Mai Migita from Tokyo, Japan’s 1st art class ever!


]]> http://naturallyhawaiian.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/amazing-teacheramazing-students/feed/ 0 pching http://naturallyhawaiian.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/found-this-photo-my-favorite-cowboy-photo/ http://naturallyhawaiian.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/found-this-photo-my-favorite-cowboy-photo/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:28:00 +0000 pching http://naturallyhawaiian.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/found-this-photo-my-favorite-cowboy-photo/ ]]>

My friend Jaclyn Bloom tracked down this photograph. It is my favorite from my rodeo trip to New Zealand and brought back some great memories.

WAIMANALO COWBOYS STAR IN NEW ZEALAND

I looked at Jeremy Starr before his ride and asked “How’ you feelin’ cowboy?”
He looked around and smiled “I’m riding bulls in New Zealand”.
We laughed as we panned the crisp landscape and overflowing crowd.

One hour later we were flying in a helicopter with amazing sights of Christchurch Town below. It wasn’t your normal helicopter tour. My face was covered with clown make up. Jeremy’s was covered with blood. We were on medevac to Christchurch hospital. Jeremy had drawn “Extreme”; New Zealand’s top bucking bull. Halfway into the ride Jeremy got bucked off and the bulls’ front right hoof came down on his head.

My name is Patrick Ching, artist and bull fighter (rodeo clown) from Waimanalo, Hawaii. I was invited to be the rodeo clown at the Methven Rodeo in South Island this year. I brought a crew of Hawaiians with me. It was a thrill for us to visit schools and be on National television news and children’s TV and be treated like royalty in New Zealand.

We had our own Ali’I (royalty) among us in Kekoa and Rosina Ho. Kekoa, is the current chair of the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board and his wife, Rosina, is a native of the Bay of Islands, Northland. It was great to see Kekoa on a horse during a trek to the high country’s panoramic views. We enjoyed staying at Rosina’s farm and soaking in the sacred hot springs of Ngawha.

We visited with Fred Teixeira, former owner of saddle City in Waimanalo who now resides on a big ranch in Keri Keri where he breeds some of New Zealand’s top Bucking bulls. Albert Moniz of Haleiwa was also there with his hand made Hawaiian saddles and the tales of the Hawaiian Paniolo mesmerized the crowd. Handsome Jason Lau Placed 2nd in the bull riding beating out most of the top riders in the land. Alan Duarte of Kauai showed us his roping skills and gave the Kiwi’s a lesson in How fo’ talk pidgen. The family of Nina Gonzales, brother Justin Gonzales and their mom Leona represented Hawaii well. Leona rode with the American Flag in the grand entry and Nina came out with the Hawaiian Flag as the Hawaii 5-0 theme song exciting the crowd. Justin dislocated his shoulder at the Windchester Rodeo the day before but rode anyway with tremendous courage (and pain) at Methven. His shoulder was dislocated again during this, his second ride in two days. Bull rider Nelson Junco, a soft spoken cowboy kept us safe by driving the van skillfully on the wrong side of the road and bull rider Dean Suzuki kept us laughing with his humorous recaps of our adventures. Professional Rodeo Photographer Clayton Crusing got amazing photos and stories for the papers and bull riding magazines. You can get his photos and News coverage of our trip at http://www.picsbyclayton.com/Pages/Naturally_Hawaiian.html

Other members of our crew served proudly as ambassadors of Hawaii. Tim Farley, Tammi Onaha, Corky Summers and Charles Jamison worked constantly to Man our Naturally Hawaiian Rodeo booth, organize the great stick pony race and clown chase and pass out gifts and prizes to the New Zealand kids on behalf of the Hawaiians.

Then there was the Hawaiian Hula Bull contest. Each cowboy was given a lei, a hula skirt, a hula hoop, and only one task: To put the hoop over a bulls head without getting killed. Hawaii 5-0 sounded again and the skirts, leis, hoops and hooves went flying. It was Art. Naturally Hawaiian style.

Jeremy Starr became an instant “star” after his accident which fortunately didn’t kill or paralyze him, but did leave him with fractured neck vertebrae and a huge gash across the back of his skull. True to form, he refused to leave the hospital without a cowboy hat and insisted he walk out. Every news station and paper in New Zealand did a story on him and though our group’s motto during the trip was “No Cowboy Left Behind” we did allow one to stay there and heal.

Another Hawaiian Art Miles Mural was completed at Parker School on the Big Island last week during Art Day. We talked about what peace was to each of us and composed the mural on a dry erase board first. Then we all painted the mural moving around each other like a Twister game. Nobody minded that someone else painted near or on their part of the picture.

Hey
“It’s a Peace Mural.”

The meeting was set by Chuck Larson “I’ll be at your house at 4pm”.

I had been warned about Larson’s negotiating tactics but I was ready. So, at five to four I walked out onto the reef in front my house and began fishing. On my second cast I hooked up a fish. As I was fighting it on my spinning reel, I saw Chuck approaching in his Kayak. I landed the fish (weke) about the same time Chuck landed his kayak.

Chuck brought refreshments and we discusses the Mural project for Seagull School.

“We’re dedicating a new building and I want you to do a magical mural. Kinda tropical and fun with lots of animals. This is the first thing I want the kids to see when they enter the building.”

