Big Isle Woodworkers Bring Home Awards

Five wood-working artisans from Hawaii Island returned with awards from the prestigious 2013 Na La‘au o Hawai‘i, Hawaii’s “Woodshow,” sponsored by the Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association.

Scott Hare of Hawaii Koa Naturals, Kurtistown, won the Artist’s Choice and People’s Choice awards for his work, “The Last Kiss … Extinction,” which also won an Honorable Mention in the juried competition.

Michael Patrick Smith, also from Kurtistown, won Honorable Mention for his “Fan Leaf Sculpture” of milo, lychee, koa and ebonized mango in the sculpture category. In the turning category, Smith’s “Yin Yang Fern,” made from mango, and “Earth, and Sea & Sky,” made from Cook pine, were each also awarded Honorable Mention.

Cliff Johns, whose Cliff Johns Gallery is in Kainaliu, won First Place in the Sculpture category for his work “Holo Hula,” created from a Bermuda cedar tree removed from a private yard in Captain Cook,” according to an HFIA release. The sculpture award is sponsored by Hawaii State Foundation on Culture & the Arts.

The first-place award for Turning, sponsored by Hawaii Forest Institute, was awarded to J. Kelly Dunn, a wood lathe artist from Hawi, for his piece “Plumeria Nocturne,” which he crafted from Mexican cypress. Kelly and Linda Dunn’s all-wood art gallery, Dunn Gallery, is in Kapaau.

Artisan Mats Fogelvik brought home an Honorable Mention for “Pua Koa,” a furniture piece made from curly koa burl veneer, koa veneer, and rosewood. His company, Fogelvik Furniture, is in Ocean View.

Hawaii’s Woodshow was held Sept. 1-15 at the Honolulu Museum of Art School at Linekona. More than 20 pieces were sold following the exhibition’s conclusion and four works received recognition awards from the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture & the Arts.

More than 80 pieces were entered in the competition, ranging from furniture and woodturning to sculpture and musical instruments.

Artists were limited to Hawai’i-grown wood and encouraged to use conservative techniques such as veneering to make the most effective use of woods in limited supply, said an HFIA release. Certain rare or endangered species were prohibited.