Experience a creative journey with a tour of artists’ studios

In the collection of more than 500 rocks, gems, minerals and fossils that Stone O’Daugherty displays in the workshop of his Kalapana home on Hawaii island, two specimens might easily be overlooked. They’re not large, colorful or visually outstanding in any way.

But they are significant: They’re volcanic glass and ash dating back to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., which destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii.

“I have vivid memories of visiting the ruins of Pompeii when I was about 6 years old and begging my parents to buy them for me,” O’Daugherty said. “Geological objects of any kind fascinate me because they tell intriguing stories about our planet Earth.”

Being in a military family, he grew up around the globe and was fortunate to see many different types of geography up close. “As a young child, I would fill my pockets to the brim with rocks wherever I went,” he said. “Later, I studied geology, mineralogy and gemology on my own.”

For 20 years, O’Daugherty was a self-employed miner who made a living digging precious and semi-precious stones and minerals from mines, shorelines, riverbanks, deserts and forests in the western United States and selling them at shops and shows. His foray into jewelry design came in the late 1990s when he realized that cutting and polishing stones increased their value.

That naturally led to jewelry production. He read many books on the subject, and through trial and error, mastered the art of making unique “cold connected” sterling silver creations with fasteners such as metal stitching and wire rivets instead of heat or solder.

“I use favorites such as diamonds, emeralds and rubies, but my preference is weird or rare things that aren’t well known,” O’Daugherty said. “For example, I recently acquired quartz that has cool fluorite octahedral crystals in it. Geology tells us this should not happen, yet that ‘mistake’ is stunningly beautiful.”

O’Daugherty is one of 30 artists who will be welcoming visitors to “talk story,” watch demonstrations and purchase works that catch their eye during the 11th annual Paradise Studio Tour.

“This is a great opportunity for artists in our Hawaiian Paradise Park community to show their entire bodies of work, which is impossible to do in a gallery or juried show because space is limited,” said Margaret Stanton, one of the event’s coordinators and participants. “It’s a chance for patrons to meet them face to face, learn how they create their work and buy quality, original art directly from the creators.”

At seven studios, art aficionados will admire works in a wide range of media, including collage, ceramics, photography, wood sculpture and gourd crafting. Stanton is a painter who describes her vibrant works as “expressionistic, capturing a world in flux, that’s buzzing with primal energy. My interpretation of nature’s forces gives viewers a feeling of being transformed along with the elements.”

Tourgoers can visit the studios in any order and can linger as long as they want. Six of the seven locations are at an artist’s home, which provides newcomers and visitors with a sense of island life. Also, 10 percent of the proceeds will be earmarked to buy supplies for the art programs at Pahoa and Keaau high schools and the Hawaii Academy for Arts and Sciences in Puna. Supporting young artists is a goal that all the Paradise Studio Tour artists share.

“Young or old, experienced or novice, painter or potter — every artist has stories to tell,” Stanton said. “We tell those stories in our own way, based on our experiences, beliefs and style, and we invite viewers to engage with them, to respond to them. There is no right or wrong reaction. Art is powerful; it transcends the societal and cultural barriers of language, religion, economic status and age to leave deep and lasting impressions.”

BEING AN ARTIST

Some of this year’s Paradise Studio Tour participants reflect on what it’s like to be an artist.

“Creating art is sharing your soul.”

Linda Brooks
Stained glass artist

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“Enjoy the mystery, the puzzle, the mistakes, the frustration, the stupidity, the cleverness. Enjoy the process of being an artist.”

Rose Adare
Figurative oil painter

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“When I’m in my studio I find I can get out of my head and even out of my heart and just be in the moment, hearing the sounds of nature, feeling the tradewinds and surrendering myself to the muse.”

Karin Moore Seawater
Mosaic artist

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“There are times when I would like to stop seeing the world as an artist. Why can’t I simply admire a tree or a cloud or a mountain without always trying to figure out a way of interpreting it? I’m always hearing the symphony of the world, and at times I would like the silent treatment. I’d like to not see everything as something that must be drawn. I’d like to see a sunset and think ‘Wow!’ and not ‘Wow, now how would I paint this?’”

Rod Cameron
Contemporary impressionist painter

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“Constantly creating newness inspires me. I don’t know what the next piece will bring, even if it’s a simple scarf. I have painted hundreds of scarves, but each one starts as a white, empty piece of silk, so the journey is fresh. I paint in the kitchen at bay windows. My family is used to having no dining table, as that is my work surface. It doesn’t matter where you create, just that you do it!”

Patti Pease Johnson
Painter and metal, silk and clay artist

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.