WendyRobertsFineArt

This beautiful colony of sea lions is from the shore of La Jolla, California. On a rock in the ocean, the intertwining sea lions sun, resting from the ebb and flow of the ocean waves. I will never forget a scuba trip I took to Catalina where we got a chance to see them out swimming gracefully in the ocean, in their natural habitat. We witnessed them chasing flying fish, using their amazing speed to round up a school of the unfortunate fish to startle them into stunning themselves on the side of our boat thus creating an easy meal! Sea lions are very intelligent creatures. The sea lions were a wonderful painting challenge, their bodies merging into a mass of intermingling shapes. I had to really think about where each sea lion was and...

Kipu Falls is a spectacular waterfall on the island of Kauai surrounded by banyan trees. In the past, it was a popular swimming hole for both locals and visitors alike, but is currently inaccessible on private property. By sheer coincidence, I was fortunate enough to see it two weeks before it was closed to public access in the summer of 2011. The following year, I decided to make a painting of Kipu Falls for my husband, but I did not have a good photo of the falls because the access path ended at the top of the waterfall cliff. Impenetrable jungle and steep terrain prevented easy access from land. The best way to view the falls as they are in the painting was to either jump in the pool below the waterfalls using a high rope swing dangli...

I named this view from the top of a mountain, "Perspective" because when I look at the scene, I think of all the times I have spent on long hikes, letting my mind wander and untangle the knots of every day life. It reminds me to step back from my problems and take it one day at a time. It's a visual reminder to seek a little space and peace where I can solve my problems and bring a calm clarity back into the everyday.

When I first moved to Oahu, Hawaii, I saw a landscape so unlike anything I had ever seen before, that it haunted me. I was inspired to paint the beauty of the river basin with Konahuanui Mountain Peak in the background. In the foreground, naturalized red ginger sways in the gentle tradewinds. The sun illuminates the green of the leaves and the tall grass, a green so intense it positively glows, the light sparkling and changing, moving over the landscape on a beautiful sunny day.

“New Day at Kawainui” began as a response to the theme of its debut show, “Fresh Start”. The theme was created to reflect the time of the show, in January when everyone has set resolutions and the energy of a new year is high. I have always been a believer in the power of setting goals for each New Year's Day. I try to stick to my goals and really make changes that are beneficial. The concept of a fresh start was very exciting to me. When I thought of how to translate this concept to a visual realm, I immediately thought of the golden mornings on my walks at Kawainui. Kawainui is a place where I occasionally go to clear my head and take a scenic stroll. It signals changes and new beginnings to me. There is an optimism in starting ...

“New Day at Kawainui” began as a response to the theme of its debut show, “Fresh Start”. The theme was created to reflect the time of the show, in January when everyone has set resolutions and the energy of a new year is high. I have always been a believer in the power of setting goals for each New Year’s Day. I try to stick to my goals and really make changes that are beneficial. The concept of a fresh start was very exciting to me. When I thought of how to translate this concept to a visual realm, I immediately thought of the golden mornings on my walks at Kawainui. Kawainui is a place where I occasionally go to clear my head and take a scenic stroll. It signals changes and new beginnings to me. There is an optimism in starting over. T...

“New Day at Kawainui” began as a response to the theme of its debut show, “Fresh Start”. The theme was created to reflect the time of the show, in January when everyone has set resolutions and the energy of a new year is high. I have always been a believer in the power of setting goals for each New Year’s Day. I try to stick to my goals and really make changes that are beneficial. The concept of a fresh start was very exciting to me. When I thought of how to translate this concept to a visual realm, I immediately thought of the golden mornings on my walks at Kawainui. Kawainui is a place where I occasionally go to clear my head and take a scenic stroll. It signals changes and new beginnings to me. There is an optimism in starting over. T...

This painting is the cacao tree, which grows pods containing the sweet fruit of cacao, and the seeds that are roasted to make chocolate. The pods on this plant are red-orange and getting close to being ripe.

Painted as a sister piece to Koolau Ohia, this painting was derived from a view that I saw on the same day as Koolau Ohia. It has been raining a lot for a few days, and finally, the mountains had spilled over into beautiful waterfalls, emerging from the mist and rain to show silver streams of water running over 100 feet down the face of Lanihuli Mountain. As the mist shrouded the tops of the mountains, the greens and yellows of the tree and its blossom seemed all the more vivid on a rainy day. Ohia Mamo (mamo means yellow in Hawaiian), is the rare endemic color of metrosideros polymorpha that only occurs naturally on Oahu. I felt very fortunate to see this view with the unusual blossoms of the sacred ohia mamo tree. I have increased the ...

Painted as a sister piece to Koolau Ohia, this painting was derived from a view that I saw on the same day as Koolau Ohia. It has been raining a lot for a few days, and finally, the mountains had spilled over into beautiful waterfalls, emerging from the mist and rain to show silver streams of water running over 100 feet down the face of Lanihuli Mountain. As the mist shrouded the tops of the mountains, the greens and yellows of the tree and its blossom seemed all the more vivid on a rainy day. Ohia Mamo (mamo means yellow in Hawaiian), is the rare endemic color of metrosideros polymorpha that only occurs naturally on Oahu. I felt very fortunate to see this view with the unusual blossoms of the sacred ohia mamo tree.

