Nohea Coleman: Sharing Hawaiʻi’s Stories Through a Multi-Passionate Artist’s Lens.

Rooted in Mānoa with a deep passion for Art and her people, Nohea Coleman, Founder of NOHEACREATIVE, a rising multimedia art studio on Oʻahu, is transforming photography into a unique storytelling experience unseen in Hawaiʻi and across the nation.

Blending a dreamlike artstyle across the islands to create a distinct visual language that empowers, connects, and uplifts Hawaiʻi’s talent… Nohea Coleman is bringing to life her exact signature style that defines the wondrous NOHEACREATIVE art studio.

Who are you, and what do you do?

ʻAnoʻai, I’m Nohea! I’m originally from Mānoa, I’m a multipassionate artist: arts educator and advocate. I’m the founder of NOHEACREATIVE (that’s me), and I’m 26 years old.

And what exactly is NOHEACREATIVE?

So NOHEACREATIVE is a multimedia art studio. I am a photographer, so I offer photographic services to clients, but I also take a multimedia approach to art in general. And I use that as a way to tell stories as a kanaka, and I just want to SHARE that with others.

I create products and share that at mākekes (markets), and I’m hoping to do more!

Wow, how long have you been doing photography for?

So I got into photography a few years ago. I have always been INTERESTED in photography, I have a background in studio art, and really, that’s where it kinda all started for me, was just through just exploring different artistic mediums my whole life.

And that was the ONE thing that I knew I wanted to do growing up.

To continue to be an artist and to be a creative. And so, kind of that jump to photography REALLY came after undergrad. I had done studio art as my major in college, and I took a year (I was a studio art fellow) in that year after undergrad, and I was just trying to figure out like how I could become a working artist.

And so I applied to a few different graduate school programs that were actually all based around DESIGN, and I found this one program that was multimedia photography and design, and I ended up pursuing that. When I went to that program, I started taking those photography classes and realized that I had a real calling for expressing art THROUGH that specific medium.

But I’ve never lost the other mediums that come with being an artist, and I continue to explore those as well, but photography has definitely kinda taken center stage over the past few years with how I express myself and how I tell stories and how I connect with community.

How did you go from finding your craft for photography and multimedia and honing them in school to finding work on your own and eventually starting NOHEACREATIVE? Your own business… It seems like such a big jump from one another for you.

Yeah! So for me, where it all started was a few years ago. I applied to a couple of graduate school programs to see how I could become a working artist and diversify my skills as an artist. And I found this program based in multimedia photography and design, and I was going into it THINKING that I was going to become a designer.

I came out of it, realizing that I’m a photographer. So, really through that education, I was able to explore this new medium that I had never really like, GIVEN its due diligence throughout my artistic exploration up until that point, and I just dove all the way in.

I was taking photography, lighting, lens classes, I was doing cinematography, and I was ALSO doing design classes… ALL of those things together, as I was learning from some amazing professors and my classmates as well, it really pushed me to find such a passion for storytelling through photography specifically…

But then also kinda change the way that I viewed HOW I was a storyteller through other artistic mediums too.

What is it that photography DOES for you that other mediums can’t?

Well, I was initially really drawn to photography because I felt like as an artist (and maybe this is also just kinda representative of my own personal growth), like I was 22 when I went to grad school, and yeah, so it could have been that I was getting more mature and kind of having a better understanding of things, but, I felt like:

Photography was the first medium where I was ABLE to really like bring my creative vision to form in a way that I was never really able to do before with any of the other with any of the other mediums that I had explored.

Why is that?

When you’re an artist, you HAVE this idea of what you wanna create in your head or HOW you want it to come out, right? And, when I would do paintings, I feel like I just never really got to the point where it was like… exactly how I wanted it to look, or when I was a sculptor, the medium was a little bit more in control than I was, you know?

Like I was kind of just navigating how to manipulate wood and metal and plaster and ceramic, you know?

And so with photography, specifically, it was the first time where I was like, “I feel like I have full CONTROL over this technology that I’m using, like I’m learning all of the skills that I NEED to have to be able to like fully have creative autonomy over the technology itself.

And then also, I’m able to visualize how I can bring together like elements of lighting and color, and props and styling to like fully bring to life this vision that was inside my head. And that… I had just never really felt such a synergy with my art before.

