Kailua Beach Park Oahu

The above scene is at Kailua Beach looking east towards Lanikai.   Locals and visitors alike feel it is the best beach in Hawaii, and it was designated as the best American beach in 1998 by an expert, Dr. Stephen Leatherman.    Kailua Beach Park is about 30 minutes from Waikiki and is an excellent family beach as there are gentle waves from Kailua Bay on the windward or eastern shore of Oahu.    

This is looking west from Kailua Beach.   The least crowded time to visit the beach is during the week.

I thought you might enjoy the photo of the lifeguard station with the old ironwood trees.   Wind surfing and kite surfing is very popular at this beach.   Nearby you can rent kayaks and adventure to offshore islands.

The scene directly above shows kayaks in the Kawainui Canal which leads to and empties into the ocean (top photo).    To the left of the kayaks on the canal is a fabulous steakhouse and seafood restaurant called Buzz's which I enjoy visiting and the food is great.    By the way,  there is plenty of parking at Kailua Beach Park, restrooms, showers, and picnic tables.   

This is looking west again and not far from Buzz's restaurant and steakhouse.   I painted this scene with a different catamaran and figures shown below.

"A Good Day - Kailua Beach"

16" x 20" acrylic on canvas

Available

Thank you for visiting today.    

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Torch Ginger (Photos And Video)

Torch ginger flowers are very unusual looking and remind me of fake or silk flowers.  They are also known as Philippine Waxflower and they do look like they could be made of wax.   They grow up to 20 feet tall and are native to Java, Indonesia.   The flower shown above is a peach or salmon color.   Below are some other photos of mine you might enjoy.

Torch ginger does well in Hawaii, but you don't see it as often as the other varieties of ginger.  There is also a beautiful and very rare white Torch ginger that is found in southern Thailand and it grows from 6 to 12 feet tall.  Below is a video (not mine) which has great shots of the white Torch ginger.

Here is a painting of mine of pink Torch ginger.

"Pink Torch Ginger 2"

12" x 16" acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

My reference photo for the above painting is shown below.  Torch ginger and other tropical flowers are sold locally as cut flowers at various florists as well as many lei shops, especially in Chinatown in Honolulu.

There are other types of ginger which I need to photograph first before I can post them here. For instance, there is a yellow ginger and a pine cone ginger which I have not yet seen but I know they grow in Hawaii.  Much information may be found on the Internet about various ginger plants if you are interested.   

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Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Trail - Oahu, Hawaii

This scene is found at the beginning of the trail to Makapu'u Point Lighthouse.   That mountain to the far right is Koko Crater.  This area is the eastern most point on the island of Oahu; the southeast coast or windward side of the island.   This area is hot and dry and more desert like than the rest of the island.   There were a lot of cactus along the trail.

Here we are at a higher level,  and I rather like this photo for a reference for a future painting.

The trail is paved all the way to the lighthouse, so it is really more of a walk than a hike.  People of all ages come here (with their dogs sometimes) and it is an easy walk; it is a two mile distance and uphill all the way to the lighthouse.  It took us about an hour to reach the lighthouse, but we stopped along the way to take photos.   

As we reached closer to the lighthouse and at a very high elevation, down the cliff many feet below were people enjoying the tide pools; they looked like tiny dots to us from up high, but I zoomed in with my camera and took a few shots of them.   

Makapu'u lighthouse itself is not a very tall structure, but it sits on a 600 foot sea cliff and it has the largest lens in the United States; the lens is 12 feet tall and has over 1000 prisms and the light can be seen over 19 miles out to sea.   The lighthouse was built in 1909 and automated in 1974 and is now owned by the coast guard.   Below is a video (not mine) showing views along the hike.

Below are a couple of photos of mine taken from Makapu'u Beach Park looking towards the lighthouse.  They will give you an idea of the height of the cliff where we walked.  

There is so much beauty found on Oahu as well as the other Hawaiian Islands.   I feel blessed to live here and I am constantly inspired to paint and photograph all the wonders of this paradise.

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Various Ginger Plants In Hawaii

Red And Pink Ginger

Red Ginger is a popular ornamental perennial plant seen positively everywhere in Hawaii.  It was introduced to the Islands sometime before 1930 and is native to New Caledonia, British Solomon Island Protectorate as well as various other locations.   It and the pink ginger are popular as an ornamental and cut flower.   Its Hawaiian name is 'Awapuhi 'ula 'ula .   

This dark pink ginger bract has the buds of its true white flowers.  Many mistake the various colored ginger bracts to be the real flower.  Below is a beautiful variegated variety known as "Polynesian Princess" which I photographed at a vendors display; I have not yet seen them growing as a landscape plant here to photograph them outside.  

There is also a pale pink variety shown below at a small city park at Nuuanu Stream in Honolulu.

The above photo will be a great reference for me to paint from one of these days.  

