The Kailua Village Artists featured artist for the month of June is watercolor painter Stefanie Culbertson, who made her home on the Big Island 26 years ago.
The Kailua Village Artists featured artist for the month of June is watercolor painter Stefanie Culbertson, who made her home on the Big Island 26 years ago.
During the past seven years, Culbertson, who holds a bachelor’s degree in digital design, as well as associate’s degrees in liberal arts and drama, has focused on painting in watercolors working on her bright and vivid “Anuenue Series.” In the past couple of years she simultaneously worked on her “Fire — Earth — Air &Water Series.”
In her latest painting, “Hee and Naia — After the Storm,” Culbertson delves into mythology, as well.
Culbertson started with the background of her painting, the cave looking out onto the calm, peaceful ocean, after a rip-roaring storm, which she described as a reflection of the growth, change and healing she experienced this past year. She was then inspired to paint the hee (octopus), and after beginning her research, she said she was amazed at how deeply the beliefs, legends and mythology about the octopus run throughout cultures around the world. In the Hawaiian creation account, the “Kumulipo,” the octopus is the “lone survivor from an earlier world,” a type of alien, and the last of its kind living on Earth. Seeing the hee in water symbolizes good luck to Hawaiian people. The octopus is found in all ocean systems on Earth and dates back 30 million years. The ancient Mediterranean cultures gave tremendous respect for the octopus and worshipped it in ceremonies, leaving offerings for safe sea journeys. The octopus symbolizes enlightenment, creativity and flexibility with the spiraling of its limbs, the path leading from the outer consciousness and materialism to inner soul illumination, she said. Also in the painting, the naia (dolphin) is swimming past the cave, delighting in the new dawn and calm sea. In addition, the octopus is holding the trident, which is Poseidon’s trident in Greek mythology.
However, the artist leaves the interpretation and personalization of this painting to the viewer.
Meet Culbertson at the gallery on Saturday, as well as June 20 and 27. The Kailua Village Artists Gallery is located in the Kona Marketplace on Alii Drive. It is open Monday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
For more information, call 329-6653.