Post #732944 by Tiki Shark Art on Wed, Dec 10, 2014 11:45 PM

Mele Kalikimaka Tiki Tribe!

As you know, we went to a charity event tonight for the Kona-Kohala Chamber of commerce with donation going to the Hawaii Food Basket.

We donated a giclee fine art-Print of "The Sunken Tiki" for the auction and a Tiki-Shark Skate-Deck.
The president of the Chamber made a big deal and introduced me to the crowd and told us how grateful they where for our donation!

Wow, we were not expecting that! Very nice people live here in this small town, on this erupting volcanic island… quite amazing how much they have welcomed me, my art, even Abbas: my "larger-Than-Life Ultra-Swanky Hipster Art -Agent / Partner"! These are the same people who voted us to go to Washington DC and represent Small Business from the Big Island of Hawaii this last summer.

The things you hear about "ALOHA" are all true. We have it in the Tiki community in So Cal. But I'm glad to say it's Maybe not on the big hustle and bustle of the Honolulu all the time, or the uber-rich Maui hipsters rock-stars and movie stars all the time, but here in this "sleepy fishing village" of Kailua-Kona, I've been made to feel so welcome, that this kid from 25 years in LA just didn't know what was going on at first. Now I cannot leave my house, go to the post office, the store, the beach, with-out people who to me are strangers, coming up and saying "HI!, gosh I love your art, and have it all over my house after I framed all the sheets out of the calendar (I never have the heart to tell them that the calendars are cheaply printed and they that might fade) and they ask, "What are you painting on now?"

These thing never happened when I went to the store in LA or the Post office. This is a very small town. I rethink it's really helped my art. I hope I can life up to all the aloha and support and create some really great stuff for my next big art show …back in Los Angeles at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. Cause, big island or not, the "swank west coast Art Scene all happens in LA baby!"

Don't know if you read this or not, but, I was surprised, and thrilled, then scared half to death when I read this…
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2014/12/09/hawaiistiki-shark-art-sells-out-la-art-show-two.html?ana=fbk

"Scared?" you ask? "What do ya mean?"
Well, yeah. Funny, cause a few years back. Before anyone out side of the group of folks on line watching Tiki Central… When I was taking care of an aging parent who was dying of Alzheimer's, I recall painting the "Moon of Manakooah", and I was listening to "Vegas Vic's Tiki Lounge" Pod Cast of exotica music on my computer. I was actually thinking that " Wow, SHAG had a waiting list of people who wanted his art. That's amazing! " Jeepers -Creepers! I dreamed that one day, wouldn't it be so cool to be like that. To be like SHAG. A waiting list? Wow! That was job security! In the art world, that is unheard of…I thought it was just a day dream. A struggling artist's wish.
Well be careful what you wish for.
Now…it seems (for the moment) I have that waiting list. However, along with that waiting list comes ...the pressure to preform!

See when I paint, it's like I feel like I reach into my rib cage, and through my guts, through the very fiber of my being, and pull forth something that HAS to be better than what I've painted before. Like, at the end of Ray Bradburys;' "The Halloween Tree", I feel like I am giving up one year from the end of my life to create each really "good" painting. It takes a piece of my soul or life-force right outta' me. Then, I gotta brush that blood and sweat and tears onto the canvas to really create something special that will make people pause and go "Hmmm, wow, there's something you don't see every day. That's cool."

Please, don't get me wrong, I am so excited about this chance. I am numb. However, I am also terrified I will blow it. What if I am all out of Art-Life Stuff? I've never understood what makes the creative process work. I have things I do, that are guidelines for me to know if I'm making art or making ka-ka-poo-poo, I'm not posting these thoughts on FB. FB is a TV commercial where I have been lucky enough to sell my stuff. I keep my real thought for you guys, my hard core Tiki Tribe on Tiki Central.

Big Mahalo to all the tiki tribe, Merry Christmas, Mele Kalikimaka! - no matter where you live, Thanx for all your support and Aloha!