But then, as I kept going with photography too, I realized that ANOTHER big job for me was that I was able to connect with people. And I was able to photograph and share stories with people in a way that I (again) was never able to do before through other mediums. So, photography really allowed me to turn this art into a way to build community and to meet new people, and learn NEW stories, and represent others in a really positive way that makes them feel extraordinary.

Like that’s something that I always said since FINDING photography and since starting on this journey is that like ‘I just want people to feel extraordinary through the work that I do!’ I want them to feel seen, I want them to feel represented, and I want OTHER people who see the work to feel represented through it as well.

So that’s been like a huge, huge joy of getting into photography, is the community aspect of it, and the fact that I can work with people, and I can make images of them, and they feel confident, empowered THROUGH that, and they feel seen.

What were those different types of mediums of art you said you did before you got into photography? There’s SO much you do!

Yeah! So before I was in grad school, I was an undergrad, and I’ve always known that I wanted to be an artist…

Like I have memories of when I was in 1st grade, like enjoying the artistic components of what we were learning THE MOST, and like being the most engaged by them. And that never stopped. All throughout middle school, high school, and then into college, studio art was the major that I knew I wanted to pursue. I ended up being a double major in studio art and sociology, and I minored in Native American studies, and so THAT kind of combination has really brought me to where I am today in a lot of ways.

But, because of that studio major, I was able to explore like several DIFFERENT mediums: I went through drawing, painting, sculpture, and within sculpture (which ended up being my concentration in undergrad): I learned how to work with plaster, I learned how to work with wood, and do wood carving. That was my main jam, I would say! And then eventually, I got to learn about metal, and I did welding:

You have to wear all this protective gear and like a face shield and everything. It was cool, just always been obsessed with power tools *laughs* honestly! There’s a photo of me when I was like 2 years old, and I’m holding onto a drill and I’m like in a diaper, and there’s just a crazed look in my eye, and nothing has changed to this day - I’m the same girl.

But I’ve always just loved power tools; I’ve always been really drawn to it. My Dad was an artist himself, like he moonlit as an artist. He was actually a professor at UH for astronomy! But, he did A LOT of sculptural work too, he worked with wood, so he kind of built that foundation for me of really wanting to like work with my hands and build things and create!

He made a lot of stained glass work, which is exactly something I am hoping to get into and bring into my business soon! But, I will have to be self-taught with that, so that’ll be a process. But I really have to enjoy the process of TEACHING myself new things and being able to explore art because I have this feeling that I can do anything that I wanna do.

I CAN teach myself whatever I wanna teach myself, and I can learn it, and I might not be good at all of it, but, I feel like this drive and passion to just like LEARN as much as I can and try as many things as I can. I’m SUPER delusional about it. Try as many things as I can try within the arts, because I just never wanna stop creating, and I’m also somebody that like, really enjoys trying new things. I can get like a little bit restless occasionally, like if I’m doing too much of the same thing, so that’s why I keep saying:

I’m a multipassionate artist. I’m not JUST a photographer, I’m not just a sculptor, I’m all of these things because I’ll never stop like wanting to try the next thing or learn something new, or see if I can tell a story in a different way or express something in a NEW way. I’ve always been that way! I’ve always had like an endless curiosity for people, for things, for how to build things, how to put things together, how to take em apart, how to… I don’t know, like I can be really obsessive about color.

I’m looking out at the horizon right now and I’m like, “how would I paint that!? I think I would have to have undertones of purple” you know what I mean? I’m just like constantly analyzing and reflecting on things and I just am always wanting to make, and see how I can translate that into some sort of creative expression!

Would you say that you’re more of a perfectionist in that sense? And if so, is that a good thing, a bad thing, or both?

Yeah, I’m DEFINITELY a perfectionist. I think that THAT gets in my way a lot, I’m not gonna lie to you about that one *laughs*. Perfectionism has played a very detrimental role for me as an artist because it’s the fear of failure. You know? Like I don’t ever feel like I’m gonna fail - I’m not ever thinking to myself “Oh if I try, I’m gonna fail” but, I do think to myself “If I try and it’s not perfect, I’m gonna not be happy about it, and so, I think that that stops me a lot from starting new things…

Like I just had this great opportunity through the PAʻI Foundation… I’ve been a part of their indigenous entrepreneurship incubator cohort over the last year! We just had our graduation ʻawa ceremony recently (a few weeks ago).

