HAWAII GRANDMA

My Grandma gave me Hawaii. In the late 1960’s while my uncle was serving in the Vietnam War, my Grandma and aunt met up with my uncle in Honolulu for a week of his military leave. My Grandma fell in LOVE with Hawaii! So much so, that when she returned to Antioch, Illinois, she persuaded my grandpa to sell their house and move to Oahu! So, she became my Hawaii Grandma! From Seattle, I visited her and also, fell in LOVE with Hawaii!

My Grandpa worked as an accountant at Jackie’s of Hawaii , a Hawaiian shirt and mu’umu’u factory in Kailua, My grandma adventured about on her scooter, managed the condominium building, introduced me to mangos and egg foo young, and collected wooden Japanese kokeshi dolls.

It is her collection of kokeshi dolls and my memories of her in Hawaii in the 1970’s that are the inspirations for the POEM CROWN textile print HAWAII GRANDMA.

To get a sense of the scale of this print, the dolls are tall, about 10 inches in height.