Aloha ‘oe….Farewell to you!

It is with tears in my eyes that I write one last blog at

Randy Jay Braun Gallery.

Through these tears I can see all the great memories that 15 years has brought.

15 years of amazing experiences working for the legendary photographer

Randy Jay Braun

and representing his iconic artwork.

We have come such a long way together and life would not be the same

without this part of the journey.

But now I turn to look at the face of the beautiful

baby girl God is blessing us with!

Can you believe that after 17 years with my high school sweetheart

that we are finally starting our family?

I can’t believe I am that old to say that!

My last day is November 16th before I take off

on maternity leave for my birth this month.

So I will take this time off to enjoy motherhood

as it begins to transform our life in a new direction.

With the gallery closing soon,

Randy will have his amazing artwork available to purchase

on his website and several retail locations throughout Hawai’i

for you to continue to collect.

Please contact him for these retail locations.

I know, it is not the same as visiting us at the gallery in Makawao.

It had been a favorite place for so many to visit every year,

and for some, their Maui visit is not the same without their dose of aloha here.

So mahalo to ALL of you…

here is my love for ALL of you….

You have been so amazing to me…

And I will wear these memories

as a never fading lei.

Please stay in touch with me

and my happy life as I embark

on the next adventure in life!

www.rachaelrayartcollection.com

I was delighted to receive a few very significant Ni’ihau shell leis in the gallery this week! The kind that make your jaw drop!

We have a 8 strand multi color Kahelelani lei, a 5 strand multi color Kahelelani lei, a 5 strand all light pink Kahelelani lei, a 5 strand momi waha ula mixed with Kahelelani, and a 3 strand white momi pikake lei!

That means the windex is coming out because there is nothing but fingerprints on the glass case right now!

Catch them at the gallery at incredible prices before they end up in a private collection!

Where on Maui can you find this kind of a selection of certified fine Ni’ihau shell jewelry? Only at the Randy Jay Braun Gallery of course!

We have some great new pieces in the gallery!

Not to be overlooked is an amazing collection of new images by painter

Anna Halldin-Maule.

She is sweet and beautiful herself - just like her paintings -

and her work turns heads in the gallery!

She is my favorite inspirational painter and I am in awe of the beauty in her images.

I dream of owning one of her

limited edition prints one day in my own home.

Her originals are all sold between $10 - $20K but her prints are available

in limited editions and very well priced.

Anna is a master painter who lives on Kaua’i

where she does oil on canvas in the old glazing technique.

VISIT HER WEBSITE HERE

Call the gallery for pricing or to place your order!

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IF YOU LOVE MY BLOG HERE, YOU WILL SEE EVEN MORE OF ME THERE!

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WWW.RACHAELRAYARTCOLLECTION.COM

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Today at the gallery I had the honor or meeting a legendary photographer Doug Landreth. We have been carrying his amazing work for about 3 years now and his work is photo based illustration. He is the man!

I hooked him up with Zane of Maui Photo Festival who had a blast showing him his tree house and then on to the Makawao Rodeo to get him hooked up with Sam Clark to shoot rodeo tomorrow in the ring! Then Zane brought him and his family to the gallery where I had fresh flower leis in hand to greet them Hawaiian style!

Doug’s photography is so timeless and unique. He combines photographed textures, landscapes, and objects while emphasizing the tiny details in the imagery. Doug is less interested in the reality of things and more intrigued by his memories about them.

Visit his website if you want to be wowed page after page!

www.douglandreth.com

I can’t believe it has been 4 years since I have stepped on a plane, and I live on an island!

Just shows you how much I don’t travel.

Yesterday Duke and I went to Oahu for the day.

Not by choice, but Kaiser Moanalua and the infamous Perinatologist Dr. O wanted to take a close look at our baby on their high tech ultrasound, as for some reason I tested positive for Trisomy18 which freaked the daylights out of us of course!

I knew it must have been a false positive like 90% of women find out.

Of course the island is so small that the shuttle driver knew Dukes grandma and family from Nanakuli.

They were talking up a storm as I pondered all the concrete highways and traffic.

Boy do I not miss living on Oahu for my Freshman year in college!

Kaiser didn’t waste any time straight from the plane to the shuttle to the ultrasound room - no blood pressure or weight check necessary!

Fine for me cause we didn’t travel all this way for nothing! It was so awesome spending a good 30 minutes looking at baby and measuring all the important parts.

Sure enough baby is doing fine and healthy as can be - phew!.

He said baby looks perfect which is the magic word for me as a perfectionist!

Once we saw no indicators of any trisomy18 present, it was time for the big question…is it a boy or a girl?

Dr. O took one look and said to Duke, “this one going be expensive…it’s a girl!”.

He is right about that!

Duke and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes and I could tell right away he melted. Just the thought of daddy’s little girl set in as we gauged ourselves into knowing what we are having.

Now we can actually start thinking about names, colors, and themes for baby’s room.

As we left the clinic back to the airport to catch the plane home, we saw Troy Polumalu walking through the check in area with all the Steeler football clan. Pretty cool! My sister Jessie would have melted!

We started texting and calling our friends and family to share the good news.

