“The mauna that you feel when you go out and get it and the energy that you feel when you try to grasp it, it’s unbelievable.”
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hundreds of miles from where a majestic tree once grew on the island of Hawaii, Sonny Bradley creates his arts art and extends his legacy once again.
When KHON2 first met Sonny Bradley in 2010, he was understandably emotional working on his fourth and what he thought would be his last koa canoe.
“The mana that you feel when you go out and get it and the energy that you feel when you try to grasp it, it’s unbelievable,” said Bradley.
Thanks to no small effort and mother nature’s timing, this master craftsman is once again tapping into his emotion and artistry, turning another fallen koa log left to die in the forest into something spiritual and beautiful.
Now, it’s ready for a new life.
“It wasn’t pretty. I looked at it and I said ‘You know what, the log is asking me to make a canoe out of it,'” Bradley explained. “I can’t leave it. I was going to walk away from it and said better not.”