And, I was able to participate in the MAMo Wearable Art Show BECAUSE of that opportunity, and I knew about that opportunity for the whole year that I was in the cohort, but I just really struggled a lot this year with figuring out like ‘how I would be representing myself’ and 'what work I wanted to create for it’, so I ultimately ended up starting on that project A LOT later than I would have like do.

Because I was kind of overthinking things a lot. And that’s where the kind of perfectionism comes into play, because I’m overthinking these things so much, and it’s prohibiting me from making progress. So… it’s something that I’m ACTIVELY working through, and I think that a lot of artists can relate to this kind of mentality of like just being afraid to start… not knowing where to start.

The blank canvas is really REALLY daunting at times, but now that I’m also an arts educator, a huge part of my role is getting these haumāna to feel comfortable just trying and doing so without fear, without expectations on themselves, and to JUST see if they like it!

You know? And if it brings them joy or if they are even more curious after they’ve tried the first thing that they do.

What’s your experience with teaching been like for you?

Well, so, in the year of my undergrad, it was a part of the fellowship I did at the time, where I was a teaching assistant in classes (mainly the sculpture classes), so I kind of oversaw the studios down there and was there to provide help and support, and guidance to the kids in those classes, and then at the same time, I was given my own studio space and a portion of hours every week to create towards this goal of having my OWN solo exhibition by the end of the year!

Which I completed, and it was a really wonderful experience for me, but that’s kind of where it started… I would say though I’ve always been a mentor. I’ve been raised as a mentor and a leader, so it was a natural step TO step into this world of being a teaching assistant. And then in grad school, I was an instructional assistant, which is basically a teaching assistant with a fancier title.

I was actually teaching without the professor there, so, I was given the curriculum, and then I kind of just had to teach the kids whatever it was that week, you know? And so then, now, I've started in this new role, where I’m teaching NOT in a school setting, but in a program kind of setting.

I’ve been teaching photography, I’m about to go into teaching kind of like a mixed plate sort of thing for visual arts, where they’ll explore a bunch of different mediums throughout the course of our class, our program. And yeah, again, it’s just kind of a natural progression for me in always having a natural peer-to-peer leadership role through my whole life, and now here we are.

SO BACK to that kind of idea of perfectionism:

I’m having to kind of help my students navigate that, and I think that THAT is actually really helping me to release my inhibitions and grow in my OWN confidence and empowerment as an artist to just try.

And to do so without shame, and without fear, and without overthinking, because it’s better to get one brush stroke on the canvas than to keep it blank. So, we work through that every day!

Would you say that you’ve always been a mentor at the same time while learning everything you do in multimedia?

Yeah! I mean, I was just raised to be very ambitious and driven... And to play a valuable role in community, and be someone who GIVES BACK to community, and so, a lot of the things I did growing up like being in Girl Scouts, and participating in athletics, and doing other extracurricular activities: Everything was just kind of preparing me to start taking on BIGGER and bigger roles, and having a more important role with more kuleana the older that I got.

So I kind of just always naturally gravitated towards being someone that PROVIDES others with guidance and support. Again, that just naturally also translated over into this role of being an arts educator.

Is teaching your way of grounding yourself back to your own culture and contributing to it for you in a way?

100%. Yes! Being an arts educator is absolutely my way to ground myself in our community and to feel like I’m giving back because I recognize how much this community gave to me, and how much I have benefited from people who were in positions that I’m now able to be in who gave me mentorship and guidance, and who empowered me to be someone who pursued their passions.

Now that I’m back home and I’m in this role and I’m able to work for a Native Hawaiian organization, but I’m also building my OWN business… Being an artist myself and then also mentoring young Native Hawaiian Artists… It’s just like: being able to play that role while I do all of these other things is a huge grounding element of my day-to-day!

And it’s also my way to kind of pay it forward.

When did you start freelancing and become able to support yourself through photography?

