Ola'a Beauty Lei Wood Print

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This beautiful lei is made from Ola'a beauty flowers, also known as the nanioola'a flower. A friend of mine is a master lei maker who makes both famous ni'ihou shell leis and flower leis. A native of Hawai'i with Hawaiian and Chinese heritage, he was taught his lei making skills by his aunties and has the skills of days past in his work.
The flowers of this lei are thought be a hybrid of native violet flowers and an old garden flower of past generations that may have been brought to the Islands in the 1800s, Torenia fournieri. Torenia fournieri is native to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Stories say that the Ola'a had naturalized on the Big Island and these flowers were found (growing wild) in the fields of Ola’a (near Hilo) and were frequently picked during horseback-riding excursions to adorn their hair or hats. Eventually the flowers were made into now famous leis.

Featured in the following FAA group galleries:
* Flower on Green
* Experimental Ar...

As a fine-art photographer of many years (initially in black and white large format film), my purpose is to capture and share the incredible beauty in our world. I have a passion for travel and photographing the many places I have been fortunate to explore. I am enthralled by both the grand scene of a live volcano or brilliant sunrise and the amazing detail and design of each tiny part of a flower. There is beauty and design in everything around us and the goal of my work is to share that and encourage everyone to look closely and take the time to see what is before us all.