DesolaTION!...CreaTION!

N. and I stayed for two nights at Volcano House, situated directly on Crater Rim on Kilauea volcano. We made inquiries at the ranger station about trail conditions. We were told to avoid Halemaumau Crater, Pele's home in the large crater, because it was currently producing 600 tonnes of sulfur dioxide a day, far above the normal 200. Because of the weather (rainy) and so little wind, the crater was filled with "vog" a toxic mix of volcanic steam, normal cloud cover and sulfur dioxide. I long ago learned to heed the advice of park rangers, since they are the ones who know the area better than anyone. It was suggested that we instead consider the hike across Kilauea Iki, a smaller crater formed when a 1900 foot plume of lava burst into the air in 1959. Since that was my birth year, it seemed a good thing to do and we set off, equipped with rain ponchos, a good supply of trail mix and water.

The trail is beautiful, filled with giant ferns, so that it appears as something out of a prehistoric time. Here you can see some of the rain forest, the trail and the crater floor 400 feet below...

The trail zig-zags its way down the cliffside. We emerge from the jungle at the bottom of the trail, on the floor of the crater...

...and walk out onto the surface of that vast bowl. We are totally alone on the trail. At this point the molten lava is about 70 meters below the surface (about 75 yards) and rain water seeps down into the deep cracks, to make steam which rises all around us. We set off across the crater, looking for the small cairns, piled up chunks of lava rock, which have been set up to guide hikers across the safest parts of the trail. Other areas are not stable... We do spy some of the various pieces of seismological equipment which is always on the volcano floor to monitor activity...

We approach the actual site of the 1959 eruption. The ground becomes much less even and smooth, giving way to rough terrain and areas of lava which look as if some angry creature has punched it upwards from somewhere below the surface. The steam increases...

This is the throat of the 1959 eruption - a direct passage from the center of the Earth...

We pass the huge mountain of cinder produced from the great tongue of fire. Beyond this mountain is a field of cinder and the so-called "Pele's tears" and "Pele's hair", various forms of volcanic glass formed from the eruption. The going is really rough now, the trail hard to follow. Everything looks like a cairn. But we manage to pick our way carefully over the trail and locate the next trail marker...

Finally we reach the end of the trail across the crater floor. A large cairn indicates the start of the trail through the rain forest on the other side of the crater. 400 more feet up and we circle back to our car. A beautiful and awe-inspiring hike. About two hours...

Next: An offering to Pele Herself!

A View of the Pacific EmOcean

acrylic paint, ancient map-printed leather, torn rice paper and abalone shells.

Today I did another of my "one day" paintings, mostly to get warmed back up after my time away. It was inspired by my recent travels and although it is a simple painting, it will lead nicely into the things I want to talk about next.

So just wait and sea.

Just Leaf Me Here...

Believe it or not, with all the glamour and all the costumes and all the dances, this is one of the very few photos I had taken of myself with my own camera during my entire stay in Hawaii. So I can't show you terribly much in the way of my own dance pictures.

But I do kind of like this one. Taken at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, just north of Hilo. I should have borrowed that leaf for my class.

A Dance at Dawn

A fellow dancer greets the dawn on a glistening new black sand beach that is younger than she is.

Aloha!

A hui hou kakou...

You'll have to excuse me for about two weeks. I am off to a dance retreat and workshop with bellydancer, Delilah, at a remote eco-resort on the Puna coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. Been planning it for some time - costumes, routines, music. My friend and I will be taking a few extra days before the workshop begins in order to explore the island. Our bags are packed and we take off Tuesday morning, very early.

Photos are promised. Until then, I think I can manage a bit of Hawaiian, to say to you, "Aloha a hui hou kakou", which I believe means, "Goodbye, until we meet again."

Metropolis

If you have never seen Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) you are in for a treat. I just saw the 2002 restored version on DVD. Original score by Gottfried Huppertz, digitally remastered. Still splendidly original and imaginative, in spite of its years, and like nothing else you've ever seen.

Woman and Child

acrylic paint on Arches paper. 10 x 13 inches (25 x 35 cm.)

A woman came to me a couple of weeks ago with a project in her mind. She had a sad story which she wished to relate to the world in the form of a dream sequence. She had seen the paintings I had placed outside my home for a number of years and felt that I would be sympathetic. She left a note in my door asking me to call her.

We met at a local coffeehouse and she told me her tale. I found her project very interesting and agreed to help her. It will involve four paintings in total. The first one is here. The others I will post as they are realized. I hope you enjoy them.

Sargasso Sea

acrylic paint, leather, cotton, gold leaf and silk strands on Arches paper.

The Sargasso Sea is an elongated region in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, remarkable for the thick masses of seaweed of the genus Sargassum which floats upon its surface. Sailors of ancient times feared their ships becoming entangled in the seaweed, and anyone who has taken so much as a canoe through weeds and lilies can tell you that it does indeed hamper the progress of one's vessel.

Wise navigators would do well to steer clear of such entanglements, naturally enough. The Sargasso Sea is also colloquially known as the "graveyard of ships", as there have been many mysterious disappearances in the region. (However, the seaweed does offer a safe haven for loggerhead turtles and other forms of sea life.)

This painting was done between the hours of 11 am and 3 pm today. Tomorrow I cannot work on my one day paintings, as I am beginning a new project of four paintings in collaboration with a woman of my acquaintance. More on that later.

Trade Beads

acrylic paint, cotton, silk and glass beads on Arches Cover.

I collaged some Rajasthani fabric with a camel motif across the bottom of the paper and it immediately spoke to me about trade across deserts and mountains, and across millenia. I then painted in figures from several different times in history - the swords make up the little girl's eyebrows. The beads represent things for which we have traded over the centuries.

Stigmata

acrylic paint, cotton, birch bark, leather and muskrat fur on Arches Cover.

The face in the middle of the glove looked to me like a wound. The glove represents the state of Michigan, which looks like a mitten on any map of today. The fur reminds me of the French fur trade which was the reason Michigan was settled by Europeans in the first place.

The entire painting is a "mappa mundi" - a map of the world. Traditionally these beautiful and puzzling (to us) ancient maps were not precise maps such as we know today, but served as well to teach morality lessons as much as a somewhat poorly understood geography.

Thus my mappa mundi speaks of a wounded world.

Ideas Arrive By Ship

acrylic on Arches Cover, with silk, gold leaf and cork paper.

Think of all the English words that end in "ship"; statesmanship, authorship, censorship, ownership, companionship, worship, warship... and so on...

The Artist

The Vie D'Artiste is back. Those of you who know me and know my work will have a chance to view new work here. My "official" web site, The Art of Erica Chappuis is currently very full. So it will be easier to post paintings and personal touches here.

I already have three new paintings for your viewing pleasure. The task I have set for myself is to begin with a blank sheet of Arches Cover and to collage and paint a complete painting in one day with no prior plan or thinking. At the end of the day, the painting should be pleasing, but also meaningful in some way.

These paintings are interesting to produce and I hope interesting for you to see. You may click on any image for a larger view.