Thanks to all of you that have stopped to check out the Hashi’s Fine Art Gallery Website and blog. I’m Steve Hashi. My wife, Jan, and I are the owners (since June 1st, 2019). This is my first ever blog post, so please be gentle.
Jan and I met here, on Kauai, in 2012. She was a Kitchen Designer and I was a General Contractor. The stars were already helping me out! Our compatibility was clear from the start. I’m sure that many of you have that relationship where you can finish each other's sentences. Well, Jan and I were doing that by our second date! I have to say that anyone who can anticipate my thought process has my respect and a little of my sympathy as well.
Jan has been enthused with painting since her teens. She has taken classes and works diligently to hone her craft. I love her ability to paint a realism painting one day and then morph into a mindset for impressionistic and then abstract. She just gets excited about something she sees, or thinks up, and then GOES FOR IT! I can honestly say that it was this enthusiasm that started me on my path as an artist. Prior to meeting Jan I viewed art as something that was a distraction in my contractors world of logic and mechanical solutions. As I got to spend more and more time with Jan I began to see, as she was seeing. My right brain was twitching! The sky was bluer. The contrast between the trees, sky and clouds made me stop and comment. Colors were more vivid, and contrasts between colors more complimentary. I was hooked. The rabbit hole beckoned me.
I had always admired Jan’s painting ability, but I was intimidated and felt that the learning curve would outlast me. Then one day Jan showed me a magazine featuring an artist that did tile mosaic work on surfboards! As a craftsman that had been setting tile for 20 years and surfer for 50 years that was enough to set the hook. (Oh, yeah, I’m also a lifelong fisherman.)
Anyway, please check out some of my work on the Hashi's Fine Art Gallery Website. I have a blast creating surfboard art. Opening up Hashi’s Fine Art Gallery fulfilled a dream that Jan has had for most of her life. Because of my love for Jan this dream has become mine as well. That and the fact that it’s dangerous for her to be on a ladder hanging art. Looking back at the years in various other galleries (Hanalei General Store, Kalaheo Coffees gallery and The Art House/Koloa) it reminds me of all of the wonderful people and their enthusiasm towards our works that have given us the energy, hope and faith to move into 2020 with the anticipation of joy and success.
Thank you all for participating.
Aloha, Steve Hashi
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