As people came and went on their travels in the busy Oahu airport we sat aglow with the wonderful news.

But boy it was good to touch down on Maui where the living is so much more laid back.

There is no place like home and for us coming home to Waikapu was such a welcome sight

as we both said,”I can’t believe we just went to Oahu and back!”.

Sweet long summer days have started marked by the Summer Solstice yesterday!

The sun will be kind to us giving us more light in the day to finish all those daily tasks.

I know I am using my time wisely as my life is about to change big time!

I am 4 months pregnant now so here is my baby update:

• My baby’s reflexive movements are increasingly developed, and improved muscle control allows it to grasp things with its hands.

• My baby’s legs are now longer than its arms.

• The brachioles are forming in its lungs, the very beginnings of my baby’s first breaths in a few short months.

• It is making more and more amniotic fluid by voiding. It will empty its bladder every 40-45 minutes.

• My little one will begin developing sleep and wake cycles, which are generally short, relative to those in a term baby.

• Amazingly, my baby is doing acrobatics with back-flips and somersaults, but I am not sure if I can feel it yet! They say I may only feel ‘butterflies’ in my stomach but it feels more like a twitch to me!

• Things are quickening! This week is usually the earliest I will feel baby’s movements, called quickening. Anywhere from now until 20 weeks is normal.

I have now officially graduated out of most of my closet now!

I went shopping for my first maternity clothes and I even got some great new Sig Zane baby doll dresses in the mail from an angel:). I am set for now!

There is an incredible joy I feel from within when I can yield to the leadings of the spiritual forces

in me and around me.

This has never failed me because it is the high destiny established by a loving God!

Today the mist is my companion.

When not a soul is in sight, the mist of Makawao keeps me company.

The trade winds howl through the tree tops blowing the last purple petals of this years Jacaranda season through the doorway, only to be swept up at first glimpse.

The sweet and delicate scent of my Pakalana lei puts a smile on my face.

A hula song comes on the iPod and I immediately find a moment to dance as the mist watches on as my only audience.

I had such a nice and productive weekend off!
If going to a family BBQ is productive!!!
Duke and I had a nice time at a last minute Sunday afternoon BBQ with the ‘ohana in beautiful Hai’ku.

The sunset was amazing as it moves all the way to right of the horizon until June 21st. Then back to the left it goes until December 21st.

Ooh speaking of December that is when Duke and I get a glimpse of our baby! I am happy to be at 3 1/2 months now because the time is going by so fast!

This week our baby can bend, flex, and twist it’s fingers, hands, wrists, legs, knees, and toes! The nervous system is functioning and a little sprinkling of hair is forming on it’s head.

Meanwhile I have feeling very creative and I just love painting with oils! I love the fluidity and the way the colors combine in strokes that play into dimension as the details unfold.

I just released this painting I did called “Lahaina Harbor Sunset”. I love it! I am also starting two new commissioned paintings in hopes to have them done before baby arrives.

So for me, being painting while pregnant is giving me a new creative edge if that is possible!

Meanwhile Tofu is getting bigger and bigger.

He must weigh 80 pounds and he is only 6 months!

Science Diet seems to be turning him into a giant!

Old man Pono is 13 and Tofu makes him look small and he is 70 pounds!

We took Tofu to the beach for the first time and he went straight to the water and started biting at it until he was under and I had to lift him up so he could learn how to swim.

He had so much fun but his butt is so big and heavy he has a hard time carrying that weight! But I am sure after a few more trips he will be a regular.

We went out for plate lunch dinner the other night and he came along. When we were waiting for our food, he jumped in the front seat and honked the horn!

It was so funny cause the whole restaurant turned to see who was honking and then saw Tofu sitting there like he did it on purpose!!!!

It made everyone crack up laughing!

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking for new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Most new discoveries are actually seeing things that are already there.

I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all!

There are two kinds of people in the world; those who make the world a better place and those that take away from the happiness in the world.

I have been told that I am in the first group, and on the top of that list!

Lord knows we need more people like me leading this country to a place closer in harmony with our fellow man, nature, and the positive elements of our human culture.

I will never loose my optimism, my friendliness, my drive, my smile, and this desire to make the world a better place!

It’s June!!!

That means Summer is almost here…at least on June 21st that is!

Your summer gear should include the all the fun essentials like

your sunblock, a surfboard, a BBQ grill,

and of course your camera!!!

Capturing the moments of summer fun!

Summer time is also the season for photo work shops and Randy Jay Braun

will be taking 12 lucky students this month to learn and shoot photography in the Italian Alps.

Then of course there is the Maui Photo Festival in August

at the Hyatt Regency in Ka’anapali,

Photo by Natalie Brown

where Randy is one of workshop presenters along with some of the best in the business.

You can find out more information about signing up for this awesome

summer photo festival and workshops at

www.mauiphotofestival.com

or about Randy’s workshops at

www.randyjaybraun.com

Speaking of camera,

while I shoot with my trusty iPhone most of the time,

I will have to look at investing in my first

real professional digital camera

as I will have some amazing moments to be capturing

in the coming months and years!

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: pahupa’iki’i

(pronounced pah-who-pah-ee-key-ee)

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