Wine and Welzie Night - Art Show at the Andaz Resort Wailea Maui

 Art and wine is a favorite combination of ours, they belong together the same way beach sunsets, rainbows and aloha are just part of Hawaii. This type of experience blends a feeling of whimsical with culture, it is no wonder Wine + Welzie has become an exceedingly popular monthly event at The Welzie Art Gallery.

Welzie artist proofing an Handmade Silkscreen “Aloha Goat” at. the Wine and Welzie event at the Andaz Resort at Wailea.

As you walk through the Andaz Resort at Wailea, you are greeted by a mesmerizing ocean view, chill music blended with an upscale aloha vibe. You turn down the hallway and begin to hear people chatting and laughing as you enter the Welzie Art Gallery. This time your eyes see bright, fun and colorful artwork, pictures of Maui, turtles, sharks and goats snorkeling. The view of the ocean and sunset encompass a table filled with wine glasses and beverages.  You are greeted by a Gallery host with a big smile and she hands you a fresh glass of white wine as you begin to make your tour through the Welzie Art Gallery.  Every time you look at an art piece you can’t help but smile at the light hearted and whimsical nature of Welzie Art.

Welzie visiting with gallery guests at the Wine and Welzie event at the Andaz Resort Wailea, Maui

Welzie Art is such a unique medium created from surfboard foam, fiberglass and resin. Each piece is hand sculpted just like a surfboard.  The artwork has a cool and trendy vibe to it and the gloss on each piece makes you want to run your hand across it like a surfer grabbing their favorite surfboard. The designs and imagery are playful and feel fresh, even the sculptures make you want to touch them. 

Welzie hosts a monthly Art + Wine event in his Gallery to showcase new art, sculptures and to socialize with other friends who appreciate the nature of creativity and fine art. The Gallery is pulsing with happy energy as people gather around Welzie’s table watching him paint, dedicate and artist proof art piece for the new and seasoned collectors. You can feel the excitement as one of the guests walks up with a huge smile and shakes Welzie’s hand. He has just purchased a Silk Screen print and Welzie begins to hand paint this piece in front of the audience, we find out later this is called artist proofing and is one of the highlights that a live art night can offer.  The line of collectors is growing as each waits patiently for Welzie to sign their artwork and document their purchase and meeting the artist.

See what a Wine and Welzie Night looks like at the Andaz Resort Wailea Maui

A couple walks up and meets Welzie, they share that they are on their honeymoon and have bought their first piece of art as a married couple. Welzie’s Team lays out the large Aluminum Reproduction and Welzie turns it over and begins to sign the back. As the couple is talking about their honeymoon adventure we begin to see Welzie drawing what they are telling him they did on their trip. There are turtles, sharks and shave ice on the back of their art piece. The couple thanks Welzie and says “We don’t know which side should face the front now!”

Wine + Welzie is such a unique and fun evening that encourages socializing with the artist and other collectors while appreciating delicious wine and beautiful views in Maui. This event is a complimentary offering to the resort guests in Wailea and the community of Maui. Through the love of art we can all find connection and appreciation for vibrant color, creativity and socializing. You are invited to join us for an evening of art and wine appreciation each month at the Welzie Art Gallery located at The Andaz Resort, Wailea. Find our calendar dates on our website under Wine + Welzie. 

Posca Paint Marker Pens: 10 Tips and Tricks

 Acrylic paint markers are a wonderful tool to create artwork. I have been using the Posca paint pens for over 25 years and have developed my entire art style around these markers. Acrylic paint pens can be used on many surfaces and come in a variety of colors and brands. In this post I will share with you my top 10 tips and tricks for using Posca paint pens, my acrylic paint marker of choice, due to their opacity and their range of colors.

Tip# 1 SHAKE UP YOUR PAINT PENS FIRST

This may seem like a pretty redundant tip but so many problems can be avoided when the paint inside the marker is mixed correctly. You’ll get less spills (too much paint out of the tip), you’ll get more life out of the paint markers. There is so many benefits you’ll get from just making sure your paint in your pen is all mixed together properly. I generally shake a new pen for 1 min before opening and starting the paint. Once a paint pen has been started I will shake the pen for at least 5 seconds before each use.

