their gardens and are celebrated in this print.
Opihi is important to Hawaiian culture, connecting ohana (family) and friends with the ocean. Opihi is often used to describe a baby or clingy keiki (child). Also, the tendency of 'opihi to cluster together with other opihi is reminiscent of tightly knit ohana. There are three endemic species of this limpet in Hawaii. Opihi are pried off wave swept rocks, then either eaten raw or grilled over a fire. The shells are often tossed in gardens to add nutrients to the soil. Opihi have become scarce over the past century due to over harvesting on more populated islands like Oahu, but fishery regulations and opihi no-take zones are in place to facilitate recovery. I am blessed to live in one of the Mahoe family homes at Kailua beach. While weeding the pakalana, I came across scores of opihi shells tossed there over the years by the Mahoe ohana. It was a few years later before I found time to clean and photograph a few of them as references for the outlines of the shell ridges in this print. Interestingly, I recently learned too that these same opihi shells are tossed at windows (instead of rocks!) to get the attention of my neighbors inside. scale: 667dpi (45% 300dpi print) background: 9a6865 shells white 50% opacity