"Celestial Height", by Stephen Sands, 1988
Oil on Canvas with original Koa Frame
Canvas size: 19" wide x 23" high, Frame size: 25" wide x 29" high
Mr. Stephen Sands was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on March 2nd 1930. He begun his artistic career in 1964 when he sold his first painting in Hawaii from the famed Artist's fence in front of the Honolulu zoo.
Though that experience launched Stephen's career as an artist, his beginnings took root when he studied art and architecture for four years at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He also was privileged to work with the world famous landscaped artist, the late Gordon Harris.
Known to his friends and colleagues as simply "Stephen", and since that first painting in 1964, Sands has enjoyed the world as viewed through the eyes of an artist. In 1971 he embarked on an island odyssey that took him to New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, New Hebrides, Tonga, New Zealand, Tahiti and other islands of the South Pacific as well as to Alaska and Mexico.
Wherever he went, Stephen painted the beauty he saw and felt and captured the hearts of the art community. During one seven-month period he painted and sold over one hundred paintings of these beautiful places.
Stephen has mastered techniques that are often emulated but never surpassed. He uses a brush for his backgrounds, but then relies almost completely on the palette knife for his foregrounds. It is this technique that creates the extraordinary three-dimensional quality of Sands's art and the use of daylight and flowers in his compositions that sets him apart from other artists. His waterfalls and landscapes depicting the Hawaii of old are incredibly powerful and breathtaking.
Whether waterfalls, coastal mountain scenes, seascapes or any of a number of island vistas, it is easy for the art connoisseur to recognize another depth in Sands's work, the depth of emotion. Sands has a great love for the beauty that Mother Nature graciously endowed to the islands. Weather permitting his preference is always to paint on location. Sands teaches students and holds painting demonstrations regularly. Art critics point to Sands as an artist who paints with authority. There is honesty in his creations and he captures the beauty, the romance and the delicacy that is Hawaii.
Art lovers all over the world have purchased Stephen Sands art because of his love of the South Pacific. He graciously sets time aside to demonstrate his abilities in the lobbies of world class resort hotels. Collectors from across the globe continue to return to Hawaii to add to their collection of Stephen's originals. Authors, writers and lecturers have also purchased his works, such as Dr. Wayne Dyer.
Sands's incredible talent captures the hearts and souls of art collectors as he shares his passion.
Unfortunately, our dear friend passed away peacefully in his home on the Big Island September 2016.