Blue Ginger

 

Blue ginger is not really a ginger at all but belongs to the Spiderwort family and is native to Brazil.  It is used in the Hawaiian islands as an ornamental garden plant and is a perennial as I believe is true of all the various ginger plants found here.   It grows to about 6 feet tall.  I love the sapphire blue to blue-purple color of this plant and in a weird way it reminds me of Texas bluebonnets.   

Shell Ginger

Shell ginger is named so because its long flower panicles resemble mussels with pink and white shells.  It is quite lovely when fresh, but as the flowers fade they turn an ugly brown.  

There are other ginger flowers to write about, but I will save that for another post real soon.   

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Waikiki Sunrise

"There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope." - Bern Williams

"Climb up on some hill at sunrise.  Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you'll find it there." - Robb Sagendorph

Both of these photos were taken on the same morning at Waikiki.   There is always something very tranquil about a sunrise.   These photos are very inspiring and I hope to paint from them before too long.  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said "Talent develops in tranquility."  It is important to keep your art studio quiet and tranquil so you can concentrate on the work at hand.   However, many artists play music to paint by, including myself....but not always.   I prefer soft classical music but sometimes I just want perfect quiet while I create.   

Although this blog is intended to be of  primarily nature and wildlife as well as landscapes and seascapes, it is impossible not to include buildings and people from time to time.   On this post I was primarily focusing on the sunrise, of course.   Below is a  photo of wildlife found at Waikiki Beach.

Black-Crowned Night Heron 

These herons are unique to the islands, but closely resemble the USA mainland's Black-crowned night herons.   They are literally to be found everywhere; this fellow found a nice perch on a warning sign about dangerous surf.   It is about time I painted another portrait of this bird.   

"Gotcha!"

12" x 16" acrylic

The above painting of a Black-crowned night heron won an award in a local art show not too long ago.  It is still available for purchase.   

More sunrise paintings will follow at an another time .   Enjoy!

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

North Shore, Oahu - Waimea Bay

Today I just needed to get out of the studio for a while, and when I heard the surf on the North Shore of Oahu was going to peak today at 18 to 22 feet I knew where I needed to be.    I visited 3 beaches today, but below are some photos of Waimea Bay you will enjoy.

The top photo is fantastic to give you an idea of how high the waves were today.  The lifeguards at the beach kept telling people there was no swimming allowed as it was too dangerous and there were rip currents.   In the winter the North Shore of Oahu always has high surf periods, and people come from all over the world to view or participate in the surfing competitions held here at that time.  

I have painted Waimea Bay a couple of times.  I have included the lifeguard boat in the paintings, but they keep moving the boat almost every time I am there.   I am rather found of that boat !  (To include in paintings, that is).   Below is a photo of it taken today .

Please visit again soon as I will be posting more beach photographs in the future, plus a variety of other subject matter as well.

Moonscapes

This photo was taken around 7:30 or so yesterday morning and I was just thrilled to capture a rainbow over the moon !   I was out on my lanai (patio) from around 6:30 a.m. (before daylight) on Tuesday and got some good shots of the moon itself while it was still dark.  It rained a little , and as it became daylight this beautiful rainbow appeared.   I quickly took a few photos and how inspiring they are to me for future paintings.
Below are some other "moonscapes" also taken from my lanai.

Three of the above photographs were taken yesterday; the second one from the top with the full moon was taken about a month ago.    I must paint the "rainbow over the moon" very soon!    Below is a miniature painting of mine of the moon at sunset.

Thank you for visiting !

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Frangipani / Plumeria

I believe this is the "Rainbow" plumeria.  It is really quite lovely, but difficult to try to paint.   

The photo above is of the Singapore Frangipani and is obviously mostly white.   It's soft beauty makes an impact.

Plumeria or Frangipani as they are also known as are found throughout the Hawaiian Islands and just about everywhere you look you find them, mostly as landscaping plants since they aren't found in the wild.   Next time I  post some plumeria photographs I will do more research on them and their history.   They are small trees and some lose their leaves when not in bloom and others do not.   

Hawaii is truly a paradise as it so breathtakingly beautiful and it is a constant inspiration to this artist.  There are many other flowering trees here in this beautiful State that I will share with you on this blog in the future.

Stepping Stones

"One of the secrets to life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks." - Jack Penn

The above photographs were taken at the "Grand Canyon of The Pacific" on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii.  It is not as large or as colorful as the Grand Canyon on the USA mainland, but it is still quite impressive just the same.   The day these photos were taken it was rather hazy out as well.  

Sometimes we make "mountains out of molehills" with our personal problems and they seem insurmountable like a great grand canyon with no way out.   We need to be patient and "wait on the Lord"  (Psalm 27:14) because He causes all things to work for our good (Romans 8:28).

Obstacles can be used to our advantage.   "See every difficulty as a challenge, a stepping stone, and never be defeated by anything or anyone."  - Eileen Caddy

With faith, hope, endurance, and perseverance our valleys and mountains of adversities will be like tiny grains of sand.   

"Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with."  - Thomas Carlyle