All of a sudden, the year comes to an end again
So much for trying to update our journal on a regular basis - although you could argue that twice a year is more or less regular…
The business is going up and down as COVID comes and goes. In the first part of the year cases went down, tourists showed up again and it looked like everything was going back to normal. We went to Oregon for the family reunion that was cancelled last year and we felt save to have it this year. Timing was perfect, and as we got back home the delta variant of COVID became the next wave of the pandemic. Hawaii instituted more travel restrictions again and tourism took a pause during the summer and fall. In October it looked a bit better again, and Hawaii loosened travel restrictions again on November 1. Sales at the Hawi farmers market had slowed down during the summer and we had decided to do the market only once a month. The holiday and winter season is usually the best time to travel to Hawaii and the decrease in COVID cases on the islands brought tourism back into almost full swing. So now we are going every two weeks to the market, and business has been good. Jill can just about keep up with demand.
Small seascape dishes in various shapes and forms.
We got two local businesses interested to sell our wares and hopefully that will work out in the near future. These seascape trays will be available in one of the gift stores in Kapaau.
The Kohala Artists’ Co-op is also doing well, but since Dirk got talked into taking care of the finances there it has been a lot of work for him. The Co-op has grown a lot and in the fall it’s membership decided to reorganize the Co-op. We started on an LLC as the registered business entity to take care of Co-op buisiness, and we negotiated a new lease for the building.
Jill had a show at the Co-op together with Melisa from Oceanraku with fantastical creatures. Jill made land creatures, Melisa made sea creatures, and then there were a few collaborations with land-sea creatures. Here are some examples of Jill’s land creatures:
We are staying very busy right now with our property as it is Mac Nut season and we are struggling to keep up with that. We also recently had to cut down two of our tall coconut trees and it is a constant battle with the vines. Jill was able to start a small Kalo patch thanks to getting Huli (Keiki starts) from our friends at Ho’ola Honey. The plants are growing well with projected harvest time in May. We will need to learn how to make Lau Lau and pound poi. :)
The Kahilu Theater in Waimea had a call for artists for a juried exhibition this fall. Jill made a new surfer sculpture and Dirk made a surfboard from koa and kiawe wood. The piece got accepted into the show. The original plans for the theater was to have the show in December, but this got postponed to January.
Surfer with Koa-Kiawe surfboard
Indigo bunting that was commissioned by a friend as a Christmas gift for her family.
We wish you Happy Holidays
Dirk and Jill