PACIFIC SUNRISE, watercolor on Arches paper

PACIFIC SUNRISE, 7.5x10" watercolor on Arches paper, painted aboard Crown Princess, cruising the Pacific toward Hawaii, Samoa and Tahiti, three weeks ago.

On our way from Los Angeles to Hawaii, we were sailing west, then south to Samoa, then east from Samoa to Tahiti, and finally north-east from Tahiti back to Los Angeles. It was confusing at first, due to my ignorance of the exact location of the South Pacific islands. So we bought an inflatable globe, to be able to follow our own ocean path with the globe in our hands. The first few weeks I got up very early to enjoy the Pacific sunrise from the ship. Then I got lazy and just enjoyed the sunset, ha ha!

MR. FANTASTIC! watercolor

Mr. Fantastic! watercolor, 11x7.5 in.

During the Star Princess cruise to Hawaii, every morning when entering the breakfast area we were met by Nic, a young Phillipino man, whose answer to any question was "Fantastic!" with a big smile. So much so, that a comedian in the evening was imitating him producing even more questions from the passengers the following morning. Needles to say, everybody around this young man was smiling.  I had to take his picture, and paint his portrait.

What seemed light and funny at the beginning, made me  think on the power of smiles and positive expressions. Maybe we need more Mr. and Mrs Fantastic! in our lives. Maybe we could BE the "Fantastic" influences on others in their lives...

SURFBOARDS IN HAWAII, watercolor

Surfboards in Hawaii, watercolor, 11x7.5 in. Painted aboard the Star Princess cruise ship, during our January cruise to Hawai'i.

On the 6th day of our cruise, we visited Hilo, in the big island : Hawai'i. We took a hop-on/hop-off bus. First stop: Rainbow Falls, 442 feet drop to a gorge below. In Hilo Bay we also visited the Lili'Hokalani Park, created in the Japanese Shinto style, and saw sea turtles! Early that morning we had seen whales as we were approaching the islands.