St. Patrick's Day in Hawaii Nei

Do people celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Hawaii? Why faith and begorrah, of course they do, brah--but with an island twist. Ricki Lee, dressed as an Irish folk dancer, is happily swinging on a vine from the big banyan tree with baby Robbie in tow. Her Uncle Pete and Aunt Della mix shakas with shamrocks on the lawn, joining their daughter Lee (who is "Hapa Irish" through her dad), adopted granddaughter Keisha, Ricki's other son Isaac on the other vine, and the ohana pets Xena the Chihuahua and Lani Girl the mongoose.

October 17 - Oktoberfest in Hawaii Nei

The traditional German festival known as Oktoberfest is celebrated in Hawaii, too--often at hotels, tourist traps and Lutheran churches. (At churches, though, it may be with root beer instead of the regular kine.) The Ricki Lee & Tony ohana, Lutherans all, are all in the Deutschlander aloha spirit in lederhosen, peasant Hausfrau dresses, feathers in their hats, and haku lei on their heads. Even Lani Girl the mongoose is in the act, holding up a stein full of root beer with her tail. Alas, little Isaac hasn't been properly brainwashed in the Oktoberfest spirit. They'll get him yet. :)

January 9 - Happy (Achoo!) New Year

Happy New Year! Since 2010 I have created Ricki Lee & Tony-themed New Year's cartoons in addition to my Christmas greeting cards. In this year's version the whole extended ohana in Pearl City welcomes you to 2012. Poor Ricki has come down with a cold, but that doesn't keep her from dressing up in her "Breakfast at Tiffany's" best for New Year's Eve. When her cousin Lee complimented her festive white gloves, Ricki angrily fired back "It's so I can wipe my runny nose with them!"

The cartoon was directly inspired by my own bout with a cold--the second one in a month. I myself was laid up in bed for most of the New Year's weekend, and decided to make lemonade out of lemons by incorporating it into the artwork through Ricki Lee.

The whole family as shown clockwise from left to right: Lee, her adopted daughter Keisha, her parents Della and Pete Rogers, Tony, Ricki Lee with her cold medicine and tissue paper, Xena faithfully watching over her mistress, and Ricki Lee & Tony's sons Isaac and Robert (seated).

May 30, 2011 - Welcome to the Ohana!

As promised, every cartoon posted from now on will now reflect Ricki Lee and Tony's family moving to Hawaii. In this post, everyone celebrates cousin Lee officially adopting little Keisha as her own daughter at the Honolulu children's court, and changing her name to Keisha Kealoha Rogers. Lee's mother Della is crying joyfully not only for having a grandchild, but for seeing the love and care she raised Lee with now being passed on to another generation.

This drawing was designed for an adoption-themed greeting card, which is available for purchase from my Zazzle.com online store.