Hawaii's pre-eminent artist, according to a friend, "Eats, sleeps and breathes Maui, and then somehow magically transforms her experience into art". It's true; whether paddle boarding, diving, kite-surfing, visiting her local posse of Hoalohas or journeying up jungle trails to Maui's breathtaking waterfalls, Kim revels in the lush beauty and excitement of the island—both as an acute observer and enthusiastic participant.

Perhaps that is why her works resonate so deeply. Because she doesn't just paint what she sees, she paints what she knows. Kim has spent decades exploring: the uncanny light and shadows, the liquid moon, the impossibly lush colors and fragrances, the rich, strange music of the surf and the reef, the exhilaration of being an active part of it all—Kim knows her island.

And she has created a gift of it, through her art, just for us.

Kim celebrates the sea in her artwork, and defends it in the many environmental organizations she actively participates in. She has donated some of her finest work to help these groups raise funds through silent (and not-so-silent) auctions and other art-related activities.

Some of her current beneficiaries are The Waterkeeper Alliance, Surf Riders, and (pictured here) the first Annual “Water/Wo/Men” Event In Support of Global Water Conservation at Six Senses Laamu. At their gathering in the Maldives, Kim created an art surfboard which was signed onsite by the well-known attendees and then auctioned off, fetching a handsome donation for Water/Wo/Men's mission. The art of giving, personified!