So, when I was in grad school, I started to dabble in freelance photography. I was a part of a few different student organizations, ONE of them was the fashion design society, and so I was a photographer (one of the photographers) for that group! And that actually really pushed me into fashion photography, and that’s a kind of genre within the photography world that I’m REALLY excited about and I wanna continue exploring!

It’s just interwoven into a lot of how I like to express myself and how I like to tell stories, but A LOT of identity work and identity specifically regarding how we express ourselves and how we adorn ourselves. So it kind of plays into that fashion interest, is like: Seeing how people use style in their OWN WAY to express themselves. That was actually my grad school thesis.

It was called ‘Interwoven’ actually, and it was about how young people (ages 18-29, emerging adults) how they use style as self expression. I was doing a lot of that in grad school, and then when I finished grad school, I ended up doing a photojournalism program in France for four weeks which was really cool. It was just a really great experience, but then once I moved home, I was kind of trying to figure out how I was gonna move forward as a photographer and an artist. And I wasn’t sure that I was ready to fully dive into freelance photography and building my business.

So, I FORTUNATELY was able to find a staff photographer position at a local company, and I ended up working there for about 6 months… Before, I realized that I WAS ready.

To TAKE that step, be delusional, and dive into building my business as a freelance photographer and multi-passionate working artist. That’s kind of where NOHEACREATIVE started was this just brave step into the unknown. Since then I’ve been working, DOING free-lance photography but also kind of watering these other interests as an artist I have too!

How is your company NOHEACREATIVE going as it’s just launched recently!?

Being self-employed is an entirely different landscape than working on staff somewhere. There’s a lot of personal growth involved in the process, and so I’ve been navigating that and just kind of trying to really enjoy the experience of LEARNING about myself and learning about my own passions as I build this business and see how I want to showcase myself to the world as an artist and as a photographer!

The timeline of building a business, I think, there’s a lot of mentality around the ‘HUSTLE AND GRIND’ culture: we have a lot of that right now… And something that I’ve been trying to push back with that is just to remind myself that I have all these other things going on, and it’s STILL my passion. I’m driven, and I have this ambition and this dream to have this business and to be successful IN It… So if it takes me longer than people might think to get certain things done, even just applying for my business name and figuring out what that even was, it took me a while to get to this point of knowing that NOHEACREATIVE is how I wanna move forward for now (with my business name)… So, I think my biggest challenge right now with being an entrepreneur is time.

I’m pulled in a lot of different directions, a lot of different kuleana right now that I’m navigating, and I wouldn’t change that at all. Because I’m really happy with the diversity that I have within my life and the fact that I’m ABLE to prioritize things like my family, being able to see and help out with my niece who I love dearly. I think being an entrepreneur and going on this journey of building my OWN business has taught me a lot about silencing the noise.

And just, following what’s right, what feels right for me in my nāʻau… And knowing that these timelines that people might be having with building THEIR businesses, it’s not important because this is my own unique journey… And that’s for anybody who’s wanting to go out and adventure as an artist or as an entrepreneur and start a business as like:

YOU know what your capacity is, and you don’t wanna overload yourself, because if you do that, you’re just gonna burn yourself out. So, if it takes you longer than you’d like (or than you thought it would take) to just get things started and to build your client base and to make connections, that’s fine. And a huge part of this, too, is - You really have to just stay curious about people. I’ve always been someone who can meet people and like have a good conversation with them and I LOVE getting to talk with people and just learn about, you know, what makes everyone unique.

So, that’s a HUGE part of this, too, is like, you just have to go out and just be curious and kind with people and talk story! And you never know where that can take you. It’s taken me to where I am today, just by being careful and kind with people, and showing genuine, authentic interest in who they are and learning about them, and collaborating. Having that sort of spirit has really changed the trajectory of my life in a lot of ways, and it’s just like an integral part of being a business owner too.

You HAVE to be able to make connections with people, and it’s best to do that in an authentic and genuine way, where you can make real connections. And our lāhui benefits from that too! When we bring ourselves together, and we come together in community, we are stronger because of it. And there’s a growing and thriving WHOLE WORLD of artists and entrepreneurs here, and so I feel very grateful to be able to start to step into that world, and to meet these people who have paved the way for people like me to come in and join!

