A Year On Maui

On July 6th we celebrated our one year anniversary on Maui. It's hard to believe it's been a year already.....and they said it wouldn't last, LOL. Many people asked me how I was going to deal with Island fever. I said, Island fever, what's that? It seems some people think living on an island would cause them to feel confined or claustrophobic. I think that would be true for those who don't get out and explore the world around them. Maui has a lot to offer. There is so much to do here I doubt I'll ever be bored or feel confined.

These past 12 months have been very productive and busy. Just three weeks after arriving here I got my miniature paintings into a gallery on Front Street in Lahaina. As it turned out Village Galleries ( http://www.villagegalleriesmaui.com/ ) is the oldest gallery in Hawaii. At about that same time I also sent an email to Lahaina Arts Association ( http://lahaina-arts.org/ a non profit organization dedicated to teaching art to children K-12 ) to offer my help. The president of the organization called me after she went over my art school website with a fine tooth comb. After a hour on the phone with her I was asked to join the board. I was voted in as a board member in September, then became vice-president in January 2013. last September my miniature work was excepted in the Gallery at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua. I have also re-opened my art school in Lahaina and have enjoyed meeting and teaching new students.

Learning to live on an island is not hard at all. Especially here on Maui. There is so much beauty that surrounds me it's hard to decide where to look. The ocean views are spectacular and mountain views are some of the best in the world. And the clouds, OMG the clouds, are amazing! I love studying them every day. Oh and rainbows, I can't forget to mention them. We see rainbows everyday on our drive home from Lahaina to Napili where we live.

One of the best parts about living on Maui is I get to ware shorts and flip flops everyday, seven days a week, 362 days a year if I want to! Yep, no more snow for me. I have put on my tennies just once since living here and that was so I could ride on a Segway ( http://www.segwaymaui.com/ ), which, by the way, is a lot of fun.

The next 12 months are starting out as busy as the last. I have an appointment to show my work in a third gallery, Kaukini Gallery ( http://kaukinigallery.com/ ). This one is in Kahakuloa, a small Hawaiian community in the West Maui Mountains. A beautiful gallery in a beautiful location. And later this month I'm flying home to Tahoe for my son's wedding. I haven't been back to Tahoe for over 5 years. It will be nice to see my family and friends.

Well that's it for today's blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it. OH and check out those websites I mention above.

The image shown here is Kahakuloa Head.