british in hawaii

Eddy Y lives in pristine surroundings, his home nestled high above the Big Island's Hamakua Coast on a secluded ranch.

His art is contemporary and traditional. While tempered these days by a life involved with nature and Hawaiian culture, the Art of Eddy Y originated in Tokyo, blossomed in Honolulu where he attended University of Hawai'i, and is energized by the art scene of Los Angeles where he became a prominent West Coast Designer.

In California, Eddy Y became a leading designer for surfing apparel giants Hobie and Morey Boogie, movie-maker-apparel magnate Disney, and Grand Prix auto racing. The fast lane commercial art business helped to hone the skills of Eddy Y. The chaos and spectrum of LA art kept him in touch with the psychedelic 60s, which he finds useful in creating fantasy art for children and adults alike.

Though Eddy Y performed well under the pressure in LA, his work became all-consuming. "There was always so much stress, and so little time for relaxation that one day I woke up and asked myself, 'why?'" He knew he needed a change and packed up his family and headed to the Big Island. The move has enabled him to spend more time on his fine oil and acrylic paintings, while keeping his hand in commercial ventures and spending a lot of quality time with his wife and daughter.

Eddy Y's original paintings sometimes take days-days just to determine the subject. There may be hours hiking into the forest, studying light, color, and location. Eddy Y often takes photos, sometimes manipulating the natural setting by moving leaves, rocks, or branches around until the subject looks perfect to the artist. He considers himself a perfectionist, a characteristic that can be seen in the fine, intricate details of his work. Details from his paintings can be enlarged or viewed with a magnifying glass to reveal what seems to be a painting within a painting.

In Hawai'i, Eddy Y is making his mark. He recently painted a 60-foot mural commissioned by Hilo's Lyman House Museum for its permanent collection. He was chosen as cover artist for the Japanese language magazine, International Guide to the Big Island, was selected to paint an official Hawaii Visitor & Conventions Bureau poster to promote Hawai'i internationally, has been the poster artist for the Ironman Triathlon, and was chosen as poster artist for the 1997 Merrie Monarch Festival.

Eddy Y recently completed a set of 24 original portraits of champion Senior Tour golf pros, ranging from Jack Nicklaus to Lee Trevino. Drawn for the PGA's MasterCard Championship, they commemorate the first major golf event at the new Hualalai Golf Club and Fours Seasons Resort on the Kona Coast, Jan. 14-19. Eddy Y's original oil painting was chosen for the program cover and to be auctioned off to raise money for Brantley Center, a workshop for the disabled in Honoka'a.

Though he is very busy, Eddy Y explains that country life in Hawai'i provides him with time to think about things he never considered. Living in nature shows him an environment that always changes. A trickling brook becomes a raging stream. The moon and the stars, the fields and forests, the ocean far below his house, all transform like a fantasy land, giving him new ideas.

Perhaps unconsciously, at age ten , Eddy Y decided to eventually make Hawai'i his home. He was visiting Hawai'i from his birthplace in Japan. It was sunset, and his uncle and aunty brought him to 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu for an exhibition. The sky filled with shades of orange and gold, the trees swayed gently in the wind. The air was clean; the people were friendly and the lifestyle was pleasant for Eddy Y in Hawai'i.