Last week I had one of the coolest experiences as a muralist I’ve had to date! Throughout all of the murals I’ve done in the past year, each one has had its moments of awe and wonder where Ke Akua and our Kupuna have directed me in some way. For the Kailua mural it was a full rainbow stretching across the sky and arching over the wall on the day I finished it. For Kona, it was a blood red moon on the first and last day. For this Kaimuki mural it happened last week as I was painting Liholiho’s face as a child on the wall. It was morning time. I prepped all my supplies. I got up on the lift and right as I was looking up at his face, ready to move the lift up, I saw a shadow of small wings flit by the shadow of my head on the wall and stop at my hat. I immediately recognized the shadow as I have seen many iterations of it on the wall this past week and my heart leapt - a butterfly!!! Right as I was about to start painting, a butterfly came and landed on my hat. I quickly turned around and asked the PTA president who was walking to her car to take a picture. She came over and got some pictures. The butterfly waited patiently and once the pictures were taken and the story was told it flew away. That’s never happened to me before!! It was magical and a sign that our kupuna are ever present watching over and guiding us.

Have you ever had something like this happen to you?

This is Mahina Olelo Hawaii - Hawaiian Language Month in Hawaii! This month and year we’re trying to start a new YouTube channel of very relatable Hawaiian Language content and videos for moms and children with a mentor and native speaker. We have everything in place except for the date we’re all free! We’re thinking this will be a channel to show how Hawaiian can be used in the home, at the beach, at the park, in the car maybe, at a restaurant! Where do you think we should shoot first?