The first time I returned as an adult, I felt like I'd come home. The same was true on my second "research" trip and my soul longs for many more returns.
Pele is the goddess of volcanoes and resides in Kilauea Crater. Kilauea has been in continual eruption since 1983. It is a shield type volcano; a cone forms then bursts open on a side spilling out lava. Kilauea's lava is particularly fluid. There are 2 kinds of lava: pahoehoe,ropy and somewhat smooth, and a'a which is chunky and sharp when cooled. Cooled lava comes in myriad colors of blacks, grays, browns, and purples, and some "oil-slick" colors; the color is somewhat age dependent. The first plants to grow on freshly cooled lava are ferns, lichens and ohia trees with their red lehua flowers. The mineral olivine is a frequent expellant and is known as Pele's tears.
All these features are found in my portrait of Pele. Her face is reminiscent of a painting by Herb Kawainui Kane. Her hair resembles cooling lava flows. The necklace portrays her home showing a shield cone, lava river, and both pahoehoe and a'a lava. The browns, grays and purples are old lava flows replete with Pele's tears and the beginnings of new growth. The lava fields are edged with vegetation that was not overun.
The wooden base is made of milo, a member of the Koa hardwood family and was favored by the ancient Hawaiians for carving their tiki's.