Volcano inspires artists’ show

Peer into Tim Freeman’s pit-fired vessels and see what pahoehoe lava looks like.Look at the paintings of Alan Fine and Catherine Robbins and see how two painters can use different mediums to offer their representations of Hawaii island’s active volcano.

These are the artists featured in Volcano Art Center’s exhibit "Observation/Inspiration," which celebrates the 100-year milestone of the Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory. The show runs through Feb. 19.

Along with the visual arts is Kimberly Dark’s poetic imagery of Pele.

Here’s a glimpse of the artists and their work.

Catherine Robbins: www.catherinerobbins.com

Robbins has spent a lot of time hiking on lava fields since moving to the Big Island after the Puu Oo eruption began in 1983. She was a ranger at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

A self-taught artist, Robbins has been painting since the mid-’90s.In 2007 she quit her job as a ranger to concentrate on painting and moved from acrylics to oils. It was also the first time she painted Kilauea volcano.

"When I became a ranger, every day I would watch the landscape changing," Robbins said. "Over the years it became very humbling to me.I felt my smallness in the universe compared to the greater forces of nature."

Calling her work "luminary oil," Robbins explained how "colors are most important to me to get right" and how she uses soft brushes and rags for color blending in the six weeks or so that it takes to complete one work.

To date, she has finished about 25 paintings, mostly representations of the volcano, but also native plants in the Volcano area.

Alan Fine: www.alanfineart.com

Alan Fine has demonstrated his diversity in painting by going from finely detailed oils of Hawaiian royalty to explosive representations of the volcano in acrylic and enamel on glass.

Using glass as his canvas "contains it and puts it into a whole ‘nother realm," Fine said of the volcano. "It was a total experiment."

To capture the essence of the volcano, Fine used enamel for the color black and acrylics for red, orange and yellow.

Tim Freeman: tfreeman.net/Ceramics

University of Hawaii-Hilo philosophy lecturer Tim Freeman calls his pit-fire ceramics "He ipu hō‘ihi Pele" ("vessels honoring Pele").

One of Freeman’s pieces won "Best in Show" for the East Hawaii Cultural Center member’s show commemorating the volcano observatory’s anniversary.

Freeman’s pieces were also in the Hawaii Craftsman Show and the Artists of Hawaii 2011.

The walls inside Freeman’s pottery are reminiscent of pahoehoe lava.

"They’re not functional pottery.They’re sculptures," he said.

Freeman credits fellow Hawaii island artist David Kuraoka for teaching him pit-fire ceramics in 2006.

Freeman explained that he throws his pieces on the wheel upside down to achieve the lava effect on the inside. As a result, the works have the profile of a shield volcano on the outside.

Tiffany Edwards Hunt is a freelance writer on Hawaii island.