Born of fire and the breath of creation, the mythic Pele rises as the archetype of transformation- lava becoming beauty, fire becoming form. This portrait reflects the moment the Spirit awakens and the island's wild beauty unfurls into bloom.
Pele, Blossoming
14" x 18" Oil on Smooth Wood Painting Panel
The Story
This painting was born from a moment of intuitive flow. I began with brushed layers of turquoise and a simple portrait, and as I painted, I realized she was becoming Pele. Her gaze came to hold a quiet inner knowing — a calm presence, a soft power in a tender moment of blooming.
In Hawaiʻi, transformation emerges through fire and lava, glowing with the cinders of new life. Pele’s becoming is warmth and eruption; flower and flame. Pressure and creation are one breath. Fire becomes earth, and from earth, a garden.
This is Pele, Blossoming.
This painting reflects that inward process — something I continue to experience as an artist and as a woman on these islands. In painting her, she became a mirror for what was beginning to bloom within me.
Mahalo ke Akua — for art, always.
