Ke Alahou, Volume I, Number 6, 1 May 1980 — David Paul Parker Bringing the images of the past alive [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

David Paul Parker Bringing the images of the past alive

His grandfather was Robert Parker, a descendant of John Palmer Parker, whom King Kalakaua saw riding and liked the way young John rode. Prince Leleiohoku brought him over to work at the Iolani Palace, and later rose to the captain of the King's guards. His father, Arthur Parker named David after a son who prematurely passed away. His strong family ties and chiefly heritage has made him deeply aware of the richness of Hawaiian history. Parker, a boyhood painter of pink grocery butcher paper and borrowed oil paints, now re-interpretates the chiefs of old and their noble feats with acrylics using wood or marble besides canvas as his background material. He portrays the chiefs with strength and power as people who understood what power and glory meant. His portrait of the high chief Kahekili, I found to be very captivating. It was said that Kahekili was tatooed from head to toe on one half of his body, but according to Parker this was the merging fo tiny "half moons" that from a distance looked completely black. Another portrait was equally powerful. This is of Kamehameha lifting the naha stone. One can sense the mana and physical strength as blood gushes from his ears as he lifts the stone upwards. Parker paints as if this were a hobby, but his works reflect the intensity of someone putting more effort than necessary into a project. "It may take four hours a night, four nights a week or longer, but I don't leave the painting until I complete it." he says. His works are being handled by Hank Cooper and Gwen Akana of Master Color Laboratories here in Honolulu. They hope to publish reproductions and some educational material on Hawaiian in the near future "to help educate our Hawaiian people and instill a feeling of pride."