Featured Artists: Barbara Hanson & Candace Lee
Featured Cover Artist: Barbara Hanson
Barbara Hanson’s gallery in Hōlualoa Village is an experience that is best done in person, so people can see the process, touch the material, and see the different stages of her artwork coming together.
Barbara is living her dream. She walks into her gallery every morning and says to herself, “What am I going to make today?”
Barbara grew up in San Diego, then attended Humboldt State University. She was an avid beader, and discovered polymer clay during that time. She and her former husband packed up her beads and moved to Hawai‘i in 1991. She started creating art as soon she arrived. She remembers, “We started building canes right before moving here. We started with Kokopelli, and when we brought it here, people thought it was ali‘i, so we started doing petroglyphs, fisherman, and rainbow warriors.” Eventually they got into more complex ideas, and more colors.
Barbara was the resident artist at Kona Village Resort for 20 years until it closed after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake. After that, her art was featured in resort art shows at the former Hapuna Prince, Mauna Kea Resort, and Four Seasons.
She’s had four of her own galleries since then and is now in her “dream” gallery in Hōlualoa, in the building formerly occupied by Mary and Matthew Lovein. Its nickname is “the living room” because, Barbara quips, “everybody who comes into the space wants to stay, they’re so comfortable.”
Living right down the street from the gallery, Barbara and her daughter live next door to her grandmother and mom. She is inspired by having four generations of her family right there and feels completely supported. She finally feels like sheʻs found her spot.
Barbara is completely self-taught and one of the few who create “canes” of this magnitude. She is so experienced now that she teaches classes in it. Photos of her work have become what her polymer source uses in their marketing materials as examples of the possibilities. This is something Barbara is most proud of, saying “when you work that hard, it works out.”
For this cover, she wanted to do something a little different, so she went with kind of a stained-glass effect. Barbara says, “I wanted to integrate holiday spirit from everyone’s standpoint, so I used different colors that I think of to represent the holiday season for different people.”
Barbara encourages people to come to the gallery to see her art. “One of the coolest things is how much I share about what I do. You really get to feel the process of having it come together if you see it, smell it, feel it.”
You never know what’s going to be happening in the gallery at any given moment. Barb invites, “We’ve got microphones, amplifiers, guitars, keyboards—people come in, they play music, we serve coffee and wine. It’s a destination in Hōlualoa and people love to come hang out.”
For more information: barbarahansonart.com
Table of Contents Artist: Candace Lee
Candace Lee shares, “Hawai‘i is an art gallery of divine creativity. Tremendous treasures and nature present themselves with each passing day. I desire to share these wonders by expressing them through my art.”
Nature’s creatures have been themes for many of Candace’s projects. “I believe my artwork raises our global consciousness to feel that nature is divine creation with all the intricate parts working together for the good of mankind. My purposes are to expand people’s vision and activate their creative energy. My watercolor paintings bring nature from outdoors to the indoors to be viewed and appreciated, but most importantly saved.”
Candace’s passion and unique style of water coloring has led her in a lifelong process of studying and creating through her paintings.
Teaching watercolor painting has been a gift for Candace. She says, “It feeds my soul and fills my heart when I can touch the creative part of a child or an adult. We are all artists and I can help you access your talent.”
Candace sells her watercolors to people all over the world. Her studio is in her home in Waikoloa, and many of her pieces can be viewed there.
For more information: candaceleeart.com
