Malama Wao Akua 2009
- Title
- 'Ekaha of Waikamoi
- Artist
- Lisa E. Kasprzycki
- Media
- Oil on Wood
- Price
- $2,400 (sold)
What I love about the 'Ekaha which I have tried to capture here in my painting is the way it seems to reflect and transmit mountain light. Often rain forests are dark and almost gloomy. But when the sun breaks through, especially after it has been raining, the light has a special yellow-green alpenglow quality. The midrib and lihi (edges) of the 'Ekaha (sometimes called laukahi) leaves have a special way of illuminating with this light. Banks of these have the effect of seemingly to light up the whole forest. 'Ekaha is a small epiphytic endemic fern that grows in moss banks of our watershed rain forests.