Painter James Hoyle knew he wanted to be an artist at the age of 6.
To prepare himself, he began painting in his high-school art class in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, and later earned a fine-arts degree from the Ringling College of Art at Sarasota, Fla.
Following graduation, he painted in New Orleans, New Mexico and Maui prior to arriving on Kaua‘i in July 1979, where he opened a studio in the plantation town of Kekaha.
When he discovered that many of Kekaha Sugar Company’s old camp houses were soon to be demolished for new dwellings, it became his obsession to record them on canvas beforehand.
He then set about painting these and other historic homes, buildings and places within the community, and by Feb. 1981, some 40 of his pastel and oil paintings of Kekaha went on display at the Kekaha Filipino Hall.
My wife and I recall seeing him at work in Kekaha in those days.
Over the next several years, Hoyle also preserved for posterity many other sites on Kaua‘i, including Mana Camp, McBryde Sugar Co. plantation camps, and buildings in ‘Ele‘ele and Koloa.
His paintings now number among the cherished visual records of that era.
Even in those early days, while earning his living strictly by painting and while refusing to resort to government grants and side jobs to make ends meet, his efforts met with success by rewarding him with anywhere from $600 to $1,400 per painting.
Hoyle’s style was inspired by the works of the 19th-century impressionist artists, particularly Monet for his sense of color, and Pissarro for that painter’s perception of the intricacy and underlying design of nature.
Post-impressionists Gauguin and Van Gogh also affected Hoyle’s style.
As his technique evolved, he worked faster with more energy, and his painting became increasingly expressive, with brighter, bolder brush strokes and vivid color.
Over time, his work matured and diversified, and is today unique in the world of art.
Hoyle’s art is displayed in numerous private and public collections. James Hoyle’s paintings are available at the James Hoyle Gallery at https://www.jameshoylegallerykauai.com.
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Hank Soboleski has been a resident of Kauai since the 1960s. Hank’s love of the island and its history has inspired him, in conjunction with The Garden Island Newspaper, to share the island’s history weekly. The collection of these articles can be found here: https://bit.ly/2IfbxL9 and here https://bit.ly/2STw9gi Hank can be reached at hssgms@gmail.com
