Art with Heart: a night of encouragement through the arts

I was able to be a part of a creative event here on Maui bringing several local visual artists, musicians and live painters together to be featured for a night of meaningful artistic expression, creative collaboration, and connecting conversations. 

It was held at Made In Hope Cafe in Wailuku, Hawaii on Maui. 

I want to thank the owners of Made In Hope and all those who work there and helped make this even possible. And a big shout out and thank you to Danielle for being such a great event coordinator! It was truly a fun experience to be a part of. 

I love creative collaboration! 

One of my favorite things is when artists are gathered together to inspire each other and others through creativity. 

Local artists (including myself) displayed their visual art throughout the cafe. For some of the artists, this was their first time getting to show their work in public. 

Opening up the night was singer/songwriter Gabe Shaible and live painter Sarah Shannon. This was their first time collaborating like this together. They were really fun to experience.

Sarah Shannon created this stunning heart piece to Gabe's music. Sarah is the Artist in Residence at the Made in Hope Cafe and is currently working on a large mural that she has designed on a wall in the parking lot. 

Gabe Shaible sang to us songs she had written and helped set the welcoming atmosphere and tone for the night. 

As the night moved on more and more people came to enjoy the event (the first of it's kind at Made in Hope Cafe) entering into conversations and connecting in community. The energy was so fun.

People found themselves standing, sitting at tables, sitting on the floor and engaging with the artistic experience of the evening. 

photo credit: Sonny Waiau

Next up was the live music of singer/songwriter Isabeau Waiau Walker. Isabeau lives in the Portland, Oregon area but is a Maui native and was home for the holidays. Isabeau played all her own songs and has a style that incorporates storytelling and audience interaction. 

Here is her YouTube Channel: Isabeau Waia'u Walker

Here is her Patreon Site: Isabeau

Here is her SoundCloud Page: isabeau-waiau-walker

Here is her CD Baby Page: IsabeauWaiauWalker

photo credit: Sonny Waiau

I painted live to Isabeau Waiau Walkers music (it was the first time we had collaborated like this) and it was such a fun experience. I think we were all caught up in the moment and the set went by so fast.

photo credit: Lorie Yanuaria

I have traveled to Maui several times over the last 5 years painting live each time. And I moved here to Maui a few months ago and have painted live many times already...but this was my first experience painting live in a venue outside of a church here on Maui...and it was a blast! 

photo credit: Sonny Waiau

The night was such a fun experience gathering artists and art lovers together for a night of Art with Heart. 

The evening was closed out with some original spoken word given by poet Zander Chasen. 

photo credit: Shelley Waiau

pu'uwai ho'ola kahuna 

(hawaiian for Heart Healer)

c. 2018 Lisa Marten

18x24 mixed media on unstretched canvas

painted live at Made In Hope Cafe 

Wailuku, Hawaii

This painting was created to the live music of singer/songwriter Isabeau Waiau Walker. It is about surrendering to the process of healing the deep woundings we may have experienced throughout life. That process looks different for all of us, as each of our heart journey's look different from each others. But ultimately the process is a surrendering to the One who brings the healing. It's letting it be an exploration, a conversation, a collaboration, a partnership of risk and trust that can lead us on a new path bringing restoration and life to the dead places, the woundings, the brokenness, the hurt, the pain, and the blockages. That surrendering isn't easy...but it can bring healing. 

Maker Surfboards Maui: a creative collaboration

While I'm here on Maui I'm getting to know a couple of artists that not only create works of art in the surfboards they make, they're all about relationship and collaboration in how they make the boards and in how they live their lives. 

Meet husband and wife team Joey and Tiana Mattos of Kihei, Hawaii on the island of Maui...owners and artists at Maker Surfboards www.makersurfboards.com, working together to build a foundation of love, respect, and light in every surfboard they make. 

For surfers, boards are not just the piece of foam they ride on the waves, boards become an extension of their own bodies to take them places they've only dreamed of. Joey and Tiana (native to Maui and surfers themselves) spend time with their customers getting to know them and learning about them in order to be able to create the kind of boards that will work best for them out on the waves and will also look and feel good to their customers that they can feel a part of as they surf. It really is about  both function and about style. 

I had the honor of getting to experience part of their creative process as they invited me into their side by side shops to watch them work. 

Joey is a Shaper. This is his side of the shop. He takes the generic foam molds and shapes them, customizing their specifications for each customer (taking into considerations the height and size of the person, what the person wants to be able to do with the board, i.e. if it's a long board or a short board, etc.) 

Tiana is a Glasser. This is her side of the shop. Glassing is the process of applying fiberglass cloth and resin to seal the board with protection for the water. It's also the process of adding color and design to make the board unique to the customers specifications. 

