Painting and stamping kapa
Kapa can be stamped with a wide variety of stamping tools. I learned to carve natural wooden stamps, linoleum blocks, and even look through my kitchen utensil drawer to find items to use for creating patterns.
Here, I used paint brushes and long bamboo stamps called 'ohe kapala with pink hibiscus ink to create these beautiful patterns.
Watermarking kapa
Kapa can also be watermarked using carved wooden blocks which are gently tapped onto kapa using a wooden mallet. The watermark can be either nuanced or deeply textural, depending on the thickness of kapa and amount of force used while tapping the block.
Stamps inspired by nature
I carved a small ‘iwa (great frigatebird) stamp out of an eraser, drawing inspiration from these graceful sea birds. Their distinctive pointed wings can be often spotted across Hawaii’s breathtaking sunsets. I used dark blue ink to stamp this piece on watermarked and hand-painted kapa.
Hybrid brush/stamp tools
I also learned how to make a multipurpose tool from the fruit of hala (pandanus) tree, which has a brush on one side and stamp for printing on the reverse.
