I've made a few things from Hawaiian wood and have been meeting carvers and turners on the Big Island. Two guys have been generous with their time, both excellent artists. Dan DeLuz, who doesn't seem to have a web site but is a very well known artist, a 76 year old turner who has turned about 60 different types of wood. He let me into his inner sanctum, a barn removed from his gallery to drool over bowls from 30" to 4" wide , up to 24 " high, each engraved with the type of wood from which it was made. Incredibly knowledgeable about the qualities and idiosyncrasies of each. Blow your mind how many fantastic colors and grains exist, but my favorite comes to KOA which shimmers as you rotate it in light ( like diffraction on vinyl records), with colors from light tan to deep orange and dark brown . Martin Hopman, another older fellow, mph13@hawaii.rr.com, gave me samples of 10 or so different woods describing each as I tested them with a blade. ( what's Happened to the font?) . I' will ship most of this home as folks in NZ don't allow anything into the country that doesn't already exist there. I was told it's likely they'll take my Uke . Oh well !!!
I'm couchsurfing. Fascinating concept. Check it out (Couchsurfing.org). Sort of what you do with friends in Belmar at your place. People all over the world host travelers , sometime on a couch, but more likely on a bed, after checking out the profile of the surfer requesting a couch and determining whether they want to invite them to stay. At the moment, I'm with a guy named Robert Lee, a retired 66 year old machinist/jeweler. He epitomizes the character of CS host, welcoming, non-judgmental, who has thought out of the needs of his potential guests.( towels. sheets, pillows, ) and besides a queen size bed in a separate room, he has a flip-down futon, a blow up mattress and sleeping bags. My first night I was invited to a delicious supper. One of his guest left a not saying that he was" the GOD" of couchsurfing. His response, " Claims of deity can often be misleading". Since then , I've made breakfasts. A couple of Vancouver " Woofers " have been sharing his place during the past few days that I've been in Hilo. I've enjoyed meeting them as their attitude is so fresh, open-minded and more mature than one generally finds in mid 20 year old folk. Both are beautifully tattooed, all over, and he sports 1" diameter ear holes rimmed in silver. She is a song-writer, poet who works along side her partner, a guy learning about farming by working on different types of farms, wherever they go. Curiously, he's the splitting image of one of my UW teaching assistants of 40 years ago! He says he figures it's a better way of learning than the book learning offered in Universities.
Yesterday, we hiked across Kilauea IKI, ( means small, Kilauea itself is much bigger and full of orange, bubbling stuff ), a volcano that exploded some 30 years ago. I expected conditions in this 1/2 mile wide bowl to be hot. It was overcast and misting so almost no other tourists on the 5 mile loop. Easy ,gentle, switchbacks from the crater edge down to the floor and temperatures seemed to be dropping! Once out of the jungle, a moon scape of huge cow flaps of lava mixed in with sharp , frothy "AA" which will cut you, quick, if a leg inadvertently touches it. The sun came out for most of our 45 minute transit across the floor but winds of 30-40 mph tore at what little clothing we were wearing. Then it started to mist and temperature dropped to about 50 degrees causing shivers and thoughts of warmer dress. ( It was probably 70 on the rim. ) We began the gradual climb back up the other end of the loop and , once out of the wind and walking in the tropical jungle, temps returned to normal. I had imagined the complete reverse. While crossing, my feet were warm and if you put your hand on the hardened lava, it was probably 110 F. All across the bowl, vents of steam hissed steamy hot air. Rangers had warned us that if you smell rubber, someone's shoes are melting. 30 minutes prior to this hike we had scramble through a lave tube created by molten lava evacuating a hardening tunnel. This one was about 10 feet high and maybe 15 feet wide, 1/2 mile deep. The first 1/4 mile was poorly illuminated, whereby one stepped in puddles of condensate because you couldn't see them. The second was pitch dark, only illuminated by head lamps worn by my Canadian friends throwing light as though following a train into infinity. Really cool. No one else in this tube and the floor was practically as good as floated concrete. Here and there the tube dropped a few feet and finally petered out into a solid wall. Returning to Hilo, we stopped for a coffee at Dan's and I introduced them to him and his work. ( Only way I'm going to be able to sculpt Hawaiian wood is to come here and stay for a few months. Amazing. There are trees here that grow to 80' high , 8' diameters, in 45 years because of the sun and steady rainfall.)
I spent a day knocking about Hilo, a town of about 45,000 people spread on the windward side of Kilauea. Buildings are in the older, 20-30ies style which I find appropriate for a tropical island. I visited the Capital Theater, 1925, which is in remarkably good condition having been spared the tsunami that devastated the same half of the city in the 40ies and the 60ies. On Sunday "The Tempest" will be shown, filmed on the Big Island , starring Helen Mirren as Prospera, directed by Julie Taymor, (who I've met occasionally over the years, Heather & Marla will remember the "Transposed Heads " on Off-Off B'way) . She also directed "Lion King" and is now trying to unravel the 65 million dollar musical, "Spiderman". Went to a number of galleries and , of course stopped into most of the second hand and thrift stores. I found two superb carvings, one of lion, the other a Scandinavian King which will be mailed home before I leave for Honolulu on Monday ( to make my connection to Auckland.) I'm stoked. Will concentrate on being prompt and not missing my flight. All best wishes, Dad, Nick, Dadadski.
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