Peopled with farmers and fishermen, keiki and kupuna, cops and robbers and many others, renowned Hawai‘i-bred artist Martin Charlot's charming mural, Hawaiian Folkways, illustrates more than 100 proverbs—and has entertained, enlightened and inspired those who have viewed it for almost a quarter-century. Now, in Local Traffic Only: Proverbs Hawaiian-Style, Martin Charlot presents a keepsake edition of his beloved mural. Here is a children’s book for children of all ages—a loving look at Hawai‘i’s people, illustrating the varied and vital lessons that life has to teach.
Martin Charlot grew up in Hawai‘i, apprenticing with his father, the legendary artist and muralist Jean Charlot—a major influence in the Mexican muralist movement of the 1920s and ‘30s and a teacher of Diego Rivera. Known primarily as a muralist, Charlot is also a writer, actor, film maker, illustrator and educator and has been honored as a Fellow in Perpetuity by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 1985 Charlot was commissioned by McDonald’s Corporation to paint a wall mural for the company’s restaurant in Kane‘ohe, on the Hawaiian Island of O‘ahu. The result was Hawaiian Folkways, a 5x24-foot work depicting a day in the life of Waiahole Valley, the lush rural community a few miles up the coast in the heart of windward O‘ahu.
Publication Date: November 2007