So, starting this whole business and going on this journey has been very valuable to me, and has been an extremely fulfilling process that has taught me a lot and continues to teach me new things about myself and to help me grow as a person AND as an artist.

Would you say that starting NOHEACREATIVE was a necessary step you needed to take, rather than staying at your past job, today?

Yeah, 100%…

Making this move to have a leap of faith in myself and to be delusional was absolutely the BEST decision that I could’ve made for myself. It’s probably one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made for myself - Was to just believe in myself and follow my dreams, and to continuously remind myself throughout this process that my journey is unique, and it’s my own.

If I DON’T do something one day, that’s okay.

If I do a million things another day, that’s okay.

The process is beautiful.

I just can’t wait to see where I’m at in 5 years and look back on this moment and think like “wow, that was the BEGINNING of it and look at where I am now. Like, I think getting older, too, my whole thought process on time has changed a lot… and I recognize that before, I never really was able to understand how people could dream out 5-10, 15 YEARS. Like, when someone would ask me ‘where I would be in 5 years’ I would say like “I don’t know, but I hope I’m doing something creative!”

Like it’s always that… But now that I’m here, I’m situated back home, I’m working with my community, I’m building this business, it’s like the doors have opened on the future, and I can SEE… you know, 5 years - I’ve got my business going, I’m feeling successful, I’ve got these amazing community connections, I’m collaborating with people. Maybe 10 years from now… I have my goals, but I’m gonna keep them to myself for right now *laughs*.

But yeah, through this whole process, it’s also allowed me to visualize what my future could look like even more.

It seems that owning a business is very much betting on yourself.

100%, yeah… Owning a business is betting on yourself, AND it’s challenging yourself just to ʻonipaʻa. We will keep going. We’re gonna hoʻomau. We’re gonna just PUT that paddle in and keep on paddling forward, and through rough and calm waters (everything is gonna be there THROUGH this business adventure), but it’s so exciting, and it’s really cool to know other young entrepreneurs who are stepping into this space and to be able to do it WITH them.

NOHEACREATIVE is an exploratory art studio, and I know that in 5 years, noheacreative will still be around, and it’ll be thriving. Noheacreative is here to stay.

What does a day in NOHEACREATIVE’s shoes look like, doing a full shoot from beginning to end?

So I do BOTH natural light photography and studio photography. Currently, I don’t have the setup for a studio, so I’ve been relying a lot on the beautiful scenery that we have here on Oʻahu. So there’s LOTS of availability here to find wonderful backdrops for the stories that I wanna tell for people!

Kind of the process with working with the client: Really, the main thing I need to know from them is “How do you want to be represented, and how can I help YOU do that?”

I tend to have a dreamy, kind of ethereal style with my visuals, and so I like to bring that into my work, no matter who I’m working with, and I think that my clients like come to me for that too. So we like to work together to find where the location will be and what the best time of day will be to shoot there, to create that sort of aesthetic and visual language in the images to bring their vision to life and to bring my creative vision to life too.

So we really wanna make sure that the location is just right, and then from there, really, we’re able to dive into STYLING and ‘what will the models need to be wearing, how will their hair and makeup be styled?’ And ‘what kind of props do we need to bring?’ How can we really tell this story visually? And what are the things that we need to make sure that we have prepared to really do it?

Then day of the shoot, we show up! I like to get there a little bit early and just kinda like settle in and get comfortable with the space and feel like once the client arrives, that I’ve already taken the time that I need to make sure that I’m GONNA do the best that I can and that I’ve also acclimated to what that location looks like on that day and at that specific time.

And then WORKING with the client is a really fun experience! I am kind of like a little bit more outgoing on these shoots and lively, and I really like to talk with the client and joke and REALLY hype them up too. Hype up the models! That’s kind of like my favorite part - Is to just be able to be EXCITED about what I do! And I like to bring that into the experience because when they see that, then they are kind of able to get more comfortable themselves too.

Do you feel like hyping up your clients makes the photography better?

The WHOLE process is better because of it…

But 100% it makes the photography better because when you’re photographing somebody who visually isn’t as comfortable, you can kind of see that. And so when they start to feel more comfortable, through the experience that you as the photographer create, it SHOWS IN the images. There’s a greater intimacy there… That is able to come through the images because you have taken the time, I have taken the time, and the care to make sure that my clients are comfortable, or that the models are comfortable, and happy, and smiling, authentic, genuine smiles.

