Illustrators and May in Paris (1) = On Finland

Hawaiian Art, Hawaiian in Nature

Are there any famous painters in Finland? I think Lotta was from around there...

“Lotta is from neighboring Sweden. Moomin is from Finland. There’s a museum of Moomin originals. Apparently, before drawing Moomin, the artist did satirical cartoons for a political newspaper. That was really good.”

— What do people do during the winter?

“Cross-country skiing, and also… going to the movies, visiting friends.”

— Did you ski?

“I did. The sea freezes over completely, so you can ski on it. I went every week.”

— Does it snow that much all the time?

“Yes. But it’s too cold for it to accumulate much. It blows away. It piles up when it gets a little warmer.”

— What about the summer?

“In the summer, it stays light until midnight. Even more so than in Paris. You can do twice as much in a day then. It does get up to about 25 degrees Celsius.”

— You were in Finland for two years, right?

“And then a year and a half in Hawaii.”



— Finland to Hawaii is quite a change, isn't it?

“I love Hawaii.”

— I’ve been there on vacation too, but it doesn’t seem like a place where you’d feel like working.

“That’s the problem, if you stay too long… mangoes are falling, you can sleep outside and not get cold, so you won’t die.”

— Which part of Hawaii were you in?

“Oahu. I sometimes wish Paris had a sea… but coming from Finland to Hawaii, I had this ingrained habit of needing to go outside when the weather was good, so I went out every day. Then one day I realized: the weather is good every day in Hawaii.”

— Is it really warm all year round?

“There are times when locals don’t go swimming, but you can swim whenever you want.”

— Isn’t it crowded with tourists?

“There are certainly a lot, but they’re concentrated in limited areas. There are beaches everywhere that are completely empty. The mountains are beautiful too. I went hiking. There are beaches where you can see seals swimming nearby.”

— Are there sharks?

“Yes. There’s an island nearby, and I tried to see if I could swim to it. But someone I was with said we should turn back midway, and later I found out it was a shark nursery.”



— What about work during that time?

“I had no desire to do any. I took on some work from Japan, but…”

— But you continued to draw, didn't you?

“Yes. I made a website too. That was groundbreaking. I didn’t have to carry my portfolio around; I could just hand someone a business card and they could see my work, which led to more opportunities. Also, at that time, using websites for self-promotion was just beginning. So, I got a good response and received a lot of work.”

— When you were in Hawaii, did the art you created become more Hawaiian?

“Yes. It became brighter. The light that falls when I’m drawing is different too.”

— Italian paintings are also bright, aren't they?

“At the Louvre, when you get to the border between Italian and French paintings, the difference is astonishing. It’s interesting how they’re displayed side-by-side.”

Listening to her, Kanako Kokono seems to be a rather active person, somewhat contradicting the quiet impression conveyed by her illustrations and choice of words.

Kanako Kokono’s Website
http://www.geocities.com/kanakoinhawaii/

Illustrators and May in Paris (3) = Why I Came to France