Soto Mission
By Fern Gavelek The burgundy-colored building with white trim on Highway 11 at the entrance to Honalo (South Kona) is the landmark Daifukuji Soto Mission. The temple sits a bit off the road on the mauka (mountain) side, adjacent to…
A Lifetime in the Trees: The Vision of Skye Peterson, Treehouse Aficionado
By Lara Hughes Skye Peterson moved to Honolulu on O‘ahu in 1980. He was a young pilot flying small planes, and he didn’t really like the work or life in the city, so he moved to the countryside of Lanikai…
The Waiaka Lindsey House: Time Capsule of Waimea History
By Jan Wizinowich Nestled at the foot of Kohala Mountain, the Lindsey house is the heart of what was once a historic Waiaka homestead and is a tribute to the memories of many who grew up in Waimea. The abundant…
Fifty Shades of Blue: Artist Helen Nahoopii
By Ma‘ata Tukuafu When Helen Nahoopii was a young girl, she was known as the “creative one” in the family. Her mother, a chemist and tax consultant, recognized that Helen saw the world in a unique way; she didn’t think…
Woodworking: A Love Story
By Catherine Tarleton Award-winning wood artist Timothy Shafto is part artist, part engineer, and part impresario. A stonemason by trade and self-taught woodworker, Tim presently paints—pours, actually—large epoxy, sand, and wood wall art, using special techniques he has developed over…
Aunty Doreen Henderson: Fascination with Feathers
85 Years of Perpetuating an Elegant, Native Hawaiian Craft By Karen Valentine With the confidence of a master craftsman who is still working and teaching at age 92, Master Kumu Doreen Henderson’s eagle eye marks each student’s feather work and…
Hawai’i Island’s Famous “Painted Church”
By Denise Laitinen An incredible example of American folk art, St. Benedict Catholic Church in Captain Cook is one of the most well-known and colorful churches on Hawai‘i Island. Tucked into the slopes of Mauna Loa among coffee farms above…
Iris Viacrusis: Creating Fashion from Paris to Paradise
By Mālielani Larish Dressed in a velvet azure gown made by Hawai‘i Island fashion designer Iris Viacrusis, and adorned with a peacock feather collar that she had handcrafted herself, Aunty Doreen Henderson graced the 2013 Merrie Monarch stage with an…
Behind the Scenes at the Merrie Monarch Festival
By Leilehua Yuen A month before the opening kāhea (to call out) of the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival, the Edith Kanaka‘ole Stadium is filled with sound. Saws shriek, hammers pound, drills buzz, sanders growl, and the pine resin smell of…
Hale Ohia Cottages’ Hidden Charms: Volcano Cottages Celebrate 25th Anniversary
By Alan D. McNarie Nestled among a grove of sugi pine trees, a mile or two from the entrance to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, is a unique lodging experience—or rather, twelve experiences. It all began with a large residence, a…
Signature of One’s Life: The Story of Ben Mahi Samson
By Gayle ‘Kaleilehua’ Greco A signature is an imprint, a sign of one’s self that signifies who we are. A signature comes in many forms, as common as a signed name to as subtle as a familiar color. What happens,…
This Old/Beautiful House: Maureen’s Bed and Breakfast
By Paula Thomas Tucked away behind dense jungle foliage and invisible from Kalanianaole Street in Keaukaha is one of the most architecturally interesting homes in Hilo. Known to some as the Saiki home, today it is Maureen’s Bed and Breakfast…
Healing Art: The Metamorphoses of Phan Nguyen Barker
By Alan D. McNarie “Never in my life did I see more beautiful, beautiful flowers, foliage, ocean,” recalls Phan Nguyen Barker (pronounced Fawn), of her first days in Hawai‘i. “So I began painting—painting flowers like crazy.” That’s a story shared…
Kona’s Onion House: The Sydney Opera House Meets Stonehenge
By Barbara Fahs They said it couldn’t be built. Later, they said it couldn’t be repaired. Yet the Onion House stands proudly today in South Kona as a living work of art and innovative architecture. Thanks to the vision of…
Feather Art: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
By Barbara Fahs Na lima mili hulu no‘eau is a Hawaiian expression that means “the skilled hands that touch the feathers.” It honors the ancient art of feather lei, capes, headdresses, and other ornaments. In today’s world, it can easily…
Craftsmanship that Sings: Big Island Ukulele Guild
By Le‘a Gleason I am no stranger to the tangy smell of sawdust and the intense groan of power tools, as my father is an ‘ukulele and guitar builder who has successfully made a name for himself over the last…
Messages to Mars: Artist Jon Lomberg Sends Relics from Today for Civilizations Tomorrow
By Jon Lomberg NASA landed the Curiosity rover on Mars last August to begin a two-year study on Mars at Gale Crater, near the Martian equator. The crater has features that were formed by water long ago, so it is a…
Aunty Elizabeth Malu‘ihi Lee: Lifelong Weaver Seeks to Pass on Hawaiian Tradition
By Cynthia Sweeney Growing up in Kohanaiki in the 1930s during the Great Depression, Aunty Elizabeth never imagined that one day people would come to Kailua-Kona from around the world to learn lauhala weaving from her. “I never knew I…
Vegetable Steel! Miracle Grass!
By John J. Boyle I awake in the ‘ohana to cooing doves in an octagonal room in the low jungle of Kapoho, smiling about how warmly organic the structure is, how much like a finely worked piece of furniture and…
“He Mo‘olelo kō ka Lei”: A Story of the Lei
By Gayle ‘Kaleilehua’ Greco The very symbol of aloha is the lei. And the most cherished expression is that of a child, “He lei poina ‘ole ke keiki,” meaning, “A beloved child is a lei never forgotten.” A celebration and…
It Was a Hard Day’s Night for Cindy Coats: Now She’s Back, With a Little Help From Her Friends
By Margaret Kearns Holualoa resident Cindy Coats recalls distinctly the moment she declared her chosen profession. “I was 10 years old and had just seen the most incredible movie with my mother,” she says. The movie? It was The Beatles’…
High-Tech Textiles Feature Hawaiian Cultural Motifs
By Denise Laitinen Hilo, Hawai‘i, might not be the first place that springs to mind when you think about cutting-edge clothing manufacturing, but one local company is changing that. Punawai, a digital textile printing company, is using state-of-the-art technology and…
Feng Shui Hawaiian Style: Expand, Grow and Manifest your Dreams with the Wood Element
By Marta Barreras Have you been faced with a need to change your life plans lately? Has the economy or other recent challenges impacted your business, your vitality or your relationships? As job loss, foreclosure and unexpected events have continued…
Crafting Hawaiian Woods
By Denise Laitinen Milo. ‘Ohi‘a. Koa. These are just some of the beautiful woods native to our island. As interest surges in using all things local, so does interest in using Hawaiian woods. Big Island woodworkers are turning out dining…
He Knows the Uke from the Inside Out: Sam Rosen—Craftsman, Teacher, and Historian
By Margaret Kearns Longtime Hawai‘i Island resident Sam Rosen is preserving one of Hawaii’s cultural treasures, one student and one ‘ukulele at a time. Soon after relocating to Hawai‘i Island 33 years ago, Rosen found he finally had the time…