The experience is really fun to me! I like to/try to have music, maybe some light refreshments so that EVERYBODY is taken care of on the shoot. I really do view it as an experience and I’m providing an experience as a photographer. And it IS really important you know that the visuals come out the way that they need to, but the whole experience should be enjoyable, and it should be fun, and it shouldn’t feel like work. It should feel like something cool that we’re getting to collaborate on together.

It should feel FULFILLING for all of us. That’s kind of the process when we’re on shoot, and then once the shoot is over *laughs*… I get to do ALL the magic behind the scenes, and so the editing process is lengthy, because I do like to make sure that I am bringing the vision to life exactly how it needs to be, and choosing the best photos that can represent what the client needs.

And then once those are all done and edited, then I can deliver it to the client! And that’s always like a really nice feeling to be able to send them their virtual gallery and see which ones they choose to download. So, the whole process, there’s a lot of work and there’s a lot that is unseen when you’re working with a photographer… Some people say like “you only see 10% of the work when you’re actually on the shoot,” because there’s ALL the prep that goes into it.

Like all of the moodboards that I’m looking at and all of the aesthetic creation that we’re doing, and the consultation with the client, and figuring out the styling, and finding the best location, and ALL of those things are really important to me as the photographer because all of those elements play a REALLY important role in how the visuals are gonna turn out…

So I don’t ever want to breeze through all of that because by doing all that and giving it that care, the product will be better, and it’ll turn out even stronger! So yeah, those 2 or 4 or maybe a full day shoot, you’ve got countless hours on the backend doing the pre-work and the post-work, and it all just makes the experience THAT MUCH greater for the client, but it also means that as the creative and as the artist, I’m able to like really make beautiful visuals that represent who I am as an artist but also make sure that the client feels seen and represented in whatever it is that they need to.

Would you say you have an overall goal with your photography?

It kind of goes back to what I was talking about a little bit earlier, where I was saying that my goal as a photographer, and like what I really strive to do as a photographer, is to just make people feel seen, and maybe/hopefully also make them feel extraordinary!

THROUGH my words, I’m somebody that likes to build people up, but I found that now I can also do that through my photography and through my art. And I think that is incredible. And so, NOHEACREATIVE is now this avenue for me to build others up through my creative expression… And photography is just one of the ways I’m able to do that now…

What’s the craziest shoot that you’ve ever had or the most memorable that comes to mind!?

*Laughs* So I’ve had a few pretty memorable shoots, a couple are from grad school (and I was the photographer or one of the photographers for the fashion design society):

ONE OF THEM we did in the studio! It was ‘battle of the bands,’ and so the models were actually one set of models (there was three in this one group) they were actually a band, and then the other three were just like supposed to be PRETENDING to be a band so it was like ‘the real vs the phonies’ and that was just really fun cause it was a highly stylized shoot!

It was IN the studio so I got to play with the lights which I LOVE to do, and we had like instruments and then fake prop instruments, and it was really fun! It was a nice vibe.

ANOTHER ONE we did was called ‘Empire,’ and that one had like 20 or 30 models, a WHOLE crew, a couple photographers AND videographers. We were out in a quarry, and it just looked like really, kinda SUPERNATURAL, and ethereal, and it was just a lot of fun! It was probably the biggest production that I’ve actually been on, so that was just a really special experience!

And then one that I did actually earlier this year, we shot at Likeke Falls, and it was… Beautiful… The models literally got into the waterfall, and they were just incredible to work with, and we had our whole team there (this was back when I was on staff as a photographer), so it was a campaign that we did, and the images just came out so incredible…

And really, that shoot made me feel like “yeah, I can do this,” like “I got this. I CAN venture out and create in this capacity, on this scale.” I think, like I’ve had a hard time previously, visualizing how I could even be a part of productions like that, and then I got the opportunity to do it, and that just right there gave me the inspiration and confidence to go for it myself!

If you had a week to yourself, no working on NOHEACREATIVE or photography, what would Nohea be doing?