SHAPING

Joey uses a number of tools to sand and shape the chunky foam mold into a streamlined surface. I can tell that Joey's precision with measurements and even the slightest touch of sanding has come from years of experience knowing what it feels like for a body to extend to a board and to aerodynamically ride through and over water together. He's a master sculptor forming and shaping that foam. 

GLASSING

Tiana hand mixes colors from a limited palette available in the industry, which she then adds to the very toxic laminating resin. It's  chemistry and it's a time consuming and painstaking process to correctly match the colors her customers have requested, but she takes pride in getting it right. While she mixes, Joey preps the board with tape and paper as a house painter preps a room. Once the colored resin is ready it is poured and squeegeed over fiberglass cloth that covers the foam board. This process of application is like a dance and has to be completed in time before the resin begins to set up. 

There are many more steps in the process to create a finished board (adding additional design, adding the Maker logo to the board, buffing and polishing, adding the fins and other functional aspects, etc.). Though I haven't seen those finishing detailed steps as of yet, I have gotten to see some of their finished boards...and I must say that they truly are works of art. 

But it's not just how good the board looks or even how good the board performs after it's completed that matters to Joey and Tiana. They put the hard work in to shaping and glassing the boards they create but they also put the hard work in to building relationships with their customers that make a difference. These guys are legit. 

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to be in their creative spaces and to watch their creative process as a team. Joey and Tiana Mattos are surfboard artists. 

Here is an example of a board created by Maker Surfboards 

(taken from photos on their Instagram)

Maker Surfboards

Function and Style

Support Local

Check out their website www.makersurfboards.com and catch them on Instagram @makersurfboards to view boards they've created and to learn more about who they are and what they do as surfboard makers. 

Artists Need Space to Create: My Home Studio and Portable Studio Here on Maui

An Artist needs space to create. It really is a necessity. How big that space is, what that space looks like, and what that space includes in it is as unique as the Artist and the situation and means given. 

Over the 20 years I've been a Full Time Working Artist, the 14 years I've been an Art Minister, and the 7 years I've been a Traveling Art Minister/Missionary, I have occupied and have worked in all kinds of art studio spaces. Whether it's a dining room table, a bedroom floor, a house living room, a city street alley, a concert stage,  a coffee house, a storefront window, a church platform, a grassy park, a convention center, a house patio, a vehicle garage, a back yard, an orphanage kitchen, a carpet warehouse, a community shared studio, or a new construction home studio....they've all been important parts of my creative process and artistic journey. 

I have a home art studio back in Idaho still. And though I've moved to Maui (for at least a year) it is still there for use by Artist friends and waiting for me if/when I return. 

But I'm currently here on Maui...so I need (and have set up) studio space here and now to work in and work with. I wanted to share with you what that studio space looks like so you can see what this looks like for me as I paint and minister here on Maui as a full time working Artist and as a Traveling Art Minister. 

HOME STUDIO ON MAUI

This is my home studio here on Maui. 

It's a much smaller space than my studio back in Idaho (which was specifically built as an art studio with a utility sink and great lighting and outlets and lots of shelves and special flooring and lots of space and is located in the garage)...but though my current studio is much smaller and basically takes up half my bedroom, I make it work and it's such a wonderful thing to be able to create at anytime (I can literally roll out of bed and go to work!) 

How did this studio space come to be?

The previous 2 trips to Maui I brought a large roller suitcase each trip filled with all kinds of art supplies that had been donated (including easels, drop cloths, acrylic paints, water color paints, brushes, paper, pastels chalks, pencils, pens, colored pencils, markers, crayons, clay, office supplies, etc.)  In preparation for my move to Maui I shipped over boxes with my personal tools, drop cloths, easel, and other art supplies, along with a small printer. I also ordered and had shipped to Maui a large roll (25 yards worth) of unstretched primed canvas that I could cut myself for numerous paintings whatever sizes I will need. And when I moved over in September I checked my black roller art bag on the plane, that carried my personal paint brushes (which in comparison they are to me as a chef's personal knife set would be to them). 

This prep ahead of time was a HUGE necessity and a HUGE blessing to do like that because it has saved me heaps of money in the long run and has basically given me a ready made art studio with art ministry supplies on hand to utilize at anytime. 

Once I arrived here on Maui I was able to use donated monies (from generous supporters of my traveling art ministry) to purchase the portable tables and plastic bins to store all the art supplies in, and purchase additional supplies to fill in any missing gaps. 

I'm still working out the kinks in this studio (it takes living and creating in a space for a time to know if you have the right   supplies and have things in the right place for efficiency and ease and flow for creative process). 

It's so nice to to have a home studio and I am so very thankful. 

most recent painting created in studio

malalo iho

(Hawaiian for deeper)

c. 2018 Lisa Marten

18x24 mixed media on unstretched canvas

painted in my home studio here on Maui

This painting is all about the work it takes to explore the depths of who we are. A diver must undergo hours and hours of instruction, training, and practice in order to go to the areas of the ocean where they can find beautiful worlds, hidden treasures, and exciting discoveries. But even with the licensed training and years of experience, probing the depths can be perilous if the diver doesn't stay alert, trust their instruction and their gages, and rely on wisdom. I see this as a great parallel lesson for life. 

