Recently I made a move to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to live amidst some local people that I've been building relationship with through creativity over the last 5 years. I've committed to live with them for at least a year. This will give me the chance to continue connecting cross-culturally, building relationship, and engaging in the opportunity of joining the daily conversation within community.
The island I'm living on is Maui. Many of you may have actually been to Maui for a vacation (or to one of it's neighboring Hawaiian islands), taking in it's beautiful beaches, tropical breezes, delicious food, cultural entertainment and music, fragrant flowers, exciting fishing, surfing, and other fun activities, and been blessed by the warm hospitality of the Hawaiian people.
The Maui I get to live in, experience daily, and engage with is a bit different perhaps from the Maui you've experienced. Yes...it has all those things I listed in the paragraph above...but most of that is not what life is about. Life is about the day in day out living with family and friends, work and responsibilities, trying to get by, figuring out what purpose and meaning is, working towards goals and dreams, struggling through hard stuff (sometimes really hard stuff), celebrating the small victories and milestones (finding the courage to dance through life's storms), and walking it all out each day....with the choice of doing it alone or together.
This is the Maui I'm getting to experience. And this is the Maui that I'm getting to paint. Real life, using themes that will speak cross-culturally. I've only just arrived...so I've only just begun. It will be interesting to see how my art changes and transforms through my time here as I experience living here on Maui.
Here are my first 2 paintings I've created. The first one I painted live at Ke Aha Vineyard Church and the second one I painted in my art studio at the house I live at.
ho'ano
(wonder and awe)
c. 2018 Lisa Marten
18x24 mixed media on unstretched canvas
life brings it's troubles and struggles. when we can have the viewpoint of children, filled with wonder and awe for life and a trust in the One who desires to lead us safely despite the hardships, we can dance out of darkness into light.
lawai'a kanaka
(fisher of people)
c. 2018 Lisa Marten
18x24 mixed media on unstretched canvas
with an outstretched hand, life is much more doable when we can give grace, mercy, peace, understanding, compassion, empathy, and the stick-to-it-ness of intentional relationship from the heart in love (not taking or owning or possessing from an agenda)...it's about staying open even in the messiness of life together with each other.