I don’t have a ton of free time *laughs*, but when I DO have free time, I really love to be outside in some capacities with my friends! I love to be in community in some way, and so, I have kind of built a love for going to farmer’s markets and mākekes now that I’m back home... There’s a lot of great ones all over, and it’s also been really helpful to me too to be able to learn about all these different venues to potentially have my OWN booth at, as a business owner now!

So, it’s kind of a hobby, but it’s also kind of in the interest of my own business, too. It’s really cool to be able to go to these mākeke and meet all the other vendors and just see what they’re doing and get inspiration from them and how they run their business, how they interact with people that come up to them. So I love to be able to stop it at the booths and talk story, but I also love being able to support other local entrepreneurs because we have such a growing and thriving community here OF local artists and entrepreneurs.

And I think that we all benefit from supporting one another! So I feel really thankful to be able to HAVE the time to go out to these different markets and mākekes and meet people and just be a part of this awesome, growing, entrepreneurial space that we have here in Hawaiʻi... But yeah, so if I DO get to go out, I love to be outside after work, and so I love a nice golden hour sunset. I try to catch sunsets whenever I can. But even if it’s just like sitting on my lanai, like THAT, that simple act of just sitting outside…

When you’re pau with work, and you’ve gotten home and maybe you were in traffic for a while (which I normally am) *laughs* cause I live in Ewa Beach right now, you can just unwind. You can just sit and kind of kilo'/observe what’s going on around you and see the clouds and the birds and listen to the breeze. It’s really grounding for me to have that moment, so I try to give myself that time every day if I can. Like at least 10 minutes, but sometimes I’m out there for like an hour, 2 hours. Just sitting and kind of enjoying that peace and that serenity. Cause again there’s like so much hustle and grind and fast-paced stuff that can go on with being an entrepreneur, but it’s important to me at least to have those moments to reflect and to slow down and to check in with myself.

And to connect with ʻāina, and to remind myself that ‘this experience IS really valuable, but there’s so much out there that’s like BIGGER than just me in the moment’. So, I love to be able to find that serenity, and sometimes it’s at an evening mākeke too, and I get to enjoy a nice meal with friends and watch the sunset, and walk around and talk story with the other vendors, and it’s just like a really nice and fun experience for me and something that I enjoy being able to do when I have the time!

I also dance hula! I have been dancing since I was a little girl for Ka Pā Hula O Ka Lei Lehua with Kumu Snowbird Bento, and I’ve danced with her since I was a child, probably around 3 years old? I got back into that when I moved home, and that’s been really rewarding to really have that ‘cultural grounding’ again, too! I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been REALLY fulfilling, and so really with my hobbies, I just try to do things that bring me peace *laughs*.

Connecting with ʻāina brings me peace… going to spend time with my friends brings me peace, sitting outside for a couple hours every night at sunset like brings me peace! ALL of these things kind of just like help to revive, recharge, rejuvenate me so that I can take on, you know, all the responsibilities of tomorrow.

Would you say that your hobbies and seeing things like sunsets ground you back into your creative work?

Yeah, definitely. I think I’m really drawn to like sunsets, sunrise, kinda just like being outside in general because that’s just how really I was raised, WAS to appreciate our ʻāina and the beauty of it.

So sunsets, specifically it’s kind of just like a nice close to the day, and we have such BEAUTIFUL sunsets here in Hawaiʻi, so it’s hard not to want to be out and to be view. That beauty… You can see like pink and purple in the skies and often, the sun will be starting to set as I’m driving home and I get to SEE that!

When I was working full-time in town, I would be driving at sunrise every single day, so I would get to see that, and so it’s just a reminder like there’s MORE going on outside of the hustle and bustle that we can get caught up in. So I just enjoy being able to appreciate the beauty that our honua provides to us. So if it’s just being able to catch a sunset, like I’m GONNA try to do that.

I’m gonna try to be outside, and I’m gonna try to see the BEAUTIFUL colors and the way that the mountains look.

I LOVE the mountains. I’ve always been drawn to the mountains from growing up in Mānoa, living in the valley, and being surrounded by the mountains, and so, always love to see how the sunset MAKES the mountain’s colors look different. There’s always like purples and deep blues in the shadows. And so I just keep thinking like "Oh I just wish I had my camera. Ohh I wish I could paint that right now” like I wish I could just put my easel outside and just PAINT what I’m seeing right in this moment.

