New Mosaics a Tribute to Kailua Community
KAILUA, Hawaii – Two larger-than-life, Kailua-inspired mosaics join the previously installed Living Wall to provide a visual treat for those entering the heart of Kailua Town.
“Seaside Living” and “Kailua State of Mind,” were created by local artists Bethany Brown and Leah Rigg at the request of Kaneohe Ranch. It took Brown several months to create two original 3-by-3-foot designs painted in acrylic. Those then became the images Rigg transformed onto 8-by-8-foot murals made of broken ceramic tiles interspersed with ceramic/slab-rolled/hand-cut and glazed tiles/letters. In some detailed places, there are up to 100 pieces per square foot.
“We continue to reinvest in Kailua Town to keep it an attractive, desirable place to live, work, shop, dine and play,” said Mitch D’Olier, president and CEO of Kaneohe Ranch. “Beautifying our public spaces with colorful local art helps fulfill Harold K.L. Castle’s vision, and both Bethany and Leah have done a wonderful job of depicting our special community with these one-of-a-kind mosaics.”
The mosaics are on the wall of the building where Whole Foods Market will open next spring, on the Kailua Road side of Kailua Town Center’s third phase. Earlier this fall, Kaneohe Ranch installed the state’s first commercial Living Wall, an 11-by-18-foot vertical panel featuring artfully arranged Native Hawaiian and tropical plants, on that same building.
“When I create a new piece of art, it is important that both the message and the image be indistinguishable and carry equal weight on the canvas. For me, no matter what the piece, that is always the hardest part,” said Brown, who has been living in Kailua for the past 10 years. Brown asked friends, family, neighbors and people hanging out at the popular Kalapawai Market to describe Kailua in one word.
Brown said all those community descriptors set the stage for what became the images she settled on. “A picture is worth a thousand words, but a picture with the right words can express much more because words invite interaction with the art as the mind automatically reads the words it sees,” she said. “However, the words can easily overwhelm the image so I strive to subdue them to a degree by weaving them into the images for an integrated and balanced effect.”
Rigg said this was the first time she translated another artist’s work — especially a painting with words — into a mosaic. “It was intricate and a challenge time-wise, but at the same time, I could see how I could translate her brush strokes into tiles,” said Rigg, who spent about 250 hours completing the two mosaics. “I hope that people will enjoy these murals as an aesthetically interesting and attractive snapshot of their neighborhood. Bethany put a lot of thought into their content, and I love her use of descriptive words, some even sort of hidden. I like to think people will not just walk by them but take a minute to enjoy the piecing together of the tiles, read the words and appreciate the placement of the mosaics among all the plants.”
Brown also has a giclee (print using archival inks produced on large-format printers) on display at the Castle Medical Birth Center and many of Rigg’s murals can be seen around Kailua and Honolulu: two lobby murals at Shriners Hospital for Children; three entry murals, columns and the floor art at the renovated food court at Windward Mall; two donor walls at the Honolulu Zoo; and a 7-by-49-foot mural at Punahou School’s new K-1 campus, a collaborative project completed with 300 students.
Kaneohe Ranch manages the real estate owned by the family business entities of Harold K.L. Castle and Alice H. Castle and their nonprofit charitable foundation, the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation. The portfolio consists of major landholdings in Kailua as well as other properties on Oahu and the U.S. mainland. The Kailua properties include commercial, retail, office, industrial and residential leasehold parcels.
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