Hanamu Dusk, 2004
Twenty years ago artist Curtis Wilson Cost painted one of his most celebrated works. It was a depiction of a handsome Hawaiian house under a full blooming Jacaranda tree entitled Jacaranda Season. It was painted along tranquil Hanamu Road on the beautiful slopes of Upcountry Maui and became the single most successful limited edition reproduction the artist ever created. Hanamu Dusk is Jacaranda Season twenty years later.
The road along the way to Seabury Hall in Makawao has large Eucalyptus trees along the west side. I have appreciated the beauty of the area for many years and have found much to paint there. One of my pieces, Jacaranda Season, along with several others was painted in the area. When my children began attending Seabury Hall at the Makawao end of Hanamu Road, I was there on almost a daily basis. On many of these occasions, I noticed that at the end of the day, the trees on the west sent their long shadows across the pasture, creating an interesting dynamic with the house depicted in Jacaranda Season.
The dusk brought the lights on in the windows of the house, yet the pasture was still very much in the golden time of the day. It added a richness of color and contrast that was really quite magical. Twenty years after painting Jacaranda Season, I realized that this subject matter had more to offer in the golden light at the end of the day. I decided to return to the little house and paint it once again, taking full advantage of the shadows from the trees along the west side. Thus began Hanamu Dusk.