So, really, I think as an artist, taking inspiration from our ʻāina is just a HUGE part of how I see the world and how I create. It’s almost like a part of my artist’s practice to DIVE into these spaces or to watch a sunset, or to just kind of observe like how the colors on the mountains changed throughout the day.

It inspires a lot of how I think about the world, how I think about the way that things can be represented and seen, and I also think that sunset time is like a really magical time of the day, and it CREATES a really nice atmosphere in images too, so I really like to try and harness that when I’m doing my photography too and see like - “Can I shoot at this time of day? What kind of vibe is that gonna bring to the photos? And how is THAT gonna change the story?”

And often, it’s just providing that kind of warmth that I like to be able to capture in MY images.

I ALWAYS feel my best when I get to see a sunset, it just helps me to kind of wind down from the day, and know that there’s gonna be plenty of inspiration for tomorrow, and I think that it helps me end the day on a positive note and prepares me, inspires me for all the adventures that I’ll see in the next day to come in NOHEACREATIVE!

What makes you DELUSIONAL in everything you do Nohea?

What makes me delusional is my community.

I think that I am incredibly driven by inner purpose to create a positive impact for other Native Hawaiian people, and for future generations of kanaka maoli artists... And so I’m delusional in the sense that I WANT to be someone who paves the way for the next generation, and who gives back to the generation that paved the way for me.

What makes me delusional is knowing that I CAN have a positive impact on the trajectory of arts in Hawaiʻi, by JUST being a part of the movement… What makes me delusional is knowing that there are SO many people out there who go after it, and try and follow their dreams… and so why not me? Why can’t I do that?

I’m delusional because I see OTHER people doing it, and:

I think I should be doing it too. And I can. And I WILL. And I am.

I’m delusional because I believe that I can make a difference, I can have an impact, and I can (small or large) be a POSITIVE role model and representation of what it MEANS to be a Kanaka Maoli artist here in Hawaiʻi, and what it means to be an indigenous entrepreneur. I can represent that for people like my niece, and the FUTURE generations that are gonna come to us and see the work that we’ve done.. and think “why not me too?”

How do you get over the challenges you face as a creative?

It’s really easy to get into your head when you’re going through this process, and you’re TRYING to believe in yourself, and you’re trying to build something for yourself, and I think the main thing that you have to kind of keep as your guide and your compass as you’re navigating this is - Your journey is your OWN journey.

And the important part is that you’re authentic in how you talk to other people and how you navigate it. When we start to allow other judgments and opinions to impose on our creative process, then it’s no longer our own… And it takes away the joy and the FUN of the creation because it’s no longer your own creative process.

You’re allowing these other things to influence you. I think staying steadfast in knowing that your journey is your own and you kind of get to figure out what that looks like for yourself. You don’t HAVE to compare yourself to anybody else, and you can be successful in ways that might NOT look “typical,” like ‘VISION of success’ in our current day and age!

Success can be measured in the way that you speak to somebody. You know? Like THAT can be its own form of success, and so, if it’s moving slower than you’d like, or you don’t even know where to start, well the answer is: JUST BE CURIOUS.

I learned this from a mentor of mine: Mahina Choy-Ellis, she told me, she just stays curious about people! And I was like “yeah! That’s exactly it!” Like I just LOVE being able to talk story with folks, and learn about them, and just be genuine in that. Because you never know where that’s gonna lead you, and you never know what that connection will mean for YOU.

And, what that’ll mean for somebody else! A HUGE joy of the process for me in all of this, is knowing that, for maybe even 2 hours at a photo shoot, I was able to play a role in somebody else’s life… And I was able to be a part of their story and their journey. And so,

AS business owners, and AS creatives, and AS visual storytellers,

We are, you know, just a small part of someone else’s life for a moment…

But we GET to immortalize that moment for them.

That is REALLY special. That’s an honor. And so, when you kind of enter into these situations or conversations with people, and you really just stay curious about who they are as a person, and you WANNA get to know them, and you show that you’re genuinely caring OF them and of their needs and wanting to learn about them, then that will take you to all kinds of places.

So, staying curious, treating other people well, and reminding yourself that your process is uniquely your own, will help you to navigate the challenges