Volcano Art Center announces the art exhibit Tī and Seas featuring a new collection of oil paintings by Pahoa resident Steve Irvine. The exhibition is open to the public from Saturday, February 17th through Sunday, March 25th, 9 am – 5pm daily at the Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Irvine will be present at the opening reception on Saturday, February 17th from 5-7 PM sharing his inspirations and techniques.
“Volcano Art Center is glad to feature Steve’s work again in a solo exhibition, states Gallery Manager, Emily C. Weiss. “His work has always appealed to collectors for its distinctive high quality, use of bright primary colors and affordability. Stylistically, Irvine’s paintings blend impressionistic principles into a unique form of expressionism. While focusing on the realistic representation of Polynesian Tī plants and the ever-changing ocean, Steve’s primary focus for this exhibit is actually on the quality of light present in both subjects.”
Born in Los Angeles, California, Irvine came to Hawaiʻi to attend college. The waves weren’t so bad either! In 1983 Steve received a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies specializing in Fine Arts from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Irvine has been painting and surfing ever since. No stranger to East Hawaiʻiʻs art scene, Steve’s work has appeared in the annual juried Spring and Fall Arts Exhibit at Wailoa Center and East Hawaii Cultural Center almost every year since 1986 and he has had two previous exhibits at the Volcano Art Center in 2004 and 2009. To date he has received twelve awards in recognition of his artistic merits.
For his last exhibition at VAC, Where Lava Meets the Sea, Irvine hiked the Puna coastline searching for land-and-seascapes. Those same long views and high horizon lines are present in the new works juxtaposed to a magnified focus on the light, shadows and color of the subjects. The subjects appear to contain a glow from within which Steve achieves by creating a unique orange undercoating as his first layer of paint.
Irvine will be sharing this and other techniques in an oil painting workshop at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani campus in Volcano Village on March 3rd, from 9am -1pm. Basic artistic concepts including color, composition and contrast will be discussed before students embark on their own oil painting. Class fee is $60. or $55. for VAC members. Class supplies must be provided by the student, a full list will be provided upon registration. To register for the class call (808) 967-8222 or 
