A sturdy little Royal Poinciana tree grows a block away from my studio. I LOVE this tree! It's a short tree, only about 15 feet tall, very slim, with a relatively flat canopy.
Every year from late June until the end of July, its "bonnet" is aflame in bright red flowers. The flowers are replaced with the greenest of leaves the rest of the year... along with a few dark brown seedpods.
These trees line the streets of Honolulu and every one of them grows with a distinctly different attitude. Some are quite misshapen and twisted, while others seem serene and calm. All of them display the most beautiful red flowers each summer.
I have long wanted to paint these trees, but up to now, the quick sketch above has been my best effort.
During my summer break from teaching I spent a few Monday nights attending life drawing classes moderated by plein aire painter,
Mark Brown. Each week we sketched a model for two hours while listening to eclectic music.
One model in particular struck some
really interesting poses. As a result, I have a new "tree diva" to present to you.
This sketch to the right was done early in the evening.
The next step was to take the sketch into the studio, redraw it onto watercolor paper, and transform the image with color.
The next image is
Attitude (the working title) in progress.
She (
Attitude) is confident and quite pleased with herself; she is ready to take on the world! Don't you be messing with her!
At this point, the painting needed something more. My inspiration for the background came from my friend and fellow artist,
Michael Van Dorn. Michael is known for his colorful landscape paintings.
Here she is:
Attitude - You've Got to Have it!
This tree spirit is so sure of herself she appears to be pushing back the
Ko'olau Mountains. No one, not even a mountain range, is going to tell her how to live her life!
Sometimes life feels easy. Other times, not so much.
When life begins to get you down, reach inside for your inner attitude.
Remember that you have all of the answers you need within yourself. Then frame your thoughts and questions in a new way.
Sometimes a simple
question can make a significant change in our lives. Sometimes it is as
easy as asking ourselves a new question that opens us up to new ideas and
more pleasant thoughts.
Sometimes it helps to have an image like
Attitude nearby to remind us to ask ourselves the better questions. Now you can order yourself some
Attitude in the following sizes:
8x10 matted print of
Attitude for $20 (includes shipping)
11x14 matted print of
Attitudefor $35 (includes shipping)
16x20 matted print of
Attitude for $60 (includes shipping)
**********Made in Hawai'i Festival
Here I am at this year's Made in Hawai'i Festival. Many thanks to
Diana
Fox and
Rebecca Snow for all their help. The days are long at these
events, and I couldn't do them without good help. One of the great things about art events is that I get to meet wonderful people ... like Sharon Lum (shown below).
Sharon was one of three people who won
the print of their choice from my booth at the festival. Sharon chose
Take the Plunge.
That's right, the winners of my prints get to choose the print they win.
Kind of makes you want to win even more, doesn't it?
I'll keep you posted on my next art event so you can be sure to be there.
More good news from the exhibit: my
Mermaid prints and
Recipe Greeting cards can now be found at
Island Inspirations, Intl. a gift shop in Indian Harbour Beach, FL. If you live in the area, please stop in, say aloha - and buy some cards and prints!
**********
Born in Port Washington, WI and educated at the University of Wisconsin/Madison, Patrice Federspiel first visited Hawai'i in January 2000. Within five months she had found a way to quit her job, sell her home, and move to Hawai'i to paint. 
Patrice Federspiel