artedepaula

Breathing Life into a Swordfish

artedepaula — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:44:03 +0000

Often I get people asking me how the creative process works. Now, there is no simple answer we are often inspired about the simplest of things. My main inspiration are the islands, filled with colorful and unique animals, places and people. A lot of my paintings start off as ideas like it would be cool if I could paint this or that. Event pictures or statues never leave the concept stage. Maybe I feel the picture doesn’t really tell a story or perhaps the subject is to overdone and I cannot add a unique way of viewing it. I star with something as simple as shape and line. Below you. An see how I came up with my version of a broad-billed swordfish.

The King of all Tiki Drinks the Mai Tai

artedepaula — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:52:05 +0000

When I hear about the drink Mai Tai, Tiki gods and the islands of the South Pacific comes to mind. But the drink was invented far from those island. The original Mai Tai is believed to have been created in 1944 by Trader Vic’s. The restaurant where it was invented was Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California. Oakland is a far cry from Tiki central, it just goes to show you what marketing can do. The word Mai Tai is actually spelled Maita’i and is the Tahitian word for good. The creation legend of the drink goes on to say that Trader Vic made up a drink for a friend who was Tahitian and when she tried the drink she said, ”Maita’i roa ae!”. She was saying something like this is very good. From there the legend grew. The Mai Tai became a craze in the 1950s and 1960s when Tiki culture was at its prime. Even today, what’s a luau without Mai Tais? After looking at my painting of a Mai Tai drink in a classic Tiki style cup of course you want to have a Mai Tai. There are over 11 different versions of the Mai Tai, here is the recipe of the original Trader Vic’s Mai Tai created in 1944.

2 oz of 17-year old J. Wray & Nephew Rum over shaved ice
Add juice from one fresh lime
1/2 oz Holland DeKuyper Orange Curaçao
1/4 oz Trader Vic’s Rock Candy Syrup
1/2 oz French Garnier Orgeat Syrup
Shake vigorously
Add a sprig of fresh mint

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. You can check out my site at: http://www.artedepaula.com

The Sacred Hawaiian Fish Hook

artedepaula — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:17:34 +0000

Lately I’ve seen a lot of people wearing a Makau or Hawaiian fish-hook. These fish hooks are generally carved out of bone or wood, but there are also some really beautiful hooks done in metals such as silver or bronze and in stone such as jade. These hooks are the first circle hook, which to some fisherman may seem like recent invention, because of their recent popularity. These fish hooks have been around for thousands of years. Wearing a Hawaiian style fish-hook is said to bring good luck and prosperity. This is just the tip of the iceberg or well in this case, volcano. Here is the mythology about the Hawaiian Fish Hook.

A traditional Hawaiian fish-hook is known as a Makau. There is a special sacred fish-hook in Hawaiian mythology, that fish-hook is known as the Manaiakani. The Manaiakani hook is essential to the Hawaiian creation myth. Here is the Story. Maui, a demigod was given the Manaikani by his father. He was sent out to fish by his mother who wanted to eat a hard to catch fish. Maui went out with his brothers to the middle of the ocean when finally Maui got a bite. Maui warned his brothers not to look back at him fishing or the spell would be broken. The fish started to fight and huge waves almost capsized the boat. Maui’s brothers all thought they were going to die. Maui kept pulling up the huge fish when his brothers could no longer resist and looked back to see what was going one. As this happened Maui gave one last pull and up came the fish. Because the brothers looked back, the spell was broken and the fish transformed into islands. The islands Maui pulled up was the Hawaiian Islands. So next time you wear your fish-hook wear it proudly.

The Always Colorful Key West

artedepaula — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:50:57 +0000

The other day I drove on down to Key West. The trip wasn’t a vacation but the magic of the island transformed a regular trip into a fun getaway. As the Island Artist, it is is always fun to visit other nearby islands. These trips often help create some of the most amazing works of art.

Here are some of the pics from my trip.

The Magnificent Blue Marlin

artedepaula — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:27:54 +0000

The Magnificent Blue Marlin is a sportfish that is widely associated with the islands and the tropics. Whenever you go to a tropical bar or tropical decor there is often a blue marlin or a sailfish proudly stretching across the room. The blue marlin is a beautiful fish and is a noble fish, the blue marlin was the focus in the Hemingway classic, “Old Man and the Sea”. The main difference between a blue marlin and a sailfish is that blue marlin grow much larger. A blue marlin and sailfish are both billfish but the blue marlin has a sail that is the largest in the front then tapers down, a sailfish has a full sail.

