`Ōhelo in the rain

`Ōhelo, oil on canvas, 10"x8" (SOLD)

`Ōhelo or Vaccinium reticulatum is probably my favorite Hawaiian plant. The fruit are usually tart, sometimes sweet and comes in a variety of colors from yellow, orange, red, to purple. This species is a cousin of blueberries and like blueberries are collected for pies and jam. But, in Hawai`i, we first ask for permission to pick and in reverence, offer the fruit to Pele, the Goddess of Fire, before picking some for ourselves. And, we always leave lots of fruit on the bushes for nene (Hawaiian geese) and other native birds.

I've been choosing to paint on larger canvases and this one is 10"x8", which means changing my painting style to larger brushes, larger brushstrokes, and getting used to a larger drying time. It has also meant making more conscious decisions on areas to keep sharp and distinct and areas to push back into the distance. It is easier to fudge that with smaller pieces. Painting larger also has meant needing to step back from the painting from time to time to to take in the whole painting where I just held it at arm's length when painting much smaller pieces. It's a learning process, isn't it? Maybe my next step will be to purchase an easel so I can paint even larger!

My favorite part of this piece, besides painting the luscious fruit, was adding the red and green leaves. I used a myriad of colors for this piece, sometimes leaning toward the cool cerulean blue and sometimes toward the warmer cadmium red. I love painting with complementary colors!