With more than 80 shows between them, awards and a long friendship, it is no wonder that "Material Conversations" is Hawai'i artists Debbie Young and Barbara Okamoto's fourth exhibit together.

Young, the daughter of well-known artist John Chin Young, received her bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1974 from the San Francisco Art Institute. Okamoto received her BA and BFA in 1973 and her master's degree in fine arts in 1979, all from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

Young and Okamoto are members of the board of directors of the Honolulu Printmakers, which is where they met many years ago. Individually and together, they have been invited into juried shows to exhibit their works.

Okamoto is still enamored with printmaking while Young's works have evolved into large canvas abstract paintings.

Both of them share the Gemini astrological sign and enjoy traveling together on art tours.

"Material Conversations" is a mixed bag for Okamoto with four large monoprints, a montage of smaller monoprints, six dry-point chine-collé prints, two drawings and two wood sculptures. Young's offerings consist of eight large, colorful acrylic paintings on canvas.

I spoke to both of them just before their show opened at the KOA Gallery.

Q. Where did the exhibit title "Material Conversations" come from?

A. Okamoto: "I think, for both of us, our work is like a conversation that we have with our materials, our ideas, with each other, as well as with all the other people in our constellation and people that come to look at our work. We felt that was a strong element for both of us."

Young: "The conversations have become, for both of us, a meditation as we are working. The materials are constantly lending themselves to constant growth and change anyway. You can't plan everything out."

Q. When you say it's a meditation, what would that process be like for you?

A. Young: "Well, starting out with a white canvas, a palette and then conceiving what's going to appear. There are whisperings that say, 'Don't worry, it's going to be OK. Whatever comes, that's what's coming.' I use brushes, spatulas, hands — anything — any kind of mark-making thing, including water-soluble crayons. When I work, I have to start adjusting my attitude. You can't just unintentionally put something down on the canvas. I know I'm channeling it. I think we are vehicles of other energies. So I can't take total credit for these paintings. I believe Lu Chi (circa 1500) said it best: 'Everything in the world exists within the tip of a brush.' "

Q. So do you work more from your emotions, more intuitively?

A. Young: "A lot of the paintings are coming from places I've traversed or been through, like forests or the Himalayas and Korea. Music plays into it and sends my whole spirit into the palette and the brush. I have a wide variety of music I listen to — lounge music, John Coltrane, Miles Davis. There is that time in that space when, all of a sudden, the piece will speak to you, and it's that "aha!" moment. It's a point where you are just working it and working it, or maybe it is working you. There's always a history from the first mark you make on your canvas — it all has a memory. Without all of that history, I couldn't arrive at what I have. I don't try to wipe it all out. I try to always keep some of it."

Q. What is your creative process like, Barbara?

A. Okamoto: "It's more structured then Debbie's approach, for sure. I think part of it comes from my background in fiber and weaving. Everything is very organized and planned out because I also have a day job (with the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau) and a family. The time that I have to physically do art (the thinking about it occurs all the time) is pretty limited. I'm always feeling that I have to make use of the time that I do have. I have lists. Beyond that, I've picked a printmaking technique that you don't have a lot of control over — the whole monotype thing. And that's the fun of it, too. I can plan and think things out, but when I get to the studio, you just have to trust. The sisal (rope) wants to lie one way, and no amount of wanting it to go the other way is going to change it. You're dirty — ink all over the place — and you have to produce this thing that has a pristine white background. I just love being in the stuff — the ink, the texture of the fiber, the plates. And then, there's the whole wood thing. That's come full circle. I'd been doing small wood pieces 20 years ago, and I connected with some native woods again, koa, recently. That gave a whole new layer of meaning to the work to me. In tai chi, when I first did it many years ago, your arms, unbelievably, just rise on their own. And that, in the best moments, is what it's like to paint or do other things. You do not seem to control anything that's happening but it's happening."

Q. You said "connected" in an interesting way. Did something unusual happen when you worked with the koa wood?

A. Okamoto: "Yes. It's the connectedness; these materials came from one tree. I feel like it has a past that goes beyond its particular life. It speaks for all native trees in Hawai'i. And it speaks to what they have observed and witnessed over the centuries — the people and the land. There's a sense of peace just working with them. The rock images are very similar. Rocks have this memory, and they too whisper things you don't understand. But, they're there."

Q. There are words wrapped around the twigs in one sculpture in the exhibit. Do you want to share what they are?

A. Okamoto: "There's a whole prayerful thing that's meaningful to me. The papers, in 'Hailing Mary,' on the prayer darts are the 'Hail Mary, full of grace' prayer. There's a repetitiveness to how it is practiced that lends itself to a meditative process."

Q. How long have you planned this exhibit and worked on it?

A. Okamoto: "We applied for the show and got it three years ago. However, our work has evolved a lot since then, and in different directions. I've stayed more with printmaking and just kept going through the process. It went from 'Am I going to have enough?' to 'Am I going to have too much?' "

Young: "We are both from the idea of less is more. There's a lot of breathing space in the show, and that allows the viewer to be less distracted."

Q. So with all your experience, what advice would you both give anyone wanting to get involved in art?

A. Young: "Do it! I was away from it for 20 years. I worked as a registrar in the emergency room. I learned the art of communicating and making people feel comfortable. You learn a lot about life. I mean, if you think you're having a bad day, go to the emergency room for a day, or every day for 25 years. If you want to do art, just have the confidence to know that it will be OK. Whatever mark you make, it's your own mark, there's no one there to judge it. You know, I don't always think that art is all about making an end product. You can create when you are meditating and sleeping. You are calling on all these different feelings and colors. I think there's enough art for everybody."

Okamoto: "If art is important to you, regardless of what your age is, you should just do it and live it. You may have a day job, you may do art five nights a week, you may not do anything, but you think about art. Just be engaged! If art makes you happy and gives you energy and excitement, find a way to do it. It's about what makes us feel good, it's about what feeds our soul and feeds our joy. The community of artists is just the best. For young people starting out — cherish that. Enjoy the fact that you are with other people traveling similar paths. Learn from each other, commiserate and share. It's a very giving community in Hawai'i."

Victoria Gail-White has been writing art reviews for The Honolulu Advertiser since 2001. She is a fiber artist, teacher and former art gallery owner.