Printmaker Andrea Pro can spend months on a single piece, bringing the natural world to life at her studio on a 5-acre coffee and macadamia nut farm in Kahaluu.
Printmaker Andrea Pro can spend months on a single piece, bringing the natural world to life at her studio on a 5-acre coffee and macadamia nut farm in Kahaluu.
Take her well-known piece, the 32-by-22-inch “The Magical Wiliwili Forest,” for example, which depicts 18 species of trees, shrubs, birds, and insects that populate the dry forest ecosystem. From the earliest stages of sketching a vision to hand carving six woodblocks, layering colors and running it through a press, two months can pass before a final product is complete, she said.
“Most people have done linoleum cut prints in school, but what they don’t understand is when an artist develops their work in this medium, they are then carving six blocks to make one print, layering the colors, and running it through a press,” she said. “It’s exciting.”
Pro, who found her love for printmaking 18 years ago, will share her excitement for the craft during the South Kona Artists Cooperative, or SOKO, Artists Studio Tour this Saturday and Sunday at various locations stretching from Honaunau to Holualoa. Like many of the other 21 artists participating in this year’s tour, she is opening her studio for a one-of-a-kind experience where art lovers can not only meet and get to know her, but also see her in action.
“That is part of why I am so excited to do a tour and have people come up. Printmaking is very unique and most people kind of know what watercolor is and other various mediums that artists work in, but very few people understand printmaking,” she said. “It’s a process that has a lot of heart to it that people find fascinating.”
SOKO is a collective of professional artists comprising painters, potters, sculptors, photographers, jewelers, quilters, glass artists and woodworkers working together to generate opportunities for fine artists to expand their vision and audience.
It all started as an idea by artist Linda Purcell Satchell in the summer of 2014 to bring together South Kona artists to create an artists studio tour connecting artists with customers. Along with founding members, photographer Kathleen Carr and painter Pamela Colton Thomas, the idea drew eight artists from South Kona.
In the first meetings, the group established a name SOKO — short for South Kona Artists Collective — and went about planning for their first-ever studio tour.
“It’s about getting people to realize that the South Kona area is absolutely beautiful and driving around is exciting and there are so many things to see and it helps you to understand why some of the artists work is so good because they live and are immersed in South Kona,” said Linda Savell, one of the participating artist who is also handling publicity for the event.
In March 2015, the tour kicked off with 13 artists in six locations spanning from Kainaliu to Honaunau. The second year, the tour featured 16 artists in nine locations from Honaunau to Holualoa. An estimated several hundred people took part in last year’s tour.
“It’s been exciting to be part of this. It’s rewarding for everybody — whether it’s the artist or the people on the tour,” said Savell. “The people on the tour really enjoy the fact that they get to see things being done. It’s very good for both — I’ve found over the years that customers really like to meet the artist and we really like to meet them.”
This year, 22 artists are taking part in the tour at 11 locations from Holualoa to Honaunau.
They are: Jozuf Hadley, Kathleen T. Carr, Andrea Pro, Linda Purcell Satchell, Ina Koch, Wayne Levin, Peter Underwood, Ru Carley, Catherine Wynne, Jan Bovard, Mark Martel, Linda Savell, Willa Marten, Joyce Monsky, Ellen Crocker, Pamela Colton Thomas, Gigi Goochey, Michele Iacobucci, Clive Salmon, Alysia Samaru, Lynn Peavy and Kim Thompson.
“This year is going to be more amazing,” Savell said. “And, it’s never really crowded because they come in their own separate cars.”
One of the must-stop-and-sees on the tour is at the Society for Kona’s Education and Art, or SKEA, in Honaunau where seven artists will be showing their work and mingling with attendees, said Savell.
“It’s just a neat place to stop because they many artists upstairs in the SKEA building and they just come down for this event,” she said. “Ellen Crocker is up stairs where she will be doing her sumi-e paintings and there’s also a marvelous weaver (Kim Thompson) and one of our potters who does amazing things like masks working. It is a nice play they have in which to show their work.”
Another must-stop, she said, is at Salmon’s house in Napoopoo where the artist, known as Kona Clive Tiki, creates modern tiki woodwork.
“It’s a tree house and the last stop on Napoopoo (Road). He has built his house out of local wood and it’s very ‘tiki’ in construction — it’s just a fascinating place to see, as well as to see the tikis that he’s making,” she said.
Salmon, who goes by Kona Clive Tiki, is excited to welcome visitors to his home for a second straight year to see not only his studio, but also his gallery and home, which incorporates his artwork into its design.
“That’s what makes (the tour) so special and unique for people,” he said. “Anyone can go to a gallery and look at things on the wall, but to see where people actually do their work, well, that’s more interesting in my mind.”
Salmon is currently working on a couple of projects, but likely will not be in action on the days of the tour because his work is “noisy and messy, not like painting a picture.” He also knows he won’t have much time.
“I never had a chance to stop talking with people, I just talked for two days straight — it was a great experience,” he said. “I was very pleased that so many people came by.”
And it’s that ability to talk with people and make connections that has made taking part in the nonprofit’s annual studio tour worthwhile, he said, noting that it’s really given him the exposure he was looking for. It’s also about supporting the art scene in South Kona.
“We’ve gotten great exposure,” he said. “I think this year’s probably going to surpass the last couple of years and just go on and on.”
Maps are available in SOKO brochures, Blue Ginger Gallery in Kainaliu, concierge desks at local hotels, Kona eateries, and at each artist’s venue. The map can also be viewed online at www.sokoartists.com.
Info: www.sokoartists.com and www.facebook.com/SOKOSouthKonaArtistCollective. ■