If seeing a sunset was as good as seeing a plate of

sashimi napoleon from Haliimaile General Store in front of you,

I would be drooling!

Look at this sunset!

It was a salivating spectacle!

I was driving home from visiting my dad in Oma’opio

and the whole way down the mountain I was entertained by the

Master Painters of the Universe!

I finally found a place to pull over to get out and enjoy the colors and clouds

that lit up the sky.

Never pass up moments that call you to enjoy them.

Especially when sunsets make you drool!

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: ha’ae

(with a kahako over the first a so hold it out a little)

(pronounced haah-ah-eh)

OR

Drool. salivate, slobber

With summer weather heating up on Maui,
the gallery is on fire with wonderful new original art!

Truly the hallmark pieces of the gallery right now

are the fine koa wood furniture selection on display.

This month I prepared a special place for a super solid koa rocking chair!

Yes! The Maui Maloof has completed one more solid curly koa wood rocking chair.

As Randy Watkins, the master woodworker delivered it from his house nearby,

it stopped traffic and an old friend of his caught notice and pulled into the gallery parking lot.

He could hardly believe his eyes at this chair Randy Watkins was delivering.

“Wow, Randy. You made that? You have really come a long way!”.

They hadn’t seen each other in years so it was so good to see friends reunited.

Then, Randy asked me to sit in this solid curly koa wood rocking chair!

He really did an amazing job with the shape of this one.

It calls you to lean back in it and

he really wanted me to feel this in the design.

Oh I felt it!

And it felt like I was in heaven having a massage!

Seconds in this chair seemed like hours.

On top of hand crafting the most comfortable chairs,

Randy Watkins always uses premium curly koa in all of his pieces.

Some batches of wood are exceptional and you will find that in this entire chair.

This piece of art belongs in a special home where it’s endless beauty will command it’s presence

and entice one to enjoy the sublime comfort of a Randy Watkins solid koa rocking chair!

Did I mention we are offering complimentary shipping on all fine koa furniture in the gallery?

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: mohalu
(pronounced moh-hah-loo)
Or

Comfortable, relaxing,at ease, at liberty, unrestrained

If you like Nancy Hoke art, you will love her new releases!

Nancy Hoke has some great new hula themed prints

and originals now on display in the gallery.

Nancy Hoke

Any fun, life loving person will find the true joy she displays in her artwork.

For 12 years now, we have represented her fun and colorful collection of art.

When I decorated my guest bathroom, I did it with nothing but Nancy Hoke art!

Nancy Hoke will drive all the way Up Country from her home in Lahaina to deliver her cards and prints.

We got a special delivery recently including a few new originals she finished too.

When she created a new image called “Volcano Hula” last year and introduced it as a greeting card,

many customers asked to buy it as prints.

Volcano Hula Original Oil on Canvas

So finally, she had beautiful print reproductions made of “Volcano Hula”,

to fit in 11 x 14 and 16 x 20 frame sizes.

We are also very lucky to have the original oil painting on display for sale too!

Nancy does things differently.

She sees the world differently.

This you can see in her artwork!

Colorful artwork in colorful matting.

But wait! What is this?  White matting?

White matting now available

Nancy said a spirit whispered in her ear and told her to put white matting on her prints now!

“This is the era of white” she says.

Can’t argue with that!

While I still like her trademark colorful matting, the white does bring more justice

to her colors as they really pop out.

When I asked her for the title of another new large original acrylic painting,

she said,  “My mother is very worried that the mermaid is not in the ocean.”

So I said, “Sun Tanning Mermaid!”

Mermaid suntanning upper left

I think Nancy Hoke is psychic

because I will have customers in the gallery who collect her work,

and on their once a year visit to the gallery,

who should call or stop by in the gallery while they are here?

Nancy Hoke of course!

Hibiscus Happiness

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: kauluwela

(pronounced kah-ooh-loo-veh-lah)

OR

Colorful,  glowing, bright colored

July 9th, 1978.

I love July 9th along with many others who have special occasions on that beloved day!

That was the day my mother brought me into this world,

in Kealakua, Hawai’i.

The first thing I did on July 9th, 2010 was go and visit my mom who was getting ready to have a garage sale this weekend!

Here are some great photos… the highlights of my day!