PORTABLE STUDIO ON MAUI

This is my portable studio for painting live. That black roller bag I purchased back in 2000 and it has carried countless art supplies for me over the years and has traveled with me all around the world on art ministry travels and has seen so many different places and venues that I've gotten to paint live in. It's a trusted friend and companion and I'm so thankful for it being with me here on Maui. 

Because I have a home studio (set up with it's own supplies) and a portable studio (for painting live at Ke Aha and elsewhere) my black bag is always ready to go. It carries acrylic paints and other mediums (pastels, pencils, pens, charcoals, matte medium), paint brushes and tools, palettes and water containers and rags, drop cloths, a light and extension cord, matte fixative spray, and my easel. The other roller cart I purchased here on Maui at Home Depot and it carries my portable table and my painting board with unstretched canvas attached. Also...bungee cords and binder clips are awesome! 

Having this portable studio ready to go is so helpful in that I don't have to pack up supplies from my home studio every time I need to go paint live. It's already ready to go with me (whether I'm driving myself in Mak my Maui Cruiser or hopping into the back of one of the Ohana's pick up trucks or vans to get a ride). 

I'm still working out the kinks with this studio (it takes time utilizing it's portability to know if you have the right routine and supplies for efficiency and ease with set up and take down  and transport and flow for creative process). 

It's so fun to have a portable studio and I'm so very thankful. 

This is my painting station set up on the stage with the worship band at Ke Aha Vineyard in Kahului, Maui. This photo was taken this past Sunday evening as I painted live.  Being that Ke Aha doesn't own their own building space (they are renting from another church), out of necessity I need to have my art supplies portable (there is no space for storage for my stuff on site). As you can see, it's bare bones supplies but that makes for quick set up and take down. 

most recent painting created live

ho'ola pana'i

(Hawaiian for redeemer or healer)

c. 2018 Lisa Marten

18x24 mixed media on unstretched canvas

painted live at Ke Aha Vineyard church on Maui

This painting is all about restoration from devastation, light from darkness, life from death, beauty from ashes. Our God is the redeemer of the broken and the hurting, the bruised and the abused, the cast our and the oppressed, the misfits and the misunderstood. There is hope. All through the background of this painting is written the Scripture of Isaiah 61:1-3, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of the vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

Joining the Cross-Cultural Conversation through Creativity within Community

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. 

Marten Evergreen: The Journey

Many of you may know that I am embarking on an upcoming move away from Idaho for awhile. This past weekend, the Boise based performance art company that I am co-founder of, Marten Evergreen performed live at my going away party. We create one of a kind live avant-garde art performances incorporating choreographed dance, painting, music, and story. We create a 3D experience and create a 2D painting. We've been performing since 2011. The company is myself, Lisa Marten and local Boise artist/performer/producer Lukas Evergreen. Over the years we've had many dancers, musicians, and technicians join us at various points to create our unique performances. We've performed at local art and music events in the city, a national art competition, private events, and charity fundraisers. We create each performance as a unique experience for the specific venue and event we are performing for...so each one has different purpose and meaning. This performance was our 16th and was created and performed at my going away party at my house. 

Video was taken of the performance but is unavailable to me at this moment. I do have some photos to share with you right away and once I have video I will add that to this post. 

MARTEN EVERGREEN 

Lisa Marten

Lukas Evergreen

Naomi Psalm

FIRST MOVEMENT

recorded song: Green Mountain State by Trevor Hall

dancer/painter: Lisa Marten

We're all called to enter into the journey of life with open arms, minds, hearts, and spirits. But it's not always easy. It can be quite hard and messy and we might even struggle with our footing, our hearing, or our vision. We get the choice to stay open, to keep going, and to fully enter in to what comes our way. This is the journey of self awareness. 

SECOND MOVEMENT:

song: Head to the Heart by United Pursuit

live musician: Naomi Psalm

dancers/painters: Lisa Marten and Lukas Evergreen

When we allow ourselves to enter into the journey of life with our Creator we get the opportunity to learn how to journey Him, to let go of whatever holds us back so we can listen to His heart for us, to receive love and to follow where He leads us. This is the journey of relationship. 

THIRD MOVEMENT

recorded song: We Are All Earthlings by Michael Franti

participants: All of US!!!

And as we allow ourselves to embrace who we are made to be and to enter into the beautiful mess that the journey of life ist, we are more able to give and receive love and enter into the conversations that our Creator is having with others through love...and we get the opportunity to enter into those conversations in creative ways. This is the journey of LOVE! 

GO LOVE PEOPLE!