The blue marlin lives in tropical and warm temperate oceanic waters in both the atlantic an pacific. The blue marlin grows larger in the Pacific. All giant marlins are females. Blue marlin are known to feed on squid and pelagic fishes. Marlin fish even eat blackfin tuna. When fishing, the marlin is an aggressive fighter which often leap into the air. Some of the best baits are bonito, dolphin, mullet and ballyhoo. The blue marlin is a powerful, beautiful fish.

Silver Enamel Blue Marlin Pendant

Successful New Year’s Resolutions in Five Steps

artedepaula — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:55:33 +0000

New Years is the last holiday in a long season of holidays that basically start with Thanksgiving. Many retailer are trying to extend that feeling of Holidays all the way to Halloween. Well, no matter where it officially starts, New Year’s eve it the end and New Years day is the beginning. New Years is special because it is the end and the beginning. Wow, that sounds like a movie tag line, but you get my point. The New Year symbolizes a rebirth of sorts, it is a time for us to look at what we want to fix in our lives. These fixes are called “Resolutions”. We are going to be more involved with our family, get out of debt and the most popular resolution of all to lose weight. It is the time we look at ways to improve ourselves. I am for us to improve ourselves, or as my son would say become an ultimate version of ourselves, but often it is difficult and causes too much stress.

1. Concentrate of the positive

First, before we look at what’s wrong in our life, we should take time about what is going well. What we did in the past year that was successful. Maybe we lost a few pounds, perhaps we reduced our debit a few hundred dollars or we did spend a little more time with our family. Take the time and look at the positive things that happened, even if they were your resolutions from last year or not. This step is important, think of the positive points in your life.

2. Give yourself some credit

You did it, you improved some part of your life, be it small or big. Maybe you didn’t gain any weight, and the years before you always gained wait. Perhaps you are going to church or temple a few times more that you did the year before. Maybe you earned a little extra or you spent less money this year. Whatever the little positive improvement you made is, enjoy it. Give yourself credit.

3. What do you need to work on?

Now that you are feeling good about yourself, take some time and look at where you need to make some improvements. Now don’t beat yourself up. Really take a look at what you can improve.

4. Make the improvements realistic.

You really want to lose 60 pounds or you want to get out of tons of debt. These goals, are noble but for most people they are extremely hard to complete in one year. Make your goals a little more reasonable. Perhaps take on 20 pounds this year. Make sure they are realistic, but not too easy. If is something you can easily complete in a month, it is probably too easy, you should make the goal a little harder. Yeah, it’s a fine line between too easy or too hard, the middle is perfect. These improvements are your resolutions.

5. Take it easy, you have a whole year.

Most people get all pumped up and start working real hard towards your goals. If you go into a gym you see this all the time, the first few weeks of the New Year everyone is at the gym trying to lose weight because of their New Year’s Resolution. At the end of January it is starting to look like a ghost town. The only people at the gym are the people who made it a habit. They don’t go all out and flame out. They take their time. It is like the fable of the “Tortoise and the Hare”. Slow and steady wins the race. This is the same with New Year’s Resolutions, we get excited and work hard on our resolutions just like the Hare, but it is the small consistent steps that will help you last all year and conquer your goal.

If you follow the steps above you will feel better about yourself and be less stressed. Relax, enjoy the journey and good luck!

Having Faith

artedepaula — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:03:18 +0000

Have Faith

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

—John 3:16

John 3:16, the gospel quote is probably the most famous of the gospels. John 3:16 is an interesting exclamation of faith and was written on the eye black of a famous football player known as Tim Tebow. Because of Tim, there is now a rule where you can no longer write on your eye black. The rule was dubbed “The Tebow Rule”. There have been other players who have written on their eye black in College Football. But once some religion becomes involved the rule had to be passed. This is just one of the fascinating stories of Tim Tebow, one of the most polarizing professional athletes. If you log onto Mr. Tebow’s website you will again see John 3:16.

So why am I an Artist and Gemologist, writing about a sports figure? No, I don’t really paint any sports figures in my art. On the radio, on TV, online, all I do is hear people bringing down this guy. I started to wonder why everyone was doing so much hating. From what I’ve seen of Tim he is a good guy, the type of guy you can hang out with, a buddy who brings you up. What I like most is his perseverance. He just goes out and does his best.

He has not been in legal trouble, he is not offensive or talks bad about his team or coach. He is actually quite the opposite, he goes out and does all the things we are supposed to do. He is an overall good person. People say he isn’t that good of an athlete, he will never make it in the NFL. But, if you look at his career, he has won a Heisman Trophy and Championships. I hear over and over again that he is not a good quarterback, while they give many other new quarterbacks the benefit of the doubt. No, they are uncomfortable of his religion and of him being too good as a person.

