rare bird

Plant Geek…

Posted by mneal on September 2, 2010

Posted in: Nature. Tagged: Akohekohe, Alauhio, Amikihi, Apapane, art, artist, bench, birds, bowls, conservation, endangered, endangered bird, Haleakala, Hanawi, hand made, hawaii, hawaii bird, hawaii birds, Hawaii Nature Conservancy, I'iwi, jaws, Kiwikiu, koa, Lobelia, made in Hawaii, mango, maui, Maui Forest Bird Recovory Project, Maui hands, Maui made, Maui parrotbill, mauisurfphotography.com, mauiwoodork.com, Michael Neal, michael r neal, mike neal, mneal.net, monkey pod, native intelligence, nature, nature conservancy, Nealstudios, Nene, norfork pine, photo, photography, plants, Poheo, pukalani, rare, rare bird, rare plant, rocker, sculptures, sunrises, sunsets, surf, surfer, surfing, waikamoi, woodworker. Leave a Comment

Lobelia Grayana

Lobelia grayana

Rare and endangered plants are a new subject for me. My friend Pat Bily of the The Nature Conservancy (a self proclaimed “plant geek”) has been patiently pointing out the native plants in the Waikamoi Preserve. The Lobelias are one of the food sources for the native birds of Maui . In 3 years of hiking past this paticular plant, I had not seen it bloom. So when I heard it was flowering, I had to have a look. WOW – beautiful! It was lightly raining, but I had to shoot, as a family of I’iwi were working it.

Keiki I'iwi - Lobelia Grayana

I’m a Plant/Bird Geek in the making :)

Full List & Pictures of Hawaiian Plants by Forest and Kim Starr

Wood Lust!

Posted by mneal on September 10, 2010

Posted in: Woodwork. Tagged: Akohekohe, Alauhio, Amikihi, Apapane, art, artist, bench, birds, bowls, conservation, endangered, endangered bird, Haleakala, Hanawi, hand made, hawaii, hawaii bird, hawaii birds, Hawaii Nature Conservancy, I'iwi, jaws, Kiwikiu, koa, Lobelia, made in Hawaii, mango, maui, Maui Forest Bird Recovory Project, Maui hands, Maui made, Maui parrotbill, mauisurfphotography.com, mauiwoodork.com, Michael Neal, michael r neal, mike neal, mneal.net, monkey pod, native intelligence, nature, nature conservancy, Nealstudios, Nene, norfork pine, photo, photography, plants, Poheo, pukalani, rare, rare bird, rare plant, rocker, sculptures, sunrises, sunsets, surf, surfer, surfing, waikamoi, woodworker. Leave a Comment

Hi, my name is Mike and I’m a woodaholic.

You can ask my wife, I cannot pass up a slab of Maui’s amazing hardwoods. It started at yard sales, a piece here, a piece there, till I had to build a shed to store them. Then I found the mill, oh my, the “candy store” for someone with woodlust. I began hanging around the millyard (100s of logs and piles of slabbed wood) looking through every pile looking for just the right piece. Whether it’s Koa, Mango, Monkey pod, Norfork Pine, or Opeuma, I love um all.

I also love driftwood. Whenever we have big storms with heavy rains, you will find me searching the river-mouths for chunks of battered and beaten pieces of wood. So anyway, now my backyard is piles of wood, every nook and cranny in the shop is piled high.

Woodlust, ya I’ve got it, because wood “speaks” to me. I mean, I see a piece a wood and it says “rocker” or “fish sculpture” or “treasure box”, it lets me know what it wants to be. Every piece of wood has a story, in this section of the blog, I will share the history of the wood and the process it took to become what it “told” me to make.

Aloha,

Mike