Hawaiian artist Macario Pascual is the subject of a solo exhibition on view now through April 17 at Village Galleries, in Lahaina, Maui, in Hawaii.
“Palms Of Wainee (3AM),” by Macario Pascual, 2014, oil, 12 x 16 in.
“Plein air has presented me more situations for exposure on a regional or national stage, travel, and opportunities like plein air events,” says the artist. “Taking these opportunities, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and painting with other artists of similar passion, as well as the challenges in working with unfamiliar locations or subject matter. This show features a collection of oils from recent plein air events like last year’s Mendocino Open Paint Out, Sonoma Plein Air, and from a couple months ago, 2014 Maui Plein Air Invitational. I especially enjoyed my time in Mendocino and Sonoma County, where I painted my first fog scenes and cypress trees, and I got to paint along California’s spectacular coast on Highway 1.” Pascual goes on, “After many years of painting outdoors and with a limited palette, its influence has impacted me in the way I work in the studio as well. Although working with photo references is fine — but limited — I’ve benefited from the knowledge and experiences I’ve acquired from working outdoors or from life. It has helped me fill in the blanks, or in problem solving when working with studio pieces. More than anything, be it studio or plein air painting, I am having fun, and I think that is reflected in my exhibition paintings.”
“Breakthrough,” by Macario Pascual, 9 x 12 in.
“Daybreak at Kayaks,” by Macario Pascual, 12 x 8 in.
“Cypress Grove,” by Macario Pascual, 9 x 12 in.
“Big Valley,” by Macario Pascual, 36 x 48 in.
Pascual also referred interested parties to his painting “Big Valley,” which he says is a hybrid of studio and plein air work. “This painting of life in Hawaii is somewhat of a paradox,” he says. “How much did my father and others like him who toiled endlessly under unrelenting conditions truly take the time out to enjoy their surroundings? Probably not much. Like a lot of us here in paradise, we just keep on moving. Having lived and worked here almost all of my life, sometimes I too find it hard to take the moment and enjoy the simple things. I drive by some of the best beaches in the world daily. I look at the water, thinking how nice it would be to be in the water as I had done numerous times in my youth. But like a drive-by, it becomes too often just a passing thought. And yet people from all over the world come from thousand of miles, spend thousands of dollars, to spend every moment they have enjoying what the islands have to offer.”
