Collection: Verdant Hollow, 1979

I painted Verdant Hollow in 1978, before I’d started writing background essays for each piece. Looking back at early work is interesting - every painting carries its own distinct emotional recollection. One glance and I remember exactly what I was feeling, the way a scent can suddenly flood you with memory. The smell of honeysuckle still carries me straight back to my grandfather’s orchard, where it grew everywhere in his garden.

 Verdant Hollow takes me back to a day spent chasing potential paintings through old Wailuku, where the ‘Īao Valley irrigation waterways ran like latticework through the neighborhood. I stumbled onto this scene in the front yard of a large old estate in the older residential part of town. It was like striking gold. - CWC