In 1988 I moved to Hawaii to join the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra first violins. Island life was a dramatic change from Europe, where I had been playing solo recitals for a few years. The ripeness of everything, the colors and smells of sea and jungle, worked upon my painterly imagination like a spell. My studio, up in the bamboo forest on Oahu,was inhabited by giant, but harmless, black bees, which flew like clumsy cows and bumped lazily into the walls. They kept me company while I painted or played the violin.

I walked in the bamboo forest.

I listened to jazz.

I watched the always-huge sunset and moonrise.

I listened to the primordial pulse.

I met new gods.

JOHN SUMERLIN