Stefanie Culbertson

Member Artist from 1991 to 1992.

Member Artist since 2011

Watercolor Painting

Digital Design

Stefanie Culbertson has been painting with watercolors since she moved to Kona, Hawaii in 1989 as a teenager. It is her favorite medium and the Islands, their lush beauty and diversity continue to inspire her art. Growing up in the "Old World" in Germany she was immersed in art and theater. She built her foundation in various techniques as an art major in high school, and attended the Art Institute studying various techniques. At the same time, she studied acting techniques at a professional theater as well. She continued her studies in both media when she came to Hawaii, attended Hawaii Community College, and studied The Meisner Technique with Jim Jarrett in Waimea. Stefanie went to California for eight years. She worked and performed on and off stage and camera in many productions and continued with her art. During her time in California, Stefanie earned her AA Degrees in Liberal Arts and Drama, and her BA Degree in Digital Design.

On November 13, 2006, immediately after graduating with her BA in Digital Design, Stefanie started her own business Tiffany Arts Designs, selling her fine arts - watercolor paintings, working on commissions and creating digital and graphic design work. Since 2011, she is a working member artist (and currently President for her 4th year now) at Kailua Village Artists Gallery in Kailua-Kona. She was part of the Cooperative gallery in the early nineties as well. In 2012 she joined the Blue Sea Artisans Gallery as a working member artist in Keauhou Kona since . Her art is displayed at both galleries 7 days a week. Every Wednesday, she is a regular vendor at the Ho'oulu Community Artisans and Farmers Market in Keauhou Bay.  She offers workshops in watercolors and acrylics for adults and children and seasonally based arts & crafts for children and adults. She held her art classes at the Keauhou Shopping Center, the Sheraton in Keauhou and also at private homes for groups. Stefanie was a regular vendor at the Kokua Kailua Village Stroll on Alii Drive for six years, and was part of markets at Parker Ranch Center, The Cherry Blossom Festival, Cream of the Crop, Kona Coffee Festival, Mother's Day and Kona Town Night Market.

Throughout her art, Stefanie Culbertson's intention is to portray the deeper, spiritual essence of her imagery with her vivid and luminous rainbow colors and reflecting light, capturing the beauty and diversity of life in Hawaii, the rainbow state. Each painting has its own story and deeper meaning to reflect upon. Some of her paintings have multiple layers of imagery within, the deeper you look, the more will be revealed. She continuously researches Hawaiian mythology, history and legends and infuses them in her art. Stefanie is deeply grateful for her gift to be able to inspire and touch others with her art.

In her painting “He’e and Nai’a – After the Storm” (first painting below), Stefanie delves into mythology as well. She started with the background of her painting, the cave looking out onto the calm, peaceful ocean, after a rip-roaring storm. (She reflected on the growth, change, and healing she had experienced this past year.) She was inspired to paint the He’e (octopus), beginning her research, she was amazed to how deeply the beliefs, legends and mythology about the octopus run throughout all the cultures in the world. In the Hawaiian creation account, the “Kumulipo”, the octopus is the “lone survivor from an earlier world”, a type of alien, and the last of its kind living on Earth. Seeing the He’e in water symbolizes good luck to Hawaiian people. The octopus is found in all ocean systems on Earth and traces back 30 million years. The ancient Mediterranean cultures gave tremendous respect for the octopus and worshipped it in ceremonies, leaving offerings for safe sea journeys. It has been referred to as “an eight legged sea monster” or a “devil fish”, by Native American accounts. The He’e is extraordinary in its intelligence and capabilities to camouflage itself, to appear and disappear. It has marvelous defense mechanisms, the expulsion of ink, confusing its attackers and its agility (being a mollusk) to slip through even the tightest of spots. The octopus symbolizes enlightenment, creativity and flexibility, i.e. the spiraling of its limbs, the path leading from the outer consciousness and materialism to inner soul illumination. Also in the painting, the Nai’a (dolphin) is swimming past the cave, delighting in the new dawn and calm sea. The Octopus is holding the trident. (It is Poseidon’s trident in Greek mythology). However… the artist leaves the interpretation and personalization of this painting to the viewer.

There is more on Stefanie in the March 2022 Gallery Newsletter.