Tip# 2 STARTING YOUR PAINT PENS

Your Paint marker does not come ready to use, you will have to get the paint inside the marker to flow down into the pen tip in order to use it. So make sure your pen is shaken up (tip1) then you can begin this process. Press firmly down on your paint pen and you will notice the tip of the pen receding back into the pen. This is allowing your tip to accept paint into it. There is usually about 1/8” that the tip will recede. I don’t recommend pressing the tip all the way in till it bottoms out. This may result in too much paint coming out at once or dulling your pen tip. If you do bottom out your tip don’t stress, it should be fine, just try to avoid pressing the pen tip down so far. This may take 20-40 presses to get the paint fully flowing in the tip. You will see the paint start to fill your pen tip as you do this. The pen tip does not have to be fully filled with paint to start working. As soon as the pen can start drawing its good to go. The entire tip will get filled shortly.

Tip #3 STORE YOUR PAINT PENS HORIZONTALLY

The best way to store your paint markers is to store them horizontally. Storing your pens vertically will pool the paint to the bottom, paint can dry and get crackly in the corner of the pen tube. Storing your pens horizontally will increase the lifespan of you pens significantly. It will also make it easier to get your pen started again if you haven’t used it in a while.

Tip #4 PUT THE CAP ON TILL YOU HEAR A CLICK

This seems like a tip for a child but I cant tell you how many pens I have lost over the years just from not getting the cap on correctly. If the cap doesn’t click you’re not done with it. Some pens might not get an audible click but thats ok. Do your best to make sure the paint marker pen cap is on correctly.

Tip #5 HOW TO FIX PAINT PEN OVERFLOWS AND SPILLS

Some times you may be drawing on an art piece and you’ll get a “spill” or “overflow” where too much paint seems to come out of the paint pen. This can happen for a few reasons: pushing too hard down on the tip of the pen, paint pen is too hot, paint pen may not be shaken up enough. So if your paint pen does a spill, the best trick I have learned is to stop drawing, get a paper towel or toilet paper, and use the thin edge to pull the paint away from your art piece. Don’t try to blotch out the paint until you’ve sucked up most of it into the paper towel. The paint marker paint can spread easily so you want to get the majority or all the paint sucked off your piece before you start to blotch out the rest. Doing this correctly you will see the paint suck up into the paper towel and away from you art. You will have to do this a few times until most the paint is removed. Don’t get frustrated when this happens. It happens to everyone. Just make sure to get as much paint off your piece and try not to spread it around and make it worse.

Tip #6  DON’T SMEAR YOUR ARTWORK

If your right handed, work left to right and away to near. If you're left handed work right to left and away to near. The paint in these paint pens does take a little time to dry even out here in the hot Maui weather. Working on your piece you need to be consciences that you're not dragging your arm through your artwork and ruining it. You can rotate your artwork or object to make sure your drawing arm doesn’t smear you paint, but just make sure you are paying attention. Still to this day I will sometimes smear a little. It's not often but it does happen. Pay attention and don’t get disappointed when it does happen.

Tip #7 MAKE SURE YOUR DRAWING SURFACE IS CLEAN

Weather you’re drawing on glass, a surfboard or object, make sure the area is clean. Acrylic paint markers need a good clean surface to adhere too. If the area isn’t clean you’re not going to get a good bond between the paint and the object.

Tip #8 REMOVING OR REPLACING YOUR PEN TIP

If you get something in your pen tip, it wears out, or the paint dries a little in the tip, you can replace it with a new tip. To remove your old tip just use two fingers and pull the tip straight up and out while the pen is vertical. Do not tip the pen when the tip is out. The paint shouldn’t come out of the top while the pen tip is out but its best to be safe and keep the pen vertical. You can replace your pen tip with a new tip from a new pen, or from a pen of the same color. If you do not have either of those options you can use another color pen tip but it may take a fair bit of paint to completely saturate the old color in the tip.

Tip #9 REMOVING YOUR PEN’S HEAD

Removing the head of the pen to mix colors, refill or check paint levels in your paint markers.

