Back up a month or two!

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves with shows and news, I wanted to give a history of "The Aloha President" show up until now.

The Images

My wife Susan Benay is an artist and photographer living in Lanikai and Kailua Hawaii for the past 9 years. She is one of the topselling and best-loved photographers in the islands with her images gracing books, calendars, and websites and countless retail stores and galleries on all the islands.

Her website www.thecolorsofhawaii.com is where to go to see her artistic and colorful images of Hawaii. Her work is steeped in the island's energy and seeming infinity of beauty and natural wonder. You will be hard-pressed to find one photographer with as wide a variety of visual material on contemporary Hawaii.

8-8-08

Painting is her first love, though. So that said:

On August 8, 2008 she set out to go hear and photograph Barack Obama at his very special and one and only Hawaii rally at Keehi Lagoon, which was very near her main retail store at the NEX Pearl Harbor! Her intent was to capture images and then paint large paintings from those images.

The morning of the rally she got in line early and was luckily right up front. The rally was very very short (about 15 minutes) and it was thrilling.

She was totally absorbed in the excitement of the event and the almost tangible energy that Barack exuded. The crowd was "fired-up!" So was she. She took what
she calls a "tropical suite" of photos under the intense heat of the Hawaiian sun. At the end of the rally, she met Barack and Michele briefly. She was struck by their genuineness and great hearts!

That meeting and the day's events ignited a true creative inspiration in her.

Fast forward to December...

Barack Obama had won the election and word was spreading that he was coming back to Hawaii one more time before Inauguration. Where would he stay? That was a subject of great conjecture. In the town of Kailua where he stayed in August was the assumption but no one knew for sure.

On December 19th, my wife called me from our home on the canal at the north end of Kailua Beach. "He's staying right across from us!" she said. She could see barricades going up and another neighbor had confirmed: Barack Obama was going to be staying right across the canal from us for 12 days!

As you can imagine it was a scene beyond belief for 12 days at our house and neighborhood. My wife took in all that was happening while she continued with the passions and details of her daily life. Sometimes she would set up an easel and paint in our back yard on the water in what she called "plein-canal" painting. On Christmas she painted "Mele Kalikimaka" on the bottom of our kayak and set it on the canal bank to extend Christmas wishes to the very many of the president's party and entourage of press and security as well as our neighbors on the other side. She painted the bottom of a standup paddleboard with a Happy New Year's message and placed it next to the kayak on Dec. 31 as well.

Many a morning we would wave at him as he sped by to go to the nearby Marine Corps Base. Often he would wave back and flash a big smile.

The entire island of Oahu which we live on underwent a complete electrical blackout for over 12 hours one evening while Barack was here. Not too many public outings by the Obamas but enough to make news around the world.

And my wife was able to tastefully document what she witnessed from her vantage point. She did not follow him around town, but rather noted the details and moments that energized our neighborhood due to his presence. The images tell an interesting story of the goings-on in a quiet, scenic neighborhood with a very special guest. From canoe paddlers to surfers to Christmas carolers to well-wishers bringing macadamia nuts and chocolate to relaxed press corps to routine security
measures to protesters to wild weather, rainbows, and glorious sunrises -- and so on. Each day offered something uniquely new.

Brush with History

So, the images from "Being in Paradise with Obama: An Artist's Brush with History in Hawaii" (aka "The Aloha President") draw from the two time periods mentioned above - one, when she "went to him" at the 8-8-08 rally and two, when he "came to her" across from her home from 12-20-08 to 1-1-09.

I think it's easy enough to see why she was inspired to create this show and offer it to the world. We hope you find it interesting and it leaves you wanting to learn more about Hawaii and perhaps Barack himself. It is the President in his hometown under the Hawaiian sun on the cusp of making history, on the cusp of changing things around a bit in our country and the world...

Again, here's the link to the show and enjoy:

http://www.thealohapresident.com

Oh, yeah. The paintings she had wanted to do originally from the photographic images she got on 8-8-08... those are coming too!!!