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Meet the Artist behind Hawaii Vivid Watercolors
Aloha! My name is *Kaveri Foster! I'm so thrilled to be bringing the soul and spirit of Hawaii and Sonoma Valley to you through my paintings!
A little about me: At birth, I lived 2 ½ blocks from Kailua Bay on the north shore of Oahu with my Ohana. White powdery sand, sparkling turquoise ocean, and warm balmy breezes rustling through the palm trees.
We moved to the Bay Area when I was 4, settling in Napa, when walnuts and prunes were the main crops, before grapes took over!
Growing up in the valley, was fairly uneventful, but then, my mom bought me a ticket to Hawaii to see my roots, my first trip there since I was a tiny tot.
My first stop was Kona, on Big Island. As I looked out the window as the plane descended. I saw miles and miles of black lava rock below. No homes, roads, trees, buildings, towns, people. No plants, trees, grasses. It looked like the moon and I admit I had a panic attack.
When I was walking down the stairs from the plan and my left foot hit the tarmac, a jolt of energy shot up my legs like electricity. I felt like I was "home" for the first time in my life. I was stunned.
Driving down our road thru coffee plantations in Kona at 2200'
So what'd I do? I bummed around the islands for a few weeks, then hightailed it back to the mainland, sewed up my life there, and prepared to move to Kona, of course. The magnetic pull could not be denied!
After getting my affairs in order and joyously flew back to Kona, I settled in mauka Captain Cook at 2200' elevation with my partner.
We were off-grid, using alternative energy sources for power and a rain-catchment system for water. Without the EMFs from electricity, over time, my senses became radically keen to the energies of the Aina (land).
That special attunement to the land continued when, 6 years later, we moved down the hill to our 1-acre, on-grid property near Kainaliu.
With the rainy, humid weather and mineral-rich volcanic soil, the plants thrived with little to no care, some growing to gigantic proportions! straight out of Jurassic Park!
It was here at the Kainaliu property that my painting odyssey began when I enrolled in a watercolor painting class with a local artist.
I came away with a more than decent painting, such that the instructor said, “You have something here, you must keep going." And I did!
My major watercolor paintings were created when I lived on the Kainaliu property. We had a myriad of exotic tropical plants, trees, fruit and flora.
Groves of rare Ornamental Banana and Torch Ginger; aromatic cedar; lychee; royal palm; banyan; wild orchids; monstera; lilikoi (passion fruit), papaya, many varieties of ferns and palms, just to name a few.
Red Ginger, Maidenhair Fern, Anthirium
The glorious, pastoral Sonoma Valley
Life in Kona was right out of a storybook, yet, after 16 years, it was time to reintegrate back into mainland life. (In case you were wondering, island fever is real!)
I was invited to live in a quaint cottage on a hill overlooking the Sonoma Valley. This was classic wine country, with rolling hills, rustic laid-back vibe, fine wines, sparkling full moons and gourmet cuisine.
To this day, whenever someone asks if I miss Hawaii, I say, "OMG, yes....the ocean, *sigh* "the pristine skies, oh, and, the warm white sand....and tree-ripened Haden mango, and, and, and….!" I could go on and on!!
DESIGN LIFE
Product Developer
My favorite job ever was when I worked as a Product Developer for HearthSong, developing European-style wooden toys, products for kids. Think the movie 'Big'. I played with and designed toys for a living! Our new product meetings were so much fun.
My watercolor painting served me well in mixing colors from various tubes of pigment (paint) to achieve hairline accuracy required by the designers.
Prototype Design
When I worked in prototype design for Willits Designs, my titles were Paint Master Painter and Senior Color Consultant.
I hand-painted the prototypes of resin figurines that were used for photographs for the catalog. Some of the prototypes were sent to the factory in Asia to be hand-copied and sold commercially.
The subject matter ran the gamut ~ the Borg, Jesus, little piggies, baby fairies, carousel horses, and a line called Ebony Visions, portraying the beauty, culture and dignity of African-American culture.
The elemental energies I felt living off-grid infused into my paintings, expressing my affinity + kinship with the Aina
By combining these diverse facets of my creativity: graphic + web design, prototype + product design, photography + photo editing, textile design and writing....
I have been able to create Canvas Prints + Art Merch with images of my original watercolor paintings printed on them.
The entire scope of this endeavor has been wonderful and happy making!
My Sanskrit yoga name, *Kaveri, is pronounced "very very Kaveri". It means "bringer of nourishment" in and is also a sacred river in southern India, where I was gifted the name by my beloved Guru.
