Sunday, December 5, 2010

Earthquakes and rogue waves

orchard study
8 x 10
oil on canvas board
The last time we were in Hawaii was in 2006 and just as I was was about to step through the magnetometer at the Honolulu Airport the alarms starting going off throwing me into a panic!  I've always been nervous about the whole security procedure and when everyone assured me that it wasn't me and in fact there had been an earthquake my next thought was the realization that my husband had already cleared security and I didn't want us to be separated so I jumped thru and thankfully we were into the waiting area with a Starbucks coffee in our hands before the entire island of Oahu lost power and everything ground to a halt.  This all happened in mere minutes and we were very lucky to catch the only flight out that day to the Big Island which was the epicenter and had received most of the damage.  One of the largest quakes in years for the Hawaiian Islands.  So we arrive on the island of Maui a couple of weeks ago and what happens - the biggest quake since 2006, not one but 3 - well we didn't feel the 2nd and 3rd one but one of our neighbors also reported on a rogue wave that had come in the middle of the night.  Our travels are never dull!   Anyway while on holidays I only sketched a little with watercolors so I have posted above an oil study done just before I left.  The fall colors were so vivid as to be almost overwhelming.  Now it is very grey here and the colors are much more muted.

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