Thursday, February 26, 2009

Long Live the Hive

Last year I discovered the BHiver Wall and learned about Matt Smith. I wrote about it in two separate blogs, BHiver Wall and Bhiver Wall Revisited. I recently received an e-mail from Matt's mom, Annette, and learned that his legacy continues.

"Dear Jalna - your photos are exquisite, the Bhiver Wall is amazing, not only in it's artistic power but in it's meaning of respect, friendship and love for my son from his true friends....we should all be so lucky to have such true friends. My son, "Matty" had just finished his art studies at U.H., Manoa. He was a graffiti artist - painter and a lithographer. He loved lithography ... his professor/mentor, Charlie Cohan really helped Matty to explore and develop a love of lithography. When Matty died we wanted to honor him and inspire other artists as well, something that was true to Matty's core - encouragement and love of all his fellow students' artistic creations. We established the Matt Smith Art Award, an annual award/scholarship, which grants three students 1500.00/each to help continue their studies in lithography through the U.H. Art Dept., Charlie Cohan oversees the award. Last year three were awarded, two of the students had been in classes with Matty and this year three more students were just anounced...Matty would be so "stoked." What has been so fantastic about these awards/scholarships is that Matty's friends and fellow artists in Seattle, organize an art show, each summer, to help raise money for the scholarships, they donate their art and we print t-shirts and sell CD's, Matty also wrote music and I would be happy to send you one of his CD's to thank you for recognizing the fantastic art of the Bhiver Wall. This Feb. 28th will mark the 2 yr passing of our Matty, but his Bhiver Spirit is alive and thriving in the hearts and minds of his talented friends and artists everywhere....Long Live The Hive!!!!! Sincerely, Annette"

As the anniversary of his passing approaches, I felt compelled today to return to the wall. I decided to take a few close-up shots.

I lingered for awhile not wanting to leave, half wishing for some kind of sign from Matt. And he arrived. His name is Leif. He had spotted the wall yesterday and decided to return to get a few shots. I wonder if it's a coincidence that Leif is visiting from Seattle where Matt and his family are from. And I wonder if it's a coincidence that according to Wikipedia "Leif" is Scandinavian in origin and can be pronounced "Life". I think not. I think it's not a coincidence at all, and I think that Matty wants us to know that The Hive Does Live On.

11 comments:

Erick said...

Very cool, good job!

SW said...

Your colors on those walls are so vibrant. So did you mention you used a polarizer to take these to get the colors? They came out really nice and sharp..

jalna said...

Shun-Wah, I normally would've taken the photos with my polarizing filter, but I decided to go visit the wall on the spur of the moment and didn't have the proper gear with me. In this case I was lucky that the areas that I photographed weren't in direct sunlight and it helped that I was using a 35mm L lens on my 5D.

Dd said...

Can you find out about those T-shirts, I saw a student from Roosevelt just the other day and I swear the shirt he was wearing reminded me of the wall, anyways, I would be interested in purchasing some......

bkpr1 said...

Hi Jalna....Fantastic!...you've found the art within the art..You Rock!...BHIVER's dad

Hi Dd, if you send an email to jimsmith60@gmail.com, I'll get you some 'LONG LIVE THE HIVE' t-shirts...BHIVER'S dad..Vince Smith, Seattle

Leif said...

Hi Jalna,
It was a pleasure meeting you at the Bhivr. When my wife and I drove by it the first time, it was just stunning. The wall is a very special place. I hope the state art museum makes an effort to perserve it forever...

Cheers,
Leif

jalna said...

Hey Leif, it's soooo nice to hear from you. I agree; I hope that it does get preserved somehow . . . forever. I will always remember our meeting, and the special message you brought. Thanks for dropping by! jalna

Leif said...

Jalna,
I didn't have your email so I sent the photo of you to Vince's website, which he has posted. Cheers, Leif P.S. no need to post this email/

jalna said...

Leif, I did see the photo already, and I LOVE it! Thanks so much for taking the time to send it to Vince. jalna

Unknown said...

greetings all,

I'm a high school friend of matt's, and found my way here randomly, but it is so beautiful for me to see people appreciating matt's special talent and spirit. he was such an endless source of energy, always creating and inspiring, getting excited about what he saw and not being afraid to let that excitement overcome him, and when it did, it was so infectious. It's very touching that even now his celebration of life and exuberance can still be so compelling even through the internet, and really warms my heart (i know its corny but thats really what it feels like) to see his legacy being carried on by folks around the globe. thank you.

jalna said...

Craig, I'm so glad that you found your way to my blog post on Matt. I never met Matt and only learned about him after I discovered the wall. It's just so awesome to hear from one of his high school friends. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.