I love to scuba dive, and I tried to capture what it looks like to dive shallow Hawaiian waters. This scene is focused on vibrant yellow fish (Moorish Idols and yellow tangs) and the surprise of finding a turtle resting under the rocks of the reef.

The Koolau mountain range in Oahu is in the background, and ohia lehua is the Hawaiian name for metrosideros polymorpha, the beautiful tree with red flowers sacred to Pele (the goddess of volcanoes). Together with certain ferns, they are the very first plants to emerge from the land when the lava has cooled and the landscape is barren. They grow slowly, breaking rock into soil, creating a place where the other plants can thrive. You know you are in a special place when you see them, for they are usually found in the high hills and mountains of Hawaii – such a beautiful tree! This particular specimen is at the higher elevation area of the Hoomaluhia Botanical Gardens. On the day I was inspired to paint this scene, recent heavy rains creat...

Cardinals live in Hawaii in addition to the mainland. They perch in the branches of many beautiful tropical trees, including plumeria. I really love vibrant color, so in this painting I arranged the reds of the cardinal to play off the magentas of a pink plumeria tree, using these warm and cool reds with a pale yellow background creates a bright, happy tropical painting.

The mejiro, also known as Japanese White Eye (Zosterops japonicus) is a tiny little green bird with a big personality. It is cute, smart, and feisty. With its small green body matching the leaves, it is hard to notice unless it is chirping or flittering on the branches or stems of plants and trees. This little bird has become the most common pollinator of the amazingly beautiful wiliwili tree, an endemic Hawaiian tree with brilliant orange flowers, which is making a comeback from the brink of extinction thanks to conservation work. The little mejiro bird is helping to replace the role served by other birds who are extinct or endangered. I think the colors are very beautiful together!

The Akepa (Loxops coccineus) is a small green or orange honeycreeper depending on gender. This is a male Hawai’i Akepa. The males have orange feathers, in fact, some of the brightest orange plumage in the bird world. These birds are also some of the smallest honeycreepers. The Hawai’i Akepa is the only Akepa that isn’t extinct. If you are very lucky, you can view them foraging through the canopy of the remote ohia forests on the Big Island.

The distinctive two-whistle call of the palila, a small yellow native Hawaiian bird, was a forecast for rain for the Hawaiians. The mamane tree, which is poisonous to other birds, is the staple of the palila’s diet. They are both endemic to Hawaii, and their survival is completely interconnected. They are rare these days and are seen only on the slopes of Maui's rugged volcanic mountain forest.

Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) are such beautiful birds! I decided that turquoise Jade Vine would make a lovely compliment to the powdery blues of the Jay. In reality, these two may never meet, since this is a tropical vine from the Phillipines that has been cultivated for its beauty throughout the tropical world, and the Blue Jay never ventures beyond subtropical climes. The original image has genuine silver leafing in the background.

One of Hawaii’s lovely gem-like birds, the tiny green anianiau is a rare sight indeed. Here I have a male and female with orange ohia, a less common color of ohia that overlaps with the terrain of these beautiful tiny Hawaiian birds who live in the wet high elevation forests of Kauai. They are the smallest of the honeycreeper birds, in fact, both the birds and the ohia blossoms were painted larger than life size even though the painting was only 10 inches square!

Kamehameha butterflies are one of Hawaii’s two endemic butterflies. Its Hawaiian name is pulelehua, which roughly means “to float from one flower to the next”. The name also includes the idea of reddish coloring (the lehua flower is a very similar color, especially the red ones when the sun is shining through its wings). In my imagination, when I hear the term, I see a vision of an ohia flower that has come to life, floating and shimmering in the sun in the form of a butterfly as it glides from flower to flower through the forest. Perhaps it is another step in an imaginative metamorphosis for these beautiful butterflies. Here I have placed the small kamehameha butterflies with the ohia lehua mentioned in their name, but I wanted to see t...

I love to grow flowers and see the birds fluttering through the trees and the ginger stalks and this combination of bird and flower reminded me of a few unusual interactions I have had with these curious, intelligent birds. I wanted this painting to capture the happiness of a sunny day and the fearless personality of a shama.

An elepaio perched on the branch of a sandalwood tree, a sight that would have been very common on 200 years ago in Hawaii is now a rare but beautiful image.

The scarlet red i'iwi bird ( Drepanis coccinea ) is an iconic Hawaiian bird. Though not plentiful, it is one of the more common honeycreepers, many of which are extinct or endangered. Many people see (or at least hear) these beautiful red-orange birds when they visit Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii Island. This scene is extra special because the bird is feeding on the blue lobelia flowers whose curved flowers evolved to be pollinated by the iiwi's curved beak. Both the bird and the flowers are a rare and beautiful Hawaiian sight.

This little Hawaiian bird, the 'akepa ( Loxops coccineus ) has the world's most vibrant orange plumage. This endangered endemic bird is in the branches of an orange colored ohia ( meterosideros polymorpha ) an endemic Hawaiian flowering tree in one of its most rare colors. The blue and orange are vibrant complimentary colors to set off the beauty and vibrance of these tiny birds.