Marlenajon Waihee-Stafford
was born on the "big island" of Hawaii in 1947 and has lived there all her
life, except for the four years she attended Loma Linda University in
California. She grew up in the rainforest climate of Ahualoa and now lives in
Waimea, between thirteen thousand foot Mauna Kea and five thousand foot Kohala.
In addition to creating paintings and sculptures, Marlenajon is supervisor of
Lapakahi State Historical Park in the district of Kohala. She has been working
at the park since it opened in 1975, and was instrumental in developing its
interpretive program. Acting with a number of civic groups, Marlenajon has
learned about Hawaiian things from her own parents and extended family, and
also from associating with the older generations. She is a student of Hawaiian
herbal medicine and a collector of oral histories.
As you have probably surmised by now, Marlenajon loves animals. "I grew up around animals, she says, "and my dad was a rancher, so we always had cows and horses and goats and dogs." Now that love often carries over into her art, manifesting itself in the mythical creatures she creates out of wood and stone.
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Marlenajon has been creating her striking art for thirty years. Every piece is new and exciting and entirely unique. Regarding her wood carvings she says, "I
think there's something in the wood that just calls to me. It's something that
I can feel reaching out to me from inside the log. The search to find each
other is something that continues until the sculpture is finished."