Last month I got a call from my friend, Wyland, the artist, and he said he was coming over to the Big Island for an artist's reception at the Wyland Gallery on Ali'i Drive in downtown Kona. He was wondering if Masa and I would take him out on the water to look for whales and dolphins the morning of the reception. Of course, we said yes, and we spent the better part of a day on the coast of Kona, Hawaii, looking at marine life, both in the water and on the canvases in Wyland's gallery.
First, let me give you an introduction to Wyland. His name is Robert Wyland, but he goes by the name of Wyland, the Artist. You know, kind of like how I'm famous as Kona Sue, the Blogger. Only Wyland is known throughout the world for his murals and paintings of marine life, especially of whales. His series of 100 "Whaling Walls" is nearing completion, after which he will tackle a series of 100 monumental sculptures.
The "Whaling Walls" were what made Wyland a household name, as they are iconic artworks for the cities in which they're located. They can be found in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. His 100th wall in the series will be painted in Beijing, China during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The walls are enormous and decorated with all kinds of marine life, with whales as their main focus. Wyland has featured gray whales, blue whales, humpbacks, orcas and others in an effort to raise environmental awareness and foster affection for whales. The Beijing installment will feature life-size images of the great (balleen) whales, and children from around the world are going to be invited to paint along with Wyland. To see more photos of Wyland's Whaling Walls, go to the Wyland Foundation website.We met up with Wyland in the morning of the 28th for breakfast, which turned into a working morning for him, as he met with Jonathan Kay, a movie-maker, to discuss a film about dolphins. Kay was asking Wyland to do the art for the movie (see dolphinmovie.com). I'm not sure what the outcome of that negotiation was, and if I did, I'm not at liberty to say!
Finally, around noon, we left the restaurant for Keauhou and then departed the harbor for whale-watching. Right away we ran into a Capt. Zodiac boat and asked them if they'd seen anything. They told us a pod of pilot whales was just south, on the way to Kealakekua Bay, so we headed in that direction.
We found the pilot whales no problem, but unfortunately, there were a bunch of other boats there, too. We waited quite a while for them to leave, then Wyland got in the water with all of his video camera gear. Wyland has a new record label and he needed some video of pilot whales, which he planned to use for a DVD version of one of his records.
Large marine mammals are protected in Hawaii, so we're not allowed to approach them too closely, but the pilot whales seemed drawn to Wyland, and they circled him for some great footage. One of the keys to Wyland's success is that he always seems to be where the animals are, and if he's not, they come to him! I'm looking forward to seeing those shots on the Wyland music label DVD.Wyland is 51 years old, but he has the energy of a teenager. He was in and out of the boat at least 15 times, lugging that heavy video equipment, and putting in at various places to get different angles. I came away with a new appreciation of how hard a worker Wyland is!
After Wyland had enough of the pilot whales, we went into Kealakekua Bay to enjoy the beautiful scenery there. Again, there were tons of tourists, so we felt a little claustrophobic. There were some spinner dolphins there, but not close enough to get any video of. Finally, as we were thinking about leaving, some spinner dolphins approached where we were, and again Wyland got some great footage for his label. A little while later, we saw one breaching humback whale.
We finished our boating excursion about 6:00 p.m. Wyland is amazing, because after a full day of swimming, snorkeling and videography from Masa's boat, he still had the energy to take on a full night's work at the Wyland Gallery. He was there by 7:30 p.m. and stayed all evening, painting a whale on canvas in oils, and using a Japanese ink brush to make line drawings of humpback whales for friends and gallery patrons.
The gallery was pretty packed with Wyland fans, gallery clients and quite a few passers-by who just wanted to see what all the noise was about. Wyland would work on the canvas for a while, then put down the brushes to talk to the guests and sign memorabilia. He took photos with anyone who asked and delighted everyone with his friendly personality and casual style.After he finished the humpback whale painting, it was auctioned off, and it fetched $16,500. The snapshot here, taken by one of my employee's 8-year old daughter, shows a glimpse of the painting mid-way through the creation process.
Masa and I didn't arrive at the gallery till later in the evening. There were still lots of people there, but when things started to die down, Wyland drew a line drawing for each of us using a Japanese ink brush . He drew a humpback whale and calf for Masa and a whale fluke for me! They came out great and we were both so excited to get these great works of art! Mine is now on display in the SeaPics.com office.
After all that, I was pretty exhausted, but Wyland was eager to get us to commit to another day on the water the next morning! Obviously, there's more to write about, but I'm going to save it for my next blog. Check out Close Encounters Part II, which should be up in a week or so! Mahalo!
Kona Sue
http://www/seapics.com
Wyland photos at SeaPics.com
Wyland links:
Wyland.com – official site
The Wyland Foundation – a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving the world's oceans, waterways, and marine life
The Whaling Walls
Wyland Galleries, Big Island, Hawaii
Wyland bio on Wikipedia
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