There really was no negotiating. My strategy was I just said “Yes, anything you want”. And the Seagull school mural project was under way.

To complete the project by the time of the dedication of the new building I recruited my long time friend and fellow artist Jeff Pagay. In Moanalua high school Jeff and I wrote and drew the popular book “How Fo’ Surf”. They made us scrub it off the desks. Today it has sold out several printings and it’s second edition “How Fo’ Surf Bettah” is in production. Jeff and I are the only two people of our class to become professional artists.

Painting the Seagull School mural was a comic reunion. Jeff and I always are so in tuned with each other. In high School I taught Jeff how to use an airbrush. Then he blew past me with to become one of the top artists in the field of murals and banners. Jeff’s experience was super welcome as we worked fast and furious to procure the mural.

The magical place of Jungle Book meets Danger Island came to life with the help of several volunteers: John Garrette, Colleen, Ken Oku, John from Buzz’s, and Chasen Story. My friend and distributor Derek Scott had a burning desire to Sweep the huge parking lot so he helped in that way.

The new building and mural were dedicated on January 29 with Mihana Souza leading the music with Chuck and I taking turns on washtub base. The keiki of Seagull School danced the hula with Shalei Bagood. There was a bunch of other important people there as well. We all had a good time trying to find all the frogs the artists hid in the painting.

Naturally Hawaiian Gallery & Gifts is a friendly, yet funky place, to be sure. And, it’s tough to ignore

Outside the single-story structure stands a pair of life-size horses draped in multi-colored lei, a 1961 Ford Falcon and a sign that reads: “Sandy Feet? Please wash ‘em round da corner. And no fo’get to buy something.”

“Because we’re located across the street from the polo grounds in Waimanalo, many passing motorists do a double-take when they see our horses for the first time. Sometimes, we even put one up on the roof to attract attention,” laughs Ching, who still works part-time as a rodeo clown at the Gunstock Ranch just down the road, and he owns three real horses of his own.

His fake horses that stand outside his gallery are popular fixtures along the two-lane blacktop that snakes its way past beaches, stands of ironwood trees and through Hawaiian Homestead Land. Budding artists and school kids from the area often volunteer to paint the Palomino ponies in wild colors or “dress” them in aloha shirts.

Throughout the year, it’s not unusual to find them decked out in holiday paint jobs ranging from candy canes and Halloween pumpkins to graduation caps and bright red hearts on Valentine’s Day.

This fanciful approach to art is Ching’s way of saying, “Welcome to our little corner of paradise. Leave your slippas at the door, come in and visit for a while.”

Ching opened Naturally Hawaiian in 1996 in the ruins of Charlie’s Gas Station next to Mel’s Market in the heart of Waimanalo. Since then artists, tourists and students interested in taking one of Ching’s art classes have found their way to his doorstep to shop for handmade art and share in Waimanalo’s famous country atmosphere.

Once inside, even first-time visitors feel right at home. Along the walls and tucked into corners are an assortment of books, ceramic sculptures and paintings – all with a local-kine theme. In addition to his own oil paintings of Hawaiian wildlife and landscapes are koa bowls by Larry Deluz, carved bone fish hooks by Louie the Fish and Hawaiian jewelry by Abbey Wallace designed for local tastes and pocketbooks.

Overall, the gallery has a paniolo flavor thanks to a buckboard display laden with Naturally Hawaiian t-shirts, shelves offering a collection of cowboy hats and a 100-year-old Portuguese saddle draped over a rough-hewn sawhorse.

Ching is a homegrown boy through and through. He graduated from Moanalua High School in 1980 and later attended Leeward Community College, the Academy of Arts, and Otis/Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles.

His love of the aina and his eye for detail developed during a stint with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the time he lived and worked at the Kilauea Lighthouse Wildlife Refuge on Kauai.

Among his biggest accomplishments were the 1986 Hawaaian Telephone Phone Book Cover featuring Haley’s Comet, a one man show in Governor Waihe’e's office in 1987, Hawaii’s first Wildlife Conservation Stamp featuring our state bird the nene (goose) and a hundred foot mural for the Salt Lake Public Library depicting the artist’s favorite historic scenes from the Salt Lake/Moanalua area.

Stopping by the Naturally Hawaiian Gallery & Gifts is well worth a ride into the country, even if it’s just to talk story with Ching and his crew. His gallery is located at 41-1025 Kalanianaole Hwy. and is open seven days a week. Call 259-5354 for directions and hours of operation.

This fanciful approach to art is Ching’s way of saying, “Welcome to our little corner of paradise…”

HONOLULU ADVERTISER October 2008

Lots of old and new friends made it out to show their support by getting the new monk seal t-shirts. KHNL paid a visit and featured us on the 7pm and 9pm news on Channel 8 and Channel 5. (We will be including that clip here once we have it uplaoded to youtube.)

Also, Daniela called into KSSK and they aired a PSA for us as well.

Just a reminder, my originals will still be showing until the 1st of the year, so you still have time to get one for the holidays!

Thanks to all who came by and showed their support and Aloha. We are looking forward to an exciting new year and can’t wait for you to see all the exciting things we have planned!