Surfer stoked
about painting
By Greg Ambrose
Special to the Star-BulletinLYNNE Boyer knows that she can never make people feel the thrill of being the world's best surfer. But the former world champion hopes that through her art, she can transmit to others the joy that surfing brings to her.
"I try to help people get in touch with the inner peace, the calm you get when you go surfing and see the ocean and mountains, and forget about everything but the good parts of life," Boyer says.
From May 16 through July 12, Roy's Restaurant in Hawaii Kai will present an exhibit of Boyer's art titled "Scenes of Hawaii." Included are paintings of Hawaiian nene in Volcanoes and Haleakala national parks, landscape studies of the Koolaus, and seascapes of the ocean and its inhabitants.
Everyone will have a chance to see whether the paintings produce the emotional response Boyer strives to stimulate in viewers each time she applies paint to canvas.
"When people look at my paintings, I hope they reconnect with places they have been in Hawaii, with romantic moments in their lives," she says. "I hope it touches the kid in them. That is what I like to feel when I'm doing it."
Somewhere in the exhibit will be Boyer's favorite painting, a view from her parents' house of the long, white sweep of Kailua Beach, the ocean a hundred shades of blue, and the Mokulua Islands in the distance.
Boyer favors landscapes and seascapes,
such as this study of Kualoa.
Walking the beach and gazing on the scenery helped Boyer through a dark period in her life, and the painting is a reminder of the growth that resulted from that bleak time."I want to make all of my art personal like this one."
Her mother recognized Boyer's artistic ability when she was a child. Boyer gravitated toward art classes and drawing in school, until her professional surfing career demanded all her time and attention.
Then a University of Hawaii painting class in 1989 opened up a whole new world of self-expression for Boyer that filled a huge void created by the diminished role of surfing after she won two world titles and lost her surfing stoke.
Her preferred medium is oil on canvas, and she works in groups of six paintings to assess her progress as she experiments with colors to achieve just the right effect. "It's exciting to see myself and my art improving," she says with an enthusiasm previously reserved for surfing.
Boyer studies the works of other artists for insight and technique, but for inspiration she looks to the world around her and the things that give her pleasure. Waves, marine life, the humbling massive crater of the dormant volcano Haleakala, and the molten lava light show of Kilauea volcano.
"Once I get going, I get into a flow. I hope to get to a point where the art just flows through me."
Although pleased with her progress, Boyer is excited at the thought of immersing herself in other lagoons of the art world, such as acrylics, watercolors, portraits, and something as simple as being able to mix colors on her palette effortlessly.
"I will always see ways to improve and grow, for the rest of my life."
On display
What: "Scenes of Hawaii," the art of Lynne Boyer
