Street Art as of Recent

My apologies for not posting anything recently. It's been a busy (yet fun) week, to say the least! So today's post comes with two goodies for you...

Ekundayo is a multi-media artist who is gaining quite the following with his surreal imagery and color palette. Recently he's painted a wall mural on the wall between Tacos Ricos and Kapahulu Auto Repair on Kapahulu Avenue. The eerily beautiful piece stems from a Hawaiian legend about the Owl aumakua (family protector). You can check out a video about Ekundayo's process via UMI Workshop here.

Image Source: Kapahulu Avenue.com

Also in local street art news, Kaimuki graffiti artist Estria and 808 Urban unveil their "Water Writes" mural at Honolulu Community College today from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. The project is actually the biggest graffiti mural in Hawaii to date and is one of 10 murals being painted internationally, speaking to the relationship between community and water. Today's event will feature a diverse mix of artists, musicians, vendor booths, food trucks, and community members, all together to celebrate this meaningful project.

The Box Jelly, Coworking, and Hawaii's Creative Rennaissance

As much as I fill my cubicle with personal photos, post-it doodles, and plushies, there’s still something so blah about coming to an office day in and day out. I secretly dream of the day my blog takes off, allowing me to join the ranks of all those cool people you see at Starbucks and Fresh Café, laptop in tow, working on a client’s website design or sealing a business deal via Skype.

Now Honolulu's freelancers, independent contractors, and other mobile-office types have a new workspace to call their own – The Box Jelly, Hawaii’s very first coworking space! If you’re unfamiliar with the coworking movement, the term refers to a new way of working, in which people of different companies/industries work independently, but in a shared physical space. The way it works is that a person pays an hourly, daily, or weekly rate to have use of a temporary workspace.

The Box Jelly’s soft opening was this Monday, and I was determined to pay them a visit to find out first-hand what this whole #HICoworking movement is all about. (Thanks to @johngarcia for opening my eyes!) Upon stepping into Fishcake, where the pop-up coworking space is temporary located for about a month, I was promptly greeted by Hasan, who is The Box Jelly's Community Curator and one of the five Chaminade University-graduates / entrepreneurs behind this initiative.  

After getting the grand tour of the space and hearing more about how The Box Jelly came to be, I had to ask Hasaan, “Why would people come to here do their work, as opposed to, say, a coffeeshop?” He replied that unlike a coffee shop, the Box Jelly caters to your working needs. The space comes complete with your basic office requirements, which includes four shared work tables, a printer/scanner, a whiteboard, and of course COFFEE (or tea, if you prefer).

A little bit into the evening, my friend Jennel came to join me, and not too long after that, Rechung, another one of The Box Jelly owners, dropped by too. And that’s when the magic happened. What stemmed from talking about their business venture led into all sorts of creatively stimulating discussion. We talked about inspiration, logo ideas, Seven Pounds, brain monkeys, personal projects, Talk Story Sessions...and by the time I had to leave for dinner, we culminated in agreement that YES, there is definitely a Creative Renaissance on its way here in Hawaii, and that its growth lies on the shoulders of the creative risk-takers of our generation who believe that there's something more for us out there, should we choose to seize it.

I had left the space feeling great, not only because I had gotten some blog-work done, but also because I was INSPIRED – inspired from meeting new people, hearing new ideas, having good conversation, and feeling that sense of camaraderie among people of different backgrounds, but all who, as Hasan put it, can “see our better selves.”

And in that lies the value of the space. Sure you can get coffee, wi-fi, and a table and chair at coffeeshop. But what a coffeeshop can’t provide you is the opportunity to find your better self through the creative energy and collaboration that The Box Jelly and the Coworking Movement seek to draw out of us.

 . . .

The Box Jelly coworking pop-up space is currently located at Fishcake (307 Kamani Street). For more information, visit their webpage, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.

Design Trends: The Groom's Cake

I admire anyone who can mix their passion with their profession, and that's exactly what Kristin Kato did with her cake making business, A Cake Life. After graduating from the University of Oregon, Kristin returned home and began work as a paralegal at an employment and labor litigation firm. In a couple years' time however, she came to realize that law wasn't the quite for her. Yet, as cool new shows like Ace of Cakes began airing on the Food Network, Kristin found a new interest in cake making and decided to take classes at a local craft store as well as at Cake Creations Dessert Haven in Manoa. From there, she studied up on cake design, sugar artistry, and starting a business...and in 2009, A Cake Life opened! Gaining inspiration from fashion as well as from her clients themselves, Kristin is able to create beautiful cake designs that have won A Cake Life numerous praises and awards.

On A Cake Life's blog, Kristin recently wrote about an emerging trend in weddings, the Groom's Cake. The blog post in its entirety can be found here.

This was a surprise grooms cake of a red Audi convertible. We handmade a replica of the couple's 2 dogs sitting in the front seat. The dogs were wearing a black top hat for the groom and a white veil for the bride. The bride asked us to integrate their special inside joke "MKT PRC" on the front license plate and their wedding date on the other. All the guests got the inside joke and the groom was stoked to see his surprise cake.

More often, couples are having two wedding cakes – the traditional cake and a groom’s cake.  As weddings often tend to be “all about the bride” a nice way to honor (or surprise) the groom is with his own personalized cake.

Accounts of the history of how the groom’s cake came-to-be often differ.  Some say the tradition dates all the way back to the 17^th century where the cake was originally was a rich, dark, fruit cake made without icing.   Others say it was the top layer of the bride’s cake that was not served to guests, but rather drenched in brandy to preserve for the couple’s first anniversary.  Another story says the groom’s cake was a edible treat packaged individually in decorated boxes, often monogrammed with a couple’s initials and given to guests to take home.

While some wedding traditions have evolved (from groom’s cake to wedding favors, or celebrating the first year of marriage with the top layer of wedding cake) so has the groom’s cake.  It is usually presented at the wedding, and sliced and served just like the traditional cake.

Most often the requests we get are to create a fun “manly” cake reflecting the groom’s hobbies or interests.  They often choose a different flavor from their wedding cake ranging from Red Velvet with Cream Cheese filling to Devils Food Chocolate Cake with Cookies N Cream filling.  This offers guests a nice variety to choose from when it comes to cake.

Some of the most recent groom’s cakes we’ve created are as follows:

 

Lakers themed Basketball Cake and handmade figurines of the couple in their Lakers jerseys

New Jersey Devils Hockey Puck Grooms Cake

 

One of our brides sent us this photo which served as the inspiration for the cake to follow:

 

Michael Godard "Shoot the Wad" Print

Grooms Cake inspired by the print

 

While groom's cakes can be a bit more challenging to create, it definitely brings an air of personalization to a wedding.  People remember details like this, and that's what makes a wedding special!