If someone has faith, that is something to be applauded not rejected. If that faith is faith in himself, his team, his country or his religion. As an artist you have to have faith in your art, just as an athlete has to have faith in their abilities. As an artist, as in life, you receive constant criticism, you get beaten up and battered down. It is a wonderful thing when someone with so much faith doesn’t let life beat him down he holds himself up high. Go out, seize the day and have faith. Believe.

The Lure of Gold

artedepaula — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:46:47 +0000

We as a species seem to be overly occupied with gold. The economy tanked and years before it went under in 2008 gold had already climbed high. In the early part of this decade gold went from being around $300 an ounce to around $800 an ounce. Talk about a climb. Who knows, maybe it was a predictor of the failing economy. Currently gold is trading right around the $1,700-$1,800. You can’t watch the news or listen to talk radio without hearing a commercial about selling your gold or investing in gold. It seems what we’ve got here is another gold rush.

When going through the history books it seems that we might know history, but heck we are going to repeat it over and over again. Well throughout history humankind seems to have been obsessed with gold. All you have to do is look back 5,000 years and see the Egyptians tinkering with the precious metal. Also if we have always been so obsessed with gold, why all of a sudden in the last decade does the metals worth go up so much.

If you look at history you will see that people all of a sudden will have an obsession over a particular product. Anyone who remembers the Beanie Baby craze will tell you that anything can be an obsession. Or look at Holland when a flower the Tulip was worth as much as a house. We humans are a peculiar species.

The lure of gold seems to keep resurfacing. Why did Columbus look for the new world? For gold, yeah, maybe spices, silks and other stuff, but mostly gold. When you see a picture of treasure it is usually a chest filled with gold. Think of all the crazed gold rushes that happened over the centuries.

When you see a treasure diver searching the bottom of the ocean for a ship that is centuries old, most of the wood gone, most of the metals are corroded, the silver turns black. But even after sitting in the bottom of the ocean for centuries, when the treasure diver brings up gold, it is that alluring yellow color. Countries, empires and rulers may come and go, the price of gold may go up or down, but the lure of gold is forever.

Having Fun With Tourists

artedepaula — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:22:35 +0000

Living on an island I see a lot of people who come down from up North. When traveling to other islands like Aruba or Hawaii I see even more of them. These are people, who God bless them, like to live in the cold. I could not do that, nor do I want to attempt the torture. So, when living on an island usually it is pretty easy to spot the tourist and no, I’m not talking about the people with the cameras around their neck. No, I’m talking about the people who you can tell are tourists even though they have very little clothes on.

When hanging out by the pool, beach or having a drink at the staple tiki bar you will see them. The will be red as lobsters from being sunburned. They more often than not, will be slightly overweight. So as an artist is was inspired to put brush to paper and capture the essence of the tourists or turistas. I decided to paint a lovely tourist couple, it would be unfair if I only painted just a guy or gal. To truly understand who these tourists are you have to see them together as a couple. Usually, they have been married for a while, at least 5 years. When you see my painting, the Tourists or Turistas you will be transported to a vacation spot or perhaps a cruise. Either way enjoy.

Turistas or the Tourists by DePaula

Islamorada Alligator Reef Lighthouse

artedepaula — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:37:18 +0000

Islamorada Alligator Lighthouse by DePaula

The Islamorada Lighthouse is a skeletal style lighthouse that was made to warn ships to steer clear of the alligator reef. Alligator Reef is one of the largest reef systems in the Upper Keys. Alligator Reef and the lighthouse get their namesake from a shipwreck, the USS Alligator. The USS Alligator is an 86 ft schooner that wrecked in 1825. The ship was sent to protect a convoy from being raided by pirates. The USS Alligator surprised the pirates and saved the flotilla. The USS Alligator then escorted the saved ships to deter any others who would attack. While escorting the flotilla hit the reef. They tried to salvage the ship the best that they could taking all most of the cargo including the ship’s cannons. It was decided that the ship had to be burned so that no looters or pirates would salvage the USS Alligator. This is where the reef and the future lighthouse would get its name.

For the longest time it was a priority for the United States to put a lighthouse at the dangerous Alligator reef. It was decided that an iron skeletal lighthouse would be best. This way the lighthouse could shine and warn mariner’s of the dangerous reef. The lighthouse was completed in 1873 and was a modern marvel for the time. Because of the location, the lighthouse was designed with extra support in mind. The skeletal structure is almost designed as a spiderweb because of the rough seas and intense hurricanes would constantly test the structure. The lighthouse went under Coast Guard control in 1939 and eventually was automated in 1963.

The Alligator Reef Lighthouse is a of Islamorada. Perhaps is a symbol of Islamorada because of the age, how it stands tall against mother nature while reminding us of her power at the same time. The Islamorada Alligator Reef Lighthouse is the guardian of all mariner’s and the people of Islamorada.