Maui Born Award winning Photographer
Todd Kawasaki
Todd Kawasaki is a Maui born, award winning landscape photographer living on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Like many who grew up on Maui, Todd spends much of his time around the ocean enjoying the year round tropical weather. At an early age, he developed a love for nature and a deep appreciation of Hawaii’s natural beauty. His photographic journey documents this love.
Todd Kawasaki is widely recognized as one of Hawaii’s most distinguished landscape photographers, winning numerous international awards for his photography. Among them, “Hale Honu”, depicting turtles at rest in their cave with the setting sun in the background, won him his most prestigious award. He finished in 2nd place in the IPA (International Photographers
Association) from a field of over 3000 entries from 103 countries. His prizewinning composition skills as well as his patient commitment to capture that “optimum moment” have combined to create a wonderful array of fabulous photographs of Maui.
The Whimsical Artist of Hana
Laura Mango
Laura Mango has been painting on the island of Maui since 1978. Her original paintings have been acquired by numerous island visitors and long-time residents. She currently resides in the Hana rain forest, surrounded by waterfalls, birds and exotic vegetation.
This love and respect for nature translates to her paintings. Laura is a self taught artist with a highly evolved style, making her works recognizable and authentic. Her unique use of color, combined with her diverse subject matter, has made her art very collectable. Upon seeing Laura’s work, the viewer experiences a true Maui artist who follows her dreams.
Master of Acrylic
Ron Phillips
"Many creative types have one or more philosophies that they follow. My only philosophy is to paint what I feel and from the heart. I think one should, as in style, create one’s own philosophy. Of course, I’ve picked up inspiration, techniques and tidbits of wisdom from other artists I respect and admire but only to create my own dialogue with my art and way of life. What I try to convey in my art is passion, color and a heart felt dialogue beyond words and semantics.
I try to use brushes only to apply my medium though I will sometimes use a cloth. I use a background color to set the tone in my oil and acrylic paintings. During the process I may take the liberty to deviate from the original planned background color to change or enhance the feeling I want to convey." - Ron Phillips
The Abstract World of Oil
Melissa Rigney
Melissa Rigney was born in the early eighties and after just 5 days her parents took her to Mexico and then moved to the wild Big Island of Hawaii. She grew up in a hula skirt between the lava tubes and the ocean waves.
The bright vivid colors of Hawaii were her home and Hawaiian colors influenced her art tremendously. She was living in a breathing color wheel.
Melissa started pencil drawing recognizable people when she was just a baby, animated by the outdoors- the people, the bugs, cuddly animals and palm trees swaying in the tropical wind. She was fun and fancy free running around barefoot in her purple bikini and grass skirt with her colors.. always coloring and smiling.
When she discovered oil paints at Maui’s Baldwin High School, her passion was inflamed & she fell in love with painting for life.
Maui has healed, inspired, and uplifted her and almost 100% of her oil paintings were created here.
Vintage Maui Impressionist
George Young
Local artist George Young began studying art and painting under the guidance of his father who was also an artist and teacher. A native of Newport Beach, California, Mr. Young has resided near coastal locations for most of his life and that proximity has cultivated a love of lush ocean landscapes and warm tropical climates. His beautiful oil paintings are primarily images of Maui’s paradise. He skillfully blends vivid color and shadow, and he genuinely captures the languid beauty that his subjects inspire.
Fantastic Under-water Photographer
Drew Sulock
Drew Sulock, originally from Philadelphia, has lived on several islands throughout the Caribbean before settling on Maui in 2009.Throughout his life, he has always been amazed by the earth’s natural beauty, both above and below sea level. He has spent his entire adult life working on the water, and is inspired to share this world with everyone through photography.
Before becoming an award winning photographer, Drew received a masters degree in marine science. While doing research on coral reefs throughout the world, he was struck by the overwhelming beauty of the underwater environment. It was not long before he realized he could do more to help marine life by sharing images of this stunning ecosystem through his photos, than he could by solely conducting research. Someone needs to show the world what we are trying to preserve, and the images Drew has created aim to do that.
The Perfection of Wahine Art
Emily Bouvet
Emily Bouvet is a self taught artist even though she studied history of Art at La Sorbonne University in Paris. She grew up in the small town of Barbizon in France, famous for its pre-impressionist painters but she drew her early inspiration from her many travels, starting with Africa and South America from where she brought back travel logs that got published world wide.
She spent most of her summers in San Diego California in her mother’s hometown. As a teenager, she fell in love with Maui, during her first trip in ‘96 to the valley Isle. Since then she has been coming back regularly for extended periods of time, painting Hawaiian landscapes, portraits and daily life . Of Special interest is her fascination with Hawaiian Women and capturing them in a natural beautiful manner.
Emily’s paintings refer to a timeless primitive beauty. Gauguin, Le Douanier Rousseau and also Klimt are part of her pantheon. She could say as Le Douanier Rousseau claimed that she has "no other teacher than nature”.Her world is poetic, oneiric and haloed in mystery. The company of her paintings makes one feel happy.
Mapping of Hawaii
William Horak
William Horak performed geological reconnaissance on Oahu, Kauai, Molokai and Hawaii. As a result, he was often in remote locations and in close association with kô ‘one‘i po‘e. Therefore, this provided him with the opportunity to explore both the physical and cultural aspects of the Islands. His images of Hawaii are influenced by the ho‘okahiko of the kanaka maoli and a way of life that has been consumed by the past. His interests in historical cartography, Hawaiian antiquity, and the natural history of the Islands are the foundation for his works.