Maui: Ana's Art

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

On our last day of Maui, we met Ana Faiva, an artist in downtown Lahaina. She had a breezy roadside tent set up to sell her work. We almost walked right by, but she welcomed us in warmly (despite our wary Bostonian ways) and told us stories of her art. I was entranced : she uses kukui nuts to make the dye on her tapa (bark cloth), and red dirt for the middle value, the way the women in her family had done for generations.
After talking to her about our honeymoon, she turned around and began to make an original tapa for us right there! She even paused as if thinking over her work for a second, until she said "Aren't you going to take my picture!?" Of course!
She found out I was an artist and gave me a big hug. She was very careful to date and sign everything and tell us the value of each piece...It was beautiful work. Ana was one of those souls you'll always remember, very full of stories, warm and in love with life. After her hugs and little gifts she'd given us and the tapas we bought from her, we smiled all the way back to the car. She wanted us to take this picture to remember:
I can't get the "leis" as she called them, the vertical vine motif, out of my mind. So here is a painting I made : a girl, reading with a (cinnamon) rabbit on her head, in the middle of a little tapas jungle. "Leer" means "to read" in Spanish.

Mahalo, Ana ♥

4 comments:

anne said...

oh how fabulous ~ so glad you stepped inside her tent ~ what a wonderful world!

ETCIllustration said...

Ooooh, so magical! That would have made the whole trip for me! What a special moment.

Kate said...

This is one of those perfect moments that reminds you how wonderful the world is even though you are far from home! I can't wait to see what treasures you got from her!

Lauren Castillo said...

Ohhh, this is so lovely, Julia! What beautiful keepsakes to remind you of your honeymoon trip :)