Aloha!

My name is Heather Brown and I am an artist on the North Shore of Oahu. You can see my art at www.heatherbrownart.com

Mahalo!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Surf Artist Heather Brown May 2013 Japan Tour

Aloha!

Wow, what a whirlwind spring! I just returned from my second spring tour in Japan and had such a great time! I can't believe it is already almost June though.

This past Japan tour was so much fun and started out with one of my most favorite events each year, The Greenroom Festival in Yokohama Japan. The Greenroom Festival is a 2 day festival that takes place each year (this was my 5th year attending as an artist) that is filled with live music on 4+ stages, surf and skateboard film screenings and surf artists from around the world. It is almost overwhelming as there is so much cool stuff and things there to do, see and listen to.

I had a lot of fun preparing my wall for Greenroom this year and did almost all of my originals on reclaimed pallet boards that Chris had made for me and I was so stoked on the look and feel of the pieces, and they seemed to be a big hit too! We also debuted the brand new Hawaii Skateboard Company skateboards at the show, some with art some just ready to ride! Please visit the Hawaii Skateboard Company website here and like them on Facebook here
Hawaii Surf Artist Heather Brown display at the 2013 Greenroom Festival in Yokohama Japan

 Greenroom Festival is always so busy and a great chance to meet with some really fun people and share art and Aloha
Heather Brown Art at the 2013 Greenroom Festival in Yokohama Japan
 One of the highlights of this years Greenroom Festival was getting to hang out and listen to my favorite musicians Tommy Guerrero and Ray Barbee of the Blacktop Project as well as both having great solo albums. Not pictured here are two other great musicians from Blacktop Project Chuck Treece and Matt Rodriguez.
Heather Brown with The Captain, Tommy Guerrero and Ray Barbee at Greenroom Festival 2013 Yokohama Japan
After Greenroom Festival we had a couple of free days to go and skateboard around and enjoy some great sightseeing and fun around Japan, I even got to visit Hakone and had such a wonderful experience and loved the Onsen (natural hot spring)

Next we headed down to Osaka for the Grand Opening of the new Heather Brown Gallery in Osaka!!
I was so excited not only to open but I was able to hand paint and letter the new sign for the gallery, I have always been a huge fan of hand lettered/hand painted signs, so I was naturally stoked to be able to do it for the Heather Brown Gallery in Osaka!


Hawaii Surf Artist Heather Brown at the Heather Brown Gallery in Osaka Japan Grand Opening May 2013
Heather Brown Gallery Osaka Japan Grand Opening May 2013
From The grand opening of the Heather Brown Gallery in Osaka, the following day I had a show at the Ron Herman store in Kobe Japan and had such a great time, not only did so many fans come out to support but the store itself is so cool! The staff were all so warm and welcoming and we had a really fun day!

Hawaii Artist Heather Brown at the Ron Herman store in Kobe Japan for her show May 2013
And my final show of my Japan spring tour 2013 was in one of my favorite cities in Kyoto Japan. I had my show at the Takashimaya store in Kyoto and was totally shocked at how many people showed up! IT was so much fun because one of my first tours of Japan we visited Kyoto and did shows in some small cafes and met people with so much Aloha there. I have been back a few times since but this welcoming into Kyoto was by far the biggest I could have ever expected. Mahalo to the great staff at the Takashimaya store for putting on such a great event!

Heather Brown and fans at the Kyoto Takashimaya Show May 2013
Heather Brown Art show Kyoto Takashimaya May 2013
The following day, Chris and I had some free time before catching our flight so we made a few essential stops when in Kyoto. The first was to visit Cafe Uli Uli and get some Ono grinds and meet with our friend and Cafe Uli Uli owner Junko. They make such great food and the atmosphere is so fun. She hosted a welcoming party for us when we came here in 2009 filled with live hawaiian music, hula and great food. This year, we popped in by surprise since she could not make it to the Takashimaya show!

Heather Brown, Junko and The Captain at Cafe Uli Uli in Kyoto Japan May 2013


Heather Brown Autograph at Cafe Uli Uli from 2009

 And the final stop was at my favorite Ramen spot on Earth, the original Tenkaippin in Kyoto, we were still full from Uli Uli, but I could not bear to leave Kyoto without going to the original!

Tenkaippin Ramen in Kyoto Japan
So it was such a great trip with so much fun and showing art to so many people that just love to share Aloha! Be back in the Autumn, but for now it's time to have a nice summer in Hawai'i!

Heather Brown Skateboarding Japan May 2013 with the Hawaii Skateboard Company

Monday, May 13, 2013

Heather Brown's Early Spring Japan Tour Recap

Aloha!

Wow, I can;t believe it is already the middle of May!! We returned from my early spring Japan tour just a couple of weeks ago now and unfortunately the first 10 days we were back I suffered from a pretty rough Flu and bronchitis type infection that had me layed out for quite a while, but I am back and healthy!! Thank you to all my fans, friends and family for all the well wishes and natural oils and supplements, they have all helped out so much and I feel just about 100% now!

My tour in Japan was so fun, so fast and so busy! I had 3 shows in 4 days with a total of more than 40 hours of actual travel...Planes...trains and automobiles! A total whirlwind, but so much fun to show my art and share Aloha with so many great people!

An Extra big Mahalo to Hawaiian Airlines who furnished Chris and I with the greatest Business Class experience in one of their beautiful new planes and as always such friendly flight attendants! Mahalo Nui Loa to Hawaiian Airlines fro the great travel and being one of the great sponsors for the 2013 Odaiba Hawaii Festival!


As I write, I am also getting ready to leave again in a few days for a 12 day Japan tour starting with this years Greenroom Festival in Yokohama Japan next weekend! This is always my favorite event and this year two of my favorite musicians will be performing, Ray Barbee and Tommy Guerro!!

I thought I would share a few pictures of some of the Original Art that I created for this past tour as well as a few random shots from the 4 days. I will post my upcoming Japan tour schedule within the next day or so, so keep your eyes out!


Chris hand shaped some really beautiful handplanes for me to paint on as well as made some cool reclaimed planks that I painted on too, they were really fun and seemed to be a hit!
Heather Brown Original Art from North Shore Oahu Hawaii

Original Surf Art by Heather Brown Haleiwa, Hawaii

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Heather Brown Releases new Limited Edition Giclees from 2013 Japan Early Spring Tour

Aloha!

I hope that everyone is having a nice weekend so far! We returned from my first 2013 Spring Japan tour on Monday and unfortunately I got a bit sick from exhaustion so this week has mostly been spent in bed watching bad TV! But I am feeling like I am getting better now and hope to be creating lots of new art for my upcoming Japan tour and the 2013 Greenroom Festival soon!

I released a few new limited edition giclees on my Japan tour last week and they are now available through the galleries that represent my art worldwide as well as on my website.

surf artist, pretty birds, ocean, waves, hawaii surf
Hawaii Surf Artist Heather Brown's newest release "Sea Birds"

Heather Brown new release "Flowers of Spring"

Waikiki Holiday was originally commissioned to be the art for the 2013 Odaiba Hawaii Festival in Odaiba Japan. This is the largest Hawaii Festival in the world with over 3/4 of a million people in attendance. I was honored to create the art again this year for the event which was themed "Aloha Together" and see it all over the Tokyo area on my last trip to Japan in support of the festival. Now the limited edition giclees and Hand Highlighted Artist Proofs are now available!
Surf art by Heather Brown "Waikiki Holiday"

"Peaceful Bird" by Hawaii Artist Heather Brown