Pop­u­lar Hawaiʻi artist, author and design­er Patrick Ching is known as “Hawaiʻiʻs Nature Artist,” and with good rea­son. His beau­ti­ful paint­ings and designs reflect a hap­py child­hood roam­ing the upland forests of Pauoa Val­ley on Oʻahu. Patrick counts his time as a ranger at Kīlauea light­house on Kauaʻi and liv­ing among sea tur­tles and monk seals as some of his most trea­sured memories. 

In addi­tion to being a work­ing artist, Patrick is a suc­cess­ful entre­pre­neur. He runs art schools and gal­leries under his com­pa­ny name, Nat­u­ral­ly Hawai­ian, 

We are pleased to share our inter­view with Patrick with you.

For those who haven’t met you yet, tell us a lit­tle about yourself?

I was born in 1962 at Queen’s hos­pi­tal. I became a teenaged punk and went to Out­ward Bound (Hawaii Bound) pro­gram for juve­nile delin­quent kids at age 16. It was there I decid­ed to be a wildlife artist, and the direc­tion for my life work was set. I became an artist and author and now host a tv show called Paint­ing in Par­adise on Spec­trum oc16tv.

Where did you grow up? What high school did you grad? 

I grew up in Pauoa Val­ley through 6th grade, then Moanalua Val­ley and grad­u­at­ed Moanalua High School 1980.