If you need to remove the head of the Paint marker on a Posca paint pen you will do opposite to what you’re used to. Posca Paint markers heads can be removed by twisting clockwise and tightened counter clockwise. Righty loosey -  Lefty tighty. The head of the Posca paint marker is the colored part and the tube is the black part. Hold firmly on the head and tube and twist. Sometimes these ca not be loosened with just a tight grip and may need to use vise grips or pliers.

Tip #10 CLEANING YOU PEN TIP

Sometimes softer paper can get pulled up into the pen tip and you might see little clumps of paper in the tip. You may also notice your pen tip clogging if your using a pen over an area which you have already worked on. Earthier way you will need to get the debris off your pen tip. For me, and it may not be the best idea, I usually just use the back of my opposite drawing hand to wipe the pen tip off of. A little spin of the pen while pulling away from the tip can relieve your paint marker’s tip from any unwanted debris that is messing up your line work.

If you have any questions please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as quickly as possible. 

Here is a video I made for my YouTube channel where you can see in a little more detail these tips for Posca paint pen use.

Check out all my artwork using acrylic paint markers on my website at www.welzie-art.com

Follow me on Instagram @welzie_art

Sign up for my newsletter here.

Visit my Art Gallery at the Andaz Resort in Wailea Maui where you can take an art class and use  the same process I use in all my artwork.

Welzie + Pactimo Collaboration to Raise Funds for the Maui Wildfires

 Welzie and Pactimo collaborate on a cycling jersey to help raise funds for the victims of the Maui Wild fires. This unique partnership has allowed both Welzie and Pactimo to do what they do best and  bring what the people of Lahaina need most, money. In this fundraiser Pactimo will donate $60 from the sale of each jersey and $20 for every tee with 50% going to the Hawai'i Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund & the remaining 50% to two local bike shops that were destroyed by the fire.

This project was great for Welzie to be able to work on a creative project that can reach people outside of the local Maui network. “It was so great to be able to put some of my art to work and be able to raise much needed money for our local community here on Maui” - Welzie

With the intensity of the aftermath of the Lahaina wild fires it was hard for Welzie to create so we decided to go with a design that would fit the situation at hand. Welzie’s Rainbow Shark piece really stood out as the best possible piece because it shows how different sharks can come together to create something beautiful. Which is what we are experiencing here on Maui. Everyone from all walks of life coming together to help those in need.

The Love Maui Love idea was inspired by Welzie feeling love from all over the world being sent to Maui and how Maui was really experiencing a love sandwich. The overwhelming support from the global community shows how much Maui means too so many people around the world.

We’re so lucky to be apart of this collaboration that is raising money for the Maui Strong Foundation as well as directly supporting 2 of the local bike shops in Lahaina: West Maui Cycles, and Maui Sunriders. As a local Maui resident we know these shops  have been supporting the local cycling community here on Maui for years. Although the bike shops in Lahaina are gone, the cycling community remains strong.

Maui has such a strong cycling community. Whether is riding in the Makawow forest preserve track, Downhill rides from the top of Haleakala, road biking in the year around perfect weather or taking your beach cruzer and surfboard down to the local surf break, Maui has everything a two wheeled enthusiast can enjoy.

Fortunately for our Welzie Art team we all remained safe throughout the fires. There was a fire close to the art studio but luckily all we experienced was ash and soot. There is so much work that needs to be done to get families back to their Lahaina community and we hope that the proceeds from this fundraiser can help make that happen.

Welzie’s connection to cycling began growing up behind a bike shop in Santa Cruz California where him and his buddies lived on their bikes. Wether it was BMX jumping in the local dirt lot, Mountain Biking the Santa Cruz Mountains or using the beach cruzer to get to the surf before he could drive. Two wheel fun has always been a part of Welzie’s lifestyle.

One thing we have learned in this disaster is the outpouring of support for all the communities around the globe. It is a great reminder that there are people out there that share the same interest as you. Everyone has a community wether you realize it or not and its important to be a part of it. Its your community that will be there when you need it most. Thank you to Pactimo for initiating this fundraiser, Gear junkie.com and bicycling.com for sharing the fundraiser.

Check out this interview below with Welzie and the CEO of Pactimo discussing this project.