I arrived at the gallery to a SUPER SURPRISE!!!!!

A fresh and beautiful puakenikeni lei

and a dozen guava filled malasadas from Komoda Bakery!

(You don’t understand what that means until you experience the combination!!!)

Jasmine “Jazzy” Deponte, who is the other employee of the year,

was a birthday angel to bring such delights as these…

…that arrive on special occasions!

The Puakenikeni lei intoxicated me with happiness and aloha.

The simplest things make me happy!

Later in the evening, we had a small dinner gathering.

I made sure to get a shot of the beautiful lei that Duke bought for me!

Two lei’s in one day….

I hung out with my dog Pono…

and had a few seasonal summer beers….

Shared lots of laughs with friends and family

and so thankful for another great birthday celebration!

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: ha’awi lokomaika’i

(with a kahako over the first a so hold it out a little)

(pronounced haah-ah-vee  loh-koh-my-kah-ee)

OR

To give freely, open handed

Well you can probably guess

that it is time for another summer internship at the gallery!

I was so happy when he wore his aloha shirt!

We welcome Kamalei from Kamehameha Schools

to the Randy Jay Braun Gallery

for his senior year internship in visual arts.

He is very helpful and courteous…a little shy,

but Rachael is working on that!

Framing 101

So far Kamalei has learned many new things about working in the retail gallery business,

including customer service, hospitality,

and how we package and sell Randy’s photographs!

My favorite place for lunch in Makawao!

After working up an appetite, I introduced him to my

favorite place for lunch in town!

The Makawao Garden Cafe is the place!

He tried the baby brie and bacon sandwich and I got the usual

snow crab and avocado sandwich!

With their fresh mango smoothies,

Kamalei was convinced that this was a much better place

to eat lunch than the everyday fast food like Mc Donalds!

My smile is contagious!

Back to framing,

matting, stamping…

our signature gallery packaging!

I give him pop quizes all the just to keep him alert

as his schedule is filled with sports and of course

the distractions of SUMMER!

He is so tall, he can do things for me that

I would normally need the ladder for!

Kamalei and Randy!

Oh to be a senior in high school was a great thing!

I am so happy that I had a few influential people in my life

that year who really encouraged me

with positive direction and advice

to help me get to where I am in life!

And now I get to return that to my intern Kamalei!

So if he ever becomes famous, I know he will remember me

and the impact I had on his life during his high school career.

Lunch break iPhone photo

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: Kama lei

(pronounced kah-mah lay)

OR

Beloved Child

With my 32nd Birthday coming up this week,

I had fun reminiscing through my very old photo albums.

These are my archives really!  Some will make you laugh!

East End Molokai at Kamalo

Forever Young!

Truly being 30 something now is great feeling.

Building on life experiences, I am embracing the situations of life

and soaking up every moment along the way!

Shaving Cream Balloon Birthday Game!

31 was great! Lots of fun with projects around our new house…

lots of weddings and wedding planning too!

566 Kaimana Street

BUT I am so very very very HAPPY about becoming 32!

(STOP & Imagine the biggest smile you have every seen me with!)

That is the year in my life that I will be marrying my high school PROM sweetheart!

That is the year I get married!!!

That is the year I become MRS. AU HOON!

That is the year I want to conceive my first born child.

That is.……. huge!

My favorite Pakalana lei! Enlarge to count the candles!

Who nows what else God will have up his sleeve for me to

because he never ceases to amaze me!

Look at Duke in the background!!!

So every day I am thankful that I worked really hard

for a really long time to be at this point in my life!

Occasionally the necessities of living may fall into your hands by accident,

but in general, we must intelligently work for them.

Yummy!

I am always striving for divine purpose

in the high destiny of the experience of sharing God’s perfection!

When I turned 31!

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: Kanakolu kumalua

(with kahako over the u and a in kumalua)

(pronounced kah-nah-koh-loo  kooh-maah-loo-ah)

OR

32  - Thirty Two!

We had the 45th Annual Paniolo Parade today!

Ready for the parade!

It was the tenth consecutive parade that I have been able to enjoy watching.

This years theme featured Heroes and Outlaws.

You get the picture?

Every year it seems that all of Makawao town gets up earlier and earlier

to reserve their favorite parade watching spot.

Special guests!

I get up super early just to get a parking spot and open the gallery by 8am.

This year a few special people joined us and mentioned that this was a great spot to watch…..

great because when you needed to get out of the passing rain,

you could easily take shelter in the gallery and not miss the show!

Here's Luna!

We even had a beautiful Doberman Pinscher named Luna

join us and she was the most beautiful and well behaved dog I have seen in a long long time.

So with Crispy Creme in hand, the parade started off with all the cool old fashioned cars.

Cool Car!

You could hear all the guys saying just what make, model, and year

each one was and see them drooling!

I like the Tikis on the back of the truck! (double click any photo to enlarge!)

Then it seemed that every other float was a “commercial break”

for the many groups of Politicians who marched through Makawao!

I lost track, but I think there were 6 or 7 Lieutenant Governor candidates alone!

Bud Man!

Soon enough the Big Bud Light trucks came through and this year, BUD MAN was a hit!

Avatar Horse and Rider

My favorite horse was this Avatar horse and rider!

Look at those horns!

Then there was the big old brahma bull with the longest horns ever!

SPAM the clown was here as usual with the unicycle club,

and the bag pipe players brought a familiar sound to the air.

Tractor float

Miss Maui waved gracefully while two Maui cheerleading squads

kept us at edge with their super tricks and back flips on the pavement!

No pa’u riders this year again, and not enough horses compared to politicians in my opinion!

Rose looking beautiful as ever!

And just like that….no grand finale here…

the parade came to an end and slowly the masses of people dispersed

on with their day or made their way

up to the Rodeo grounds for the 55th Annual Makawao Rodeo.

What a fun day and way to celebrate the Fourth of July!

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: paniolo

(pronounced pah-knee-oh-low)

OR

Cowboy

Paniolo

It is official!

I have been selling art in the Randy Jay Braun Gallery in Makawao Town for a decade!

I remember when we took over the old Ola’s shop 10 years ago in the Paniolo Building.

I was a full time student, working full time, and living the fun college years

I fell in love with the misty Makawao mornings and rainy winter days.

Small beginnings.  Steady slow growth.  At the edge of the forest.

The illusive mist comes and goes and comes again.

The rain is always welcome here.

Randy Jay Braun was still printing his photography mostly in the dark room back then

and I would often help with the final step of hand tinting the hula and paniolo images.

We soon adapted our products to the demands of our customers

…less tapa products, more wood work.

I love mermaids!

With Coockoo For Coconuts costume store next door,

I would get the coolest costumes & get dressed up for every Halloween Holiday

before heading down to Lahaina for the big party on Front Street.

Some customers would come back and tell me about the

mysterious mermaid who helped them in the gallery!

Signing one of my darkroom portraits

Then Randy got his 6 x 17cm camera and started a collection of panoramic photography;

still mostly black and white.

Slowly a collection of Randy’s color landscapes

made their way into the gallery and our customers responded well to them.

Out with the old techniques of dark room printing,

in with the new environmentally friendly digital giclee printing.

His line of artwork continued to evolve as he found ways to package his creative photos.

As quickly as they came in, I would sell them out the door.

Nice koa framed images shot from FILM!

Soon, we had outgrown this little gallery in Makawao

so we expanded into a larger retail space right next door

with more visibility and wall space to create

even larger hallmark pieces for our collectors homes.

It was fun building out the new spot!

Without going very far,

all of our repeat customers found us slowly but surely

in our new and improved location.

Never fear...Randy Jay Braun Gallery is still here!

The nice thing is that in all the years working in Makawao Town,

it still remains that charming, quiet place to slowly discover.

The laid back atmosphere and local lifestyle

surrounds us in an environment that embraces the real Hawai’i.

Trailers filled with horses and bulls still pass by the gallery regularly;

kids running home after school with their icecee,

or local boys catching chickens across the street.

We have come a long way!

My all time favorite portrait by Randy Jay Braun

I just want to say a big MAHALO

to all of my repeat customers who have come to visit me year after year!

Mahalo for your unfailing support!

I was employee of the year back then and now I am

Employee of the DECADE!

Gallery Event at Roy's Kihei

The Hawaiian Word Of The Day Is: ‘Umi Makahiki

(pronounced ooh-me mah-kah-hee-key)

OR
Ten Years