HE POʻAI ALOHA
“Encircled With Love”
100% Cotton, Hand-dyed by Ric Stark
94” x 94”
Completed April, 2014
* Design and Quilting by Ric Stark
* 94” x 94”, 100% cotton/ Quilterʻs Dream wool batting
* Fabric hand-dyed by Ric Stark
* Reverse applique, echo quilting, embroidery
* Completed April, 2014
* Juried and exhibited American Quilter’s Society Annual Quilt Show and Awards, Paducah, Kentucky, 2015
* Hawaii Quilt Guild Annual Quilt Show, Honolulu Museum of Art, 2015:
* Best in Show Award
* First place, Viewers’ Choice— large quilts
* Juried and exhibited International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas, 2022
* National tour with Celebration of Life, International Quilt Festival
* November 2022- July, 2023.
This quilt honors Queen Liliuokalani’s song “Sanoe”, which tells of a lover, beckoning secretly into the mist (kanoe). Poetically, the song is a conversation between water lily (the female) and lehua (the male).
The quilt is dedicated to Nalani Alua Olds, honored in 2006 as one of Hawaiʻi’s own living treasures. “Sanoe” was co-composed by Queen Liliuokalani and Elizabeth Achook, (Nalani’s great grandmother.)
For “He Poʻai Aloha,” I myself hand-dyed the fabrics. I envisioned yellow/white on midnight blue. I wanted the blue background to become “the sky at midnight on a full-moon night.” In my mind, I dreamed the flowers to become an impossible unity of “starlight, yellow-pink water lily, and the rare yellow lehua. I still marvel that the fabrics do all of that and more!
By quilting the tiny tendrils of the lehua and quilting the actual song score into the border, this quilt was my most challenging work to date. But, yes, you can sing “Sanoe” in the lei of the quilt!
Every quilt has a story. He Poʻai Aloha is no exception. I have written the full tale of the quilt, and I am happy to share it with you.
The quilt is available for sale. The price of this artwork is $46,000.00.
If you are interested in learning more about the quilt and a potential sale transaction, please contact me, using the “Contact” menu option.
I have set up a “back room” on the website to facilitate any sale’s transaction and to ensure the satisfaction and safety of both buyer and seller. Thank you for your interest. I look forward to further discussion.
Ric d. Stark