Artist John “Keoni” Meigs hand painted this design in Hawaii, where he created nearly 300 pieces of textile designs from 1938 to 1951. He carefully researched his references and created purposeful designs that reflected a Hawaiian story. First he would pencil out each pattern and then hand-paint them, linking his fabric repeats together seamlessly.
Here he used the flying fish/Hawaiian malolo in different sizes surrounded with bubbles in different colors on a fire engine red ground. He designed a lot of two-way prints where major elements would be arranged right side up and upside down. Mainland manufacturers liked this, as they could use less yardage per shirt with a two way layout. With all the volume they were doing, this resulted in substantial savings.
