Monstera SOLD

Monstera, Acrylic on Stretched Canvas, 16" x 20" © 2013 Fannie Narte    

Arigato!

Thank You!

Monstera SOLD last night in The Rumley Gallery and will find a new home in Japan.  

Thanks, Tess!  

 

No Na Mamo -- We are the Children

 Polynesian Settlement Pattern © 2013 Fannie Narte
One of the things I love about living in Hawaii is that I am surrounded by culture.  Recently my cousin Nalei, aka Kumu Napaepae-Kunewa, took me to see a koa wa'a (koa canoe), the Mau Loa at Kahalu'u in Kona.  It was an inspiring experience.  There,  I met Master Carver and Wayfinder (a sea navigator who finds his path through the ocean using nature as his guide without the use of modern instruments) Tava, who is repairing and finishing Mau Loa for her ocean voyage.  He was also working on carving several Tikis destined for heiau's.  Tava is a quiet, talented and humble man.

The Polynesian Settlement Pattern shown above is one of several pieces I made for Cousin Nalei's banner for her Ho'ike, which will be held this Friday, May 17.  The theme is "No Na Mamo," "We are the Children."  The map is made on handmade paper, and the canoe is made out of a sheet of koa and handmade paper.

Two more pieces for the banner, Hawaiian birds painted with acrylics on handmade paper:

 Mamo Bird

The bright golden-yellow feathers of the Mamo were the most prized for the featherwork for capes for the Hawaiian royalty.

'Elepaiao Bird

 

The 'Elepaiao was important in selecting the best koa tree for making a canoe. 

Thanks, Cousin Nalei. 

Mahalo for looking. 

Joy is in the Voice of Love

 Orchids © 2013 Fannie Narte

He 'olina leo ka ke aloha.
Joy is in the voice of love.

Joy

A walk to the library,

Breathing in the scents of the sea,

Seeing the hearts of passersby,

Generous greetings of Aloha,

A bouquet of orchids.

Wrap a T-Leaf around an empty bottle, secure it with lauhala braided twine and a coconut button; fill it with water and orchids from the local farmer's market.  Joy . . . Love . . .

International Association of Yiddish Clubs (IAYC)

The Face of Life

Six million perished, in an attempt to wipe out a people and their language forever.  May she be the poster child that breathes life back into them... and beckon us to listen to their stories and dreams.~Debbie Herman

Unfortunately, many world cultures have experienced similar tragedies and can relate to so much sadness and loss.  Debbie and the IAYC have given me the opportunity to share my painting as "The Face of Life."  This privilege perfectly fits my mission to "heal the world one painting, one word at a time."  Thank you, Debbie and the IAYC for this privilege.

 I am grateful to be a sponsor of the 2013 IAYC International Yiddish Conference. 

As a young girl, during a period of time before Hawaii's annexation to the United States, my mother and her classmates were severely punished for speaking the Hawaiian language in school.  Because of this, the Hawaiian language in its pure form was lost.  Today, the Hawaiian culture is undergoing a renaissance and the Hawaiian language is taught in schools.

When I married my Sweetheart and moved away from my "home," Hawaii, to his home on the mainland, I didn't realize that I was also leaving behind my beloved Hawaiian culture, its music, dance, lifestyle, love of the land and language.  Holding on to my Hawaiian culture was important because it is a part of me, a part of my history, where I came from, my ancestry.  When my daughters were born, I began teaching them their Hawaiian culture at a young age.  I shared everything I knew with them, especially music and dance.  They enjoyed learning too.  We became a performing family and shared our culture through music, song and dance with our audiences for eighteen years. Understanding one's history is important.

We intend to open the portal of Yiddish life and usher you in.
~2013 IAYC International Yiddish Conference 

The IAYC is an organization that helps their members understand their Yiddish history, culture and language.  Their 15th International Yiddish Conference will be held during April 26-29 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  They have a line-up of excellent presenters, speakers, activities, workshops and more.  

This is what they offer:

Discover Yiddish Culture, as you  embark on a journey of a thousand years and fall in love, along the way.  Experience a multi-sensory explosion of Yiddish Culture. 

Among their many projects, I am impressed with their Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names

The Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names is a unique international undertaking led by Yad Vashem. It is the endeavor to recover the names and reconstruct the life stories of each individual Jew murdered in the Shoah. It is our moral duty to respect their last behest and remember them. ~IAYC

To date, the Central Database has collected 4 million names with 2 million names yet to be recovered.

Let us breathe life back into the millions who perished.  

Let us listen to their stories and dreams. ~Debbie Herman

Thank you, Debbie, IAYC, 2013 IAYC International Yiddish Conference, Yad Vashem, and others for all the work you do. 

Hibiscus 3--On My Easel

Hibiscus 3, Acrylic on Canvas Panel, 8x8"--Work in Progress  © 2013 Fannie Narte

What's on your easel?

What are you doing this weekend?  My family's coming to Kona . . . love and magic.

Have a colorful, magical weekend!

Hope, Mixed Media Original

 Hope, Mixed Media Original on Canvas, 8x10" © 2013 Fannie Narte

 Hope . . . everyone needs hope just as much as everyone needs love. 

Isn't it fun when we gather with friends or family? We may meet at someone's home or at our favorite luncheon or dinner spot. When we first meet, we exchange hugs and maybe a few tears. Then we get life updates, and in between the updates, there's laughter and playing around, and lovingly woven throughout each sentence are words of hope.

Love . . . hope . . . makes life magical.

Hope--WIP

 Hope, Work in Progress, Mixed Media on Canvas, 8x10" © 2013 Fannie Narte

 On my mind, in my heart, on my easel:

Hope . . .

My artful life continues to shift.  When I first started this blog in 2007, I used this space to document my creative life mainly for my family.  My hope was to leave a record of my ideas, values and beliefs, to inspire them, to share what I did, to tell my story using art and words.

Over the last five years, my blog and artful life evolved to what it is today, a space where I share my art in whatever medium I choose to use to express whatever is in my heart at the moment.

In 2007, I set a goal not only to blog every day for one year, but to post a piece of art each day as well, and I accomplished that.  That was a celebration, and I continued to post every day for the next year.

I enjoyed making friends through fabric postcard exchange groups, online groups, donating my art to benefit causes I believe in.  I was blogging without a plan of any kind, posting a new work each day, writing my thoughts and sharing them publicly, always with the intent of uplifting whoever was reading my blog.

If you scroll through my blog, you'll find times when I was absent, no blog posts sometimes for weeks.  There came a time when I became curious.  Was I enjoying what I was doing?  Why was I painting what I painted?  Did I like using acrylics?  Do I really like working with fabrics and making art quilts?  Was I making art merely to make money or was I creating the kind of art that was a pure expression of my heart?  And . . . does it matter that I create heart-art?

The times when I was absent from my blog, I was present in my thoughts.  Asking questions, contemplating, changing, rethinking, changing again . . . and again.

It's easy to slip into other people's worlds, others' ideas of what should or shouldn't be when you don't know who you are, what you like.  I was there, BIG TIME.

I finally had to shut the door to all the noise and take time to rebuild my home, rebuild myself.

And here I am . . . Fannie . . . full of flaws, but living each moment as best as I can, living lovingly, truthfully, fearlessly, generously, graciously and with gratitude.

I want to create art that elevates and heals hearts and offer my art at affordable prices.

Aloha!