Stephen Little titled the exhibit "Ocean of Emptiness." But visitors to the Pegge Hopper Gallery looking upon the painter's first one-man show may not see — or hear — the canvasses that way. Eavesdrop, and you will hear that the paintings are full of places, feelings and memories.

Keep listening. "That's a river in China. No, it's Bhutan. I see a temple. I disagree, it is a burning building with smoke rising." Look and make your own decision.

Little's day job: director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. He may be one of a select few art museum directors who paint and exhibit those paintings.

With the demanding schedule of a major art museum, when does he have time to paint?

"I have always been a night owl," he says. "After dinner I wake up. Sometimes I paint from midnight until 2 a.m. Weekends I can paint all night."

Initially on a career path to nuclear physics, Little studied with Carl Sagan. He said he failed college calculus, twice, but was there for the discussion of the discovery of the first "black hole" in space. His degrees in the study of Chinese art are from Cornell, UCLA and Yale.

"I grew up in Indonesia and Cambodia and Burma," he says. "I was 11 when I first came to the U.S. I am sure those early years had an impact on my way of seeing."

The viewers of his paintings can see gold, green, gray, even rose in the muted tones inspired by "tens of thousands of Chinese brush paintings" Little has studied. He describes his painting style as very physical.

"I lay the canvas flat," he says, and "put my whole body into the work."

What colors does he use? "Only cobalt oxide and iron oxide. Blue and brown paint that is very fluid. I paint layers upon layers, wet on wet on canvas. The drying time is sometimes very slow and sometimes I go to sleep and wake up amazed."

His comment on the gallery full of his art? "Things that appear solid are not."

COME ON UP

The late Honolulu watercolor artist Peggy Chun loved nothing more than hearing a friend call from the kitchen, "Peggy, are you up there?"

She usually was, perched at her painting table in her attic studio, often ready to welcome the friend with a glass of wine and a big smile.

Starting Friday, "unseen" paintings from the Chun family collection will be exhibited for the first time at The Peggy Chun Gallery.

Kimi Chun, president of the gallery, says: "Peggy painted an astounding number of pieces in her lifetime. No matter how well you know Peggy's work, this exhibit will be a surprise."

Chun, known for her vibrant watercolors, mastered acrylics first. While Chun's watercolors tell a personal story of the Islands, her acrylics tell a story that is more of a universal experience for anyone who knows O'ahu.

"The best example is the story told in 'Friday Night Races,' " Kimi Chun says. "It is the experience of everyone who has looked toward Diamond Head on a Friday afternoon and wished they were racing a sailboat rather than working."

Lynn Cook is a veteran freelance writer on Hawaiian arts and culture.