28” x 42” original painting on cradled birch board. Ready to hang. 
The Kite of Kawelo is inspired by the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokulea, and the navigators who use wayfinding and celestial navigation to travel thousands of miles through the ocean without instruments. The Hokulea has been referred to as an ancient spacecraft, and that analogy inspired this work. 
This painting includes the Hawaiian star family Ka Lupe o Kawelo aka the Great Square. To the left of the square is ‘Iwakeli’i or Cassiopeia. 
In Hawaiian Lupe can mean “kite” and also “manta ray.” The Hokulea is rising up like a kite along with some quiet manta shapes, rockets, and petroglyph references. In the bottom right is Cetus the whale. This painting has some areas with 23k gold. Combining child-like wonder with a sophisticated balance, the overlapping shapes lend a feeling of depth. The textured surface feels at once modern and timeless. 
Kawelo is a Hawaiian demigod who was talented and heroic despite a sad fate. Beloved by his grandparents (but arch enemies with his cousin born on the same day) Kawelo mastered farming, canoeing, surfing, lua (hand-to-hand fighting), and mokomoko (boxing) where he won against a much larger opponent, therefore the king of Oʻahu gave Kawelo lands in Ulukou, Waikīkī
Kawelo trained in hula, learned moʻolelo, ceremonies, and chants then met his wahine, Kanewahineikiaoha. She was a skilled warrior using ʻīkoi (tripping club). Kawelo adopted two boys, Kalaumeke and Kaʻeleha.
One day Kawelo encountered Uhumākaʻikaʻi, a gigantic supernatural fish. Uhumākaʻikaʻi dragged Kawelo and his fishing kumu around Waiʻanae, Kauaʻi, Niʻihau, and Nīhoa for two days. By invoking his ancestral gods, Kawelo overcame Uhumākaʻikaʻi. It was his spiritual strength that made him victorious.
Kawelo means “waving the flags” which reinforces the sail/kite theme in this painting which captures some of the magical, mythic quality of Kawelo’s story.