Page 3 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - April 20, 2022

APRIL 20, 2022
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 3
Art Critic
Not too many people know that I used to draw and paint. Not that I’m great at it, but it was something I loved to do. I never had any formal training, but I believe I got this from my mom, who used to sketch designs and figures when she was a seamstress. She taught me how to draw.
My art is unconventional, for in sixth grade I got an F for coloring. Instead of coloring the picture of a person holding a balloon that we were given, I colored it in red and black squares like a checkerboard.
As I got older, my sketches were more along the lines of my art hero, Picasso, for once I saw his famous painting Guernica, the power and emotion of it impressed me for life. However, it wasn’t until my family did hospice care at home for my dad that I picked up a paint brush. When it was my “shift,” I would sit with him and paint, mostly trying to copy classic Picasso paintings. Today, I have some of those paintings around our home. (I did a total of three paintings but after my dad passed, I never painted again.)
I did two Picasso reproductions and
one experiment of a divisionism black-
and-white nude, kind of an homage to
my checkerboard days. While the two
Picassos are displayed in the living
room, for some reason the nude was hid-
den upstairs. A few weeks ago, my wife’s
nephew and his girlfriend came from
California to stay with us for their spring break vacation.
We really liked his girlfriend and they hung out with our daughter. Turns out, this young woman is into art. My daughter was giving them a tour of our home and our guest was admiring the two Picasso paintings. My daughter then told her I had painted them. She was impressed and said she really liked them.
Somewhat embarrassed, I relayed the story on how they came about then asked my daughter if she showed them the third painting. My daughter nervously laughed and said no. I asked her if it was because it was a nude. She said, “Because it’s a nude of mom, right?” I laughed out loud and said no to which we all started laughing out loud, including my wife.
As we left the room, my wife grabbed my arm and said, “If that’s not me, then who the heck is it?”
rnagasawa@midweek.com