By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Maxine O'Neill's boxes are priced from $60 to $600.
If it weren't for cable television, Maxine O'Neill might still be working in 2-D. Boxes filled with personality
Since 1985, the Waianae artist had been painting images of ocean life on canvases and paper. But drawing inspiration from home improvement, interior decorating and craft programs on cable channels, O'Neill started venturing into new dimensions.
She started slowly at first, positioning a fish fin in front of a frame mat for a 3-D effect, then gluing shells, sand, twine and findings to her canvases.
It wasn't long before she ventured into her husband's boat-building workshop to borrow routers, jig saws and band saws.
These days, her canvases are treasure boxes -- just about a foot tall -- that she constructs from laminated wood, paints with bright images of isle flora and fauna, and embellishes with found objects.
Some of the simpler boxes are made in fish shapes. Others, with their many pull-out drawers, resemble old-style dressers and cabinets. Building them comes naturally to O'Neill, who grew up in a family of artists in Pennsylvania.
Taking her cue from her interior-designer mom, O'Neill spent her teen years remaking her room over and over. "I started by making my own shelves. I was always changing my room and my mom thought I'd really lost it in the '70s when I painted my ceiling black."
These days, O'Neill wonders how she could have been content to work in 2-D for so long. "I can't go back to flat watercolor or flat paper," she said.
Look for the boxes at Designs by Michele Henry at 1026 Nuuanu Ave., or in Haleiwa at The Art Plantation Gallery, The Growing Keiki or Outrigger Trading Co. at Jameson's By the Sea.
Nadine Kam, Star-Bulletin
