As an artist I seek to capture the souls of those whom I paint.
My objective is not to glamorize ego or vanity but rather to illustrate the commitment the person possesses and their passion toward their journey in life.
Their soul.
My focus with my portrait art is to capture rare patriotism and passion to inspire those who cross the path of my artwork.
I look for a commitment to die for an honor or belief system as well as the passion to fight for the right to live; truly live.
In my ancestral Hawaiian culture of which I am related the word ‘ha’ole’ (often pronounced as how-lee) is thrown around in today's world but it is often mis-labeled and mis-used.
It is often defined today as a ‘white person’ or a ‘foreigner.'
This translation is incorrect. Big time.
I am half Hawaiian and half caucasian.
I take offense in the belittlement of either side of my blood lines.
I am proud of my ancestral background in its full spectrum.
Obviously I didn’t have a choice with the blending of the bloodlines my ancestors infused in me.
If I could change it;
I wouldn’t.
Why would anyone do that?
You wouldn’t hate a certain percentage of the blood running through your own veins. Who is 100% anything anyway??!!
The real meaning of the word ha’ole requires you to divide the word in two parts.
‘Ha’ - breath of man, soul
‘Ole’ - absent, without, missing
In other words Ha’ Ole is a person without a soul or a person who is soul less.
I lost my touch with my own soul for a time.
I became a ha’ole.
Thanks to my wife Baer I found the commitment I once possessed deep in my soul and after clearing years of pain, bitterness and darkness from it I am back with my soul in tact and I found my smile again.
It is an ugly thing to lose your soul.
It makes you cold, callus and removed.
My wife Baer was willing to die to help me find my soul again .
She said it was worth her life to help return me to who I once was.
Baer and I were childhood sweethearts. Even though we hadn’t seen each other for 4 decades, she knew me before many of the trials I faced in life; she knew me before the pains that ripped me away from my soul.
She was so right, my soul was still in there.
Till my last breath I will never lose my soul again.
A soul is rare to find in todays world.
We all are born with a soul even though some argue that there are those who’ve never possessed one.
Life is messy and there are plenty of cold and callus people.
People change their minds and beliefs like they change their socks.
Too many have no real commitment to anything in life.
Selfishness, narcissism, the ease to betray others for personal gain or power is epidemic.
The devil gave everyone a camera with a lens pointed at themself so the end result is that the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many.
People often talk from both sides of their mouth.
They say nice things when a particular person is in front of them and as soon as their back is turned they stab them with betrayal and bad mouthing; twisting the narrative and reality.
I get it; when I was without my soul I was guilty of that.
A true ha’ole.
My main purpose in capturing the emotions of people in the art pieces I paint is to capture their soul or their breath of life in an image.
No one likes ugly ha’ole paintings.
I am blessed to capture and document souls; embedding them in some of my paintings.
Typically their ‘ha’ or soul is seen through their eyes.
When I ‘see’ I prefer images to go OUT through my eyes,
not my own image reflected back at me.
I invite you to a quest; a quest for your own soul.
I present some of the souls I capture in my portraits...

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