Visual Diary: Oahu

Hotel carpeting: always interesting

I'm not much of a photographer, even when I go to amazing places on vacations.  This trend has improved only slightly with the age of the camera on one's phone.

So, if you'll indulge me, I have about a dozen photos from our recent trip to the island of Oahu that I'd like to park here in BlogLand.  No selfies.  Very little scenery, especially of the typical sort.  I just pull out my camera when I see something inspiring.

Exhibit A: hotel carpeting.  I have demonstrated before my love of the quirky design that is the hallmark of hotel carpets.  Couldn't help myself.  (Full disclosure, I have snapped pix of the upholstery of restaurant booths, too.  My family knows I have no shame.)

I really found lots of textures and themes in Hawaii that were calling out to me.  Come along for my version of sight-seeing!

 First things first: Hawaii boasts lovely flowers and unusual plants.  And those tropical beauties decorate many surfaces--including this phone booth.  (When did you last see a phone booth?  With a working phone?)

Some actual Hawaiian flowers and plants.  Fun to see plants that we consider indoor houseplants growing much happier in their tropical home environment.  Even Oakie took time to admire a simple floral display (in the restroom of one of the botanical gardens we visited).

The Kapa (traditional barkcloth, right) displayed in our hotel was a true work of art from a woman working to bring back this technique to artisans in the Islands.  Of course, I wanted to investigate becoming her apprentice--how cool might that be?

Another textile-related inspiration.  What is it about textures that I cannot resist?

Somehow, part of our hotel complex was dolled up to look like a village or temple area in Asia.  Not quite sure what that was about...

But the details were pretty cool, so out came my camera...

The memorial atop the sunken USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor features two versions of an abstract Tree of Life.  The Tree symbolizes rebirth and renewal.  I was very moved by visiting this memorial, and equally inspired by the interpretation of this very old Tree symbol into such a contemporary, graphic version.  (Of course it looks like a modern quilt to me.  How could it not?)

Having just worked on a traditional sashiko design, I think my brain was tuned in to Japanese symbols found throughout Hawaii.  The Island culture today is certainly mixed with a lot of Asian imagery and themes.  This picture is from a shopping area that seems to cater to Japanese tourists.

And finally, we conclude our tour of Hawaiian motifs with a t-shirt.  I liked this one because the traditional Honu sea turtle was decorated with a map of the islands.  Good graphic design: combining two appealing, iconic images in a cohesive, new way.

I escaped my vacation without purchasing any apparel.  But those ubiquitous Hawaiian print fabrics did come back with me...  I'll save that tale for later.

Do you take pictures of unusual things while traveling?  What does one do with pix of the hotel carpeting, anyway?