In Hawaiian legend, the demigod Maui harnessed the sun to slow its path as it moved across the sky, so that his mother would have more sunlight to dry her kapa (cloth). It's a feat that would please Carleton Kinkade. He, too, wrestles the sun into capitulation. Carleton, however, captures the sun on canvas, his brush strokes sweeping delicate, sunlit tones of tropical days and languid afternoons into his paintings, slowing the course of time. With atypical sensitivity, Carleton records the typically beautiful Maui scenes that are slowly disappearing from our island landscape. Here are sun-cracked cane shacks and old plantation homes, or huge mango trees that lovingly drape fruit-laden branches to shade dusty country roads. The atypical is typical of Carleton Kinkade, a former All-American wrestler. "I don't hang with a lot of artists," he remarks. "They're too artsy." His blonde hair is pulled into a Steven Segal ponytail; he has an athlete's physique and piercing blue eyes. A bouncer by night, a painter by day, Carleton inhabits a social niche with more than its share of challenges. But
finding his painterly niche has come without a rift. This "new" artist has been studying and painting the landscape and people of Maui for ten years. He settled on the island directly after graduating with a BA in art from Central Michigan University, which he attended on a wrestling scholarship. But wrestling
was 'no match for his passion to paint. "A lot of people work their whole life so they can retire and paint. I like to say that I decided to retire when I graduated." It was a tossup between Mexico and Maui; the home team (his parents) rooted for Maui. "I wanted warm weather, fishing and free fruit." He found a
modest residence here and began to paint in earnest. "The first year I couldn't give my paintings away. I knew
where every fruit tree in the neighborhood was, and ate seaweed. I was literally a starving artist." Today, Carleton enjoys recognition from both col- lectors and fellow artists. "I get so excited now when I see things coming off my brush that I had no idea I could do-colors and tones I couldn't have compre- hended ten years ago. I feel I'm on the verge of being a really good painter." Carleton credits much of his maturation to one of Maui's most well-known artists, Lowell
Mapes. "Because of Lowell, I look at things differently. I see colors where I never saw color before. It's like wine. You don't acquire a palate until you drink a bunch. I've acquired a palette now, which is constantly getting richer and more sophisticated." For now, Carleton's favorite subjects are people, preferably surfer girls. "I prefer to paint from life for four or five hours. But I've been stood up more times than not. One time I had an appointment with two girls on the same day, and they both stood me up. I went to Moose's (Moose McGillycuddy's, a popular
Lahaina watering hole) and found two pretty girls with boyfriends so they would know I was okay." These girls are now immortalized in Carleton's poster, but the girls were tourists, and in typical artist style, he lost their phone numbers. If you happen to be in Lahaina, stop by The Village Gallery for a closer look. And if you happen to be a pretty girl who recalls posing for an atypical artist,
contact Carleton Kinkade. You may be famous.
This article originally appeared in
Maui no ka oi (magazine)
Vol. 4, No 2 Summer 2000 issue
go check out their website at www.mauinokaoi.net
