Maui Fine Art and Photography

Entering the grounds one is met with a towering bank of fluttering foliage, background curtain for the handsomely corroded five by five foot steel sign, ENIGMA OF THE MILL. It stands as reminder of, and introduction to, the massive metal sculptures by Thomas Frederick Sewell (multi-media artist, designer, photographer, filmmaker, and sculptor), that appear throughout the property. ENIGMA having been a much-lauded Opus was a multi-media projection work which splayed an 18-foot high swath of film across 104 feet of The Maui Cultural Center, to the transfixing beat of a specifically culled and commissioned sound track. The 2006 production: a heroic tribute to the love affair of Sewell and the ill-favored, final functioning sugar-mill on Maui, within whose walls he discovered and is now perpetuating, "The Art of Industry."

 

Taking the upper fork in the road one is ushered to the long drive of ever more towering Royal Palms as an otherworldly entry point for an, as yet, unimagined right-of-passage into this exotic space outside of time. Each turn glows ablaze with a thousand shades of green, and unfathomable organic shapes and patterning, relieving one of doubt in a divinity.

 

Originally from Minneapolis where, in the mid-sixties, Sewell opened the wildly avant-garde Bottega Gallery (where his mentor, Marcel Duchamp, came to enter himself in a "Ready-Made" show), before Tom headed west to California in his baby-blue, mink-lined, Volkswagen pick-up truck. (The mink manifested through a curious trade with an art-loving furrier when he lost the gallery lease.))

 

In the glow of psychedelic Southern California, Tom lived on the beach, sold Fuller Brushes, worked in television, made art, body-painted naked women for a Roger Corman film, discovered his own love of photography and making movies, published MAIN Magazine on art, architecture, and design, backed into the real estate game and became a powerful force in the restoration and re-invigoration of Venice.

 

After a contemplative year of yoga in Mysore, India in 1990, Sewell made his way from California to Maui for an Ashtanga Yoga retreat. His embrace of the isle was immediate and he left as the owner of a five-acre parcel of scrubland without a structure on it. With an old Minneapolis friend, Peter Powell, he designed and built the first one; a large, single, cedar room now the core of the greatly expanded Main House.

 

Cleverly crafted cottages (including the Bali House, the Zen Cottage, the Library, and the Tree House) dot the terrain, often containing elements of, and revealing influences from, Tom and Michelle's international travels. As the owner of Maui Staging and Interiors, Michelle's exquisite designer touch prevails in the styling of each "home away from home." The pair met at a Valentine's dance in 1998 when, in her sexy, short, pink dress and six foot legs with a brain, she knocked his proverbial bachelor socks off.  Michelle remains his major muse, lover, confidant, and fierce force in their co-creation. A stunning couple, they reign as host and hostess supreme to a formidable world-wide flow of friends, family, guest artists, musicians, writers, directors, filmmakers, publishers, dancers, yogis, shamans, a who's-who of celebrities, Fortune 500 CEO's, island virgins, simply good people, and, yes, young couples in love.

 

College interns are also a vital part of life on the Art Estate, exchanging the live-in experience of exotica for dedicated hours of sharpening video, editing and website skills in Tom's Studio. That structure, taken directly from the set of the major motion picture, "The Truman Show," was shipped to Maui by Tom's partner, the Oscar winning production designer, Dennis Gassner. To the interns fall the task of digitizing and organizing his vast photographic archive with over  fifty years of multi-media work to be perused. Most interns are also integrated in photography and have been included in shoots for Tom's assignments with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Princeton Review, dignitary portraits, celebrity weddings at the stunning Haiku Mill, and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In addition, they receive support and mentoring for their individual projects and encouragement to uncover their passions, develop healthy lifestyles, and a strong sense of self and service. They are invited to be serious or silly in the spirit and flavor of the moment.

 

Along the way, in the vastness of his creative expression, interns at his side, Sewell received distinctive recognition not only for the outrageous, but also for the courageous. The brilliant, controversial stand taken through his piece, "I Can No Longer Remain Silent," was denied inclusion in a local major annual art exhibition. However, organized by Michelle Sewell and Tim Garcia, the piece became the basis of a travelling show, "Maui Artists for Peace." From the United Nations Society of Artists and Writers, Tom was presented "The Annual Award of Excellence" for his contribution to the Anti-War/Peace Movement.

 

Every Monday night is Cinematiki time. An inclusive potluck dinner followed by the showing of a great classic or foreign film. Lively discussions afterwards allow the group to process what they’ve seen and discuss what it provoked. To date over 200 films have been viewed, often in series, highlighting a specific actor, genre, or director, elucidating and expanding the group's cinematic exploration.  Every day Tom and his cohort enjoy a long swim from Baldwin to Baby Beach. The exception is Sunday, when a diverse collection of devotees journey to varied locations around the island to "Snork and Fork" in the Liquid Temple.

 

Strolling the extensive grounds in the poetic Haiku, between the arid port town of Lahaina, "Land of Relentless Sun," on the west and "The Road to Hana" rainforest on the east, the lushness of a moist, tropical microclimate displays its bounty. Tangerine, orange, guava, grapefruit, and lemon trees, bananas and avocados the size of melons, all hang around the property for the in-season picking. The experiential definition of Paradise takes form. Afternoon Rainbows end in this pot of gold.

 

Stand at the back end of the rolling hills, poised high on the cliff above the eight-acre jungle valley, observe in the pitch of night, without ambient light, as Orion's famous accessory punctuates the black sky midst the massive marvel of the Milky Way... squared. This property is magic, and magic happens here! While guests are visiting they find friends are made, books are written, movies are filmed, deals are sealed, concerts are played, retreats are held, healings occur, chess is adored, romance blossoms, weddings are performed and always, there abides a sense of joy, appreciation, passion, possibility, compassion, love, and laughter!

 

"Art Estate is a destination and to visit here is guaranteed to be like your first kiss; you will never forget it!" K. Hartwig Dahl