Wow! What a trip. Three kids, a truck packed full of work to display at the Taro Festival in Hana. I think it took us longer to pack the kids then pack the work. Ahhh Hana, a glorious, peaceful, uplifting place. If you like the tropics, long drives, birds chirping, and don’t mind a few mosquitos, it’s the place to be. We are now going to make it an annual event. This was our 2cnd year and we stayed with our friends in their lovely cottage at Hana Tropicals Orchids and Flower farm.
Is this full enough?
If you can, you need to stop at the farm, it’s beautiful. Krista and Ian take such perfect care of their flowers. The orchids are spectacular and one can tell they are grown with love.
Hana Tropicals
The flower nursery seems to go on forever and is a peaceful place to inspect the orchids.
gorgeous flowers from Hana
Orchids, orchids, and more orchids
The next morning, we were up early and had to set up our tent. Lucky for us, we were in the middle, between our good friends, Meile (a talented author of childrens books) and Sigal, a jewelry maker and textiles designer. It was warm and sunny, a perfect Hana day. This is the place to go if you want real Hawaii, with real Hula, lots of culture, love, and aloha.
Taro Fest
Masks and bronze
Steve's work.
The day went fast, with rhythmic music, and great food! Sales were small, but its the overall experience that makes it worth it.
Back to the cottage and off we went of Hana Tropicals jeep tour. Fun for the whole family. 
Eli in the bamboo forest
Back to the real world…but had to stop again in Nihiku for some yummy tacos of your choice.
See ya next year Hana……………
Tacos, chili, and dogs..yum.
Oct 29 2009
It’s that time of year again…Halloween, Thanksgiving, then the big one..Christmas. I am always looking for something new and interesting to do or create, just to keep the juices flowing.
Recently I have been playing around with my kiln and doing some experiments. I have a fabulous artist, Marylynn Holland that makes these beautiful dishes with melted glass in them, not to mention her monks and other ceramics. She has been a mentor to me in this new world of wet clay. I have been wanting to make some ornaments and thought the melted glass thing looks so sparkly and Christmasy that I decided to put myself to the test.
I crushed up wine bottles and found some other recycled glass and just started putting it in little forms I made and voila! Ornaments! Now there has been quite a lot of trial and error, but patience my friends. I do this in between the intense work of portrait work I do. Sometimes I just need a break from all that detail. Here are a few samples of what I am creating. ….
Two kinds of glaze and melted glass made this Hibiscus.
Humhumu...what?? Blue vodka bottle and green wine bottle melting. Cool way to recycle, but wear your safety glasses.
This is a whole new world for me. The glazes are tricky, but I think I get the glass thing now. I look forward to making new ones…any ideas on what kind of ornaments I should make??? I would love some feedback. Do you like these?
Meet Osden. This gorgeous little guy is my latest portrait. He is almost finished.
Once he is complete I will pack him up ( he is made out of oil based clay) and send him to the foundry to be cast in bronze. A process that takes up to 3 months after I send it. This is a wonderful way to capture the likeness of your child or grandchildren and have it passed down through the family. Go to turnbullstudios.org and see Christine’s work.
Okay, time to carve pumpkins with the little Turnbulls…the carving and sculpting never stops. That is why I love my life!
| Posted by christine under Uncategorized
Sep 11 2009
Summer was hot and sticky…well, isn’t it always that way in Maui? My last post was in May, which tells you summers are crazy busy here with family and kids outta school. Ever try to run a gallery and studio with 6 weeks of family vacationers and 3 very active children? That is a challenge.
Rest assured, we make use of down time and that included new construction on old space. Yes!! That is right, more studio space. We are thrilled to say we created a “Garden Room”. This is a place where everything is organic…or, art from the earth. A water fountain is on schedule as well, which will create a very tranquil tone while perusing the gallery of beautiful art.
- Everything Organic
Each family artist, me (Christine Turnbull), Steve Turnbull, and Bruce, have a designated area to call our own. Though sharing is a good thing, and we still have some “common” areas, our individualized spaces is exactly that. Individual. More space for clay sculpting, more space for wood and stone grinding! We love it.
Recently enclosed is the old stone studio which is now Steve and Christine’s individual spaces enclosed with huge barn doors hand made by Steve himself. You have to see it to believe it. The amount of work we get done is surprising.
Christine is continuing with portrait work and Steve is completing commissions. So, welcome fall,welcome back school days where mommys and daddys can go back to work. Aloha, Christine
| Posted by christine under Uncategorized
Jun 30 2009
Chicago is a city not to be missed!! We stayed at the Hancock and Mr. Turner set us up with his personal driver. The installation was went perfectly and was done the minute we got off the plane!! After an 8 hour plane ride we were actually more awake than we thought we would be. The crates were huge and taking up a large part of the living room, so we needed to get them out of the way. Fred had a few helpers on hand (thank goodness) because unloading large sculptures is not my fortay..Steve’s, but not mine. The 3 piece wall hanging made out of red cedar looked stunning. Fred was very pleased. Afterward we went to a wonderful Italian restaurant in the neighborhood and celebrated with a delicious rare red.
Mr. Fred Turner is one of the most gracious hosts I have ever experienced. Not only was it a business trip, but filled with fun and relaxation. We went to the best Jazz clubs, best dining, and not to mention a Cubs game where we sat behind the dug-out on a fantastic sunny day!! It doesn’t get any better than that.
The Museum of Modern Art was incredible. The show was a “Color is Relative” theme. The Art Institute was so amazing we went twice in one day!! Once before the Cubs game and then after the game. Art and sports…needless to say our brains and bodies were overwhelmed and tipsy turvy after that. The art, WOW, I could sleep there. The Contemporary Circa was breathtaking. Never have I experienced and seen art like that. I wish I could visit when no one else is around just to take in each piece. Standing in front of the Gaugins and Van Goughs brought tears to my eyes. No one paints like that anymore. The textures, the colors, the strokes and movements…amazing. Who paints a sky in several shades of green with short single strokes? Van Gough.
I have to say that the only artist that I compared the work to was our artist Lisa Kaspryski. She is an emerging artist and her work echoes that of the Masters. Her textures and colors are as breathtaking as those in the Art Institute. Another is Ken Kennell’s Pointillism. His work has more color and energy that Saurat. Though of course Saurat was a man standing alone in his art. I am honored to have Ken’s work in our Gallery at Turnbull Studios.
| Posted by christine under Uncategorized
May 03 2009
Maui Sunset on Kaanapali Beach
May is here and it’s time to get off the island!! The weather is finally gorgeous again and hopefully it will be nice in Chicago. Steve and myself ( Christine) are off to do an installation for a very special patron, Fred Turner. Fred is former President of the McDonalds Corp. and an honorary Chairman of the board. Mr. Turner is an avid art collector and has a deep appreciation of all different styles of art. He was kind enough to purchase our son’s first sculpture for $10. Gunnar is another story. Talk about an emerging artist. He is only 10 years old and creates sculpture beyond what his father was doing at 18. That is some good blood!
Anyway, May 11th we take the red eye out to Chicago to install a 3 part sculpture made by Steve Turnbull. The abstract is made of Cedar wood and translates the mobius curve beautifully. Steve’s elegant flowing lines glide together like the waves in the ocean. The center piece is the largest with the other 2 floating gently and spaciously next to each curve on either side.
The installation shall take most of day with a few strong men and heavy hangers. The sculpture will be placed in the dining room on the 4 wall panel of Maple wood. He floats the work about 2 inches from the wall, to give a more 3 dimensional feel which creates shadows from the lighting, enhancing the curves of the wood. Once placed, I will photograph and post on the blog for you to see.
Never having visited Chicago, we will get into the city and go to the art museums and of course try some of the famous cuisine in the old neighborhoods. We have some old friends there we will be having dinner with. So excited to see you Christy and Eric!! Who goes to Chicago from Maui? We do! I will also be fixing a sculpture of mine called “Empty Nester” that broke in shipping. How convenient was that?
Oahi wood and stone by Gunnar Turnbull.
| Posted by christine under Uncategorized
Apr 27 2009
Understanding the value of Art.
There are two ways in which art is sold in a gallery. Art is purchased by the gallery and given a retail markup price and art consigned by the artist where the sale is split between gallery and artist. If you are a savvy art buyer, you should ask if the piece you art interested in is consigned or purchased.
Usually if the art is consigned, there is no extra gallery mark-up to permit price negotiations. If, however, the gallery owns the artwork and needs to turn over inventory, there is sometimes an opportunity to bargain for a better price. However, a painting or a sculpture is not the same as a used car or toaster. So this must be dealt with gently. Most artwork is priced at the market value, so it is not often that work is “over-priced”.
So..How do you establish the value?
1. REPUTATION;
The reputation of the artist is considered to be the most important of all. The value of art comes down to who did it, what is it made of
| Posted by christine under Uncategorized
Apr 07 2009
During this interesting time, it of course brings to mind…what about the artists? We are self-employed, and the people that usually spend their money on luxury items such as art, are not spending. Now, it is these folks that really boost the economy for everyone. The families are concentrating on keeping things normal for the kids…schools…etc…but so many people are losing their jobs that it is freezing, and frightening up clients to purchase. We still are making art. That is what we do. We want to hold on to what we have developed as a destination not to be missed, artists available to meet, and for folks to see us work in our studio.
Problem is…their are all these opportunities for other “normal” day to day hard workers for refinance, get lower interests, get loans etc…to get them through these tough times. Artists were wiped off the scene when they took the “stated income” off the table. Anyway, more later…lots to think about.
| Posted by christine under Uncategorized
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[/caption] This is a wonderful experience to get to know the patrons with conoe trips, golf days, hiking, or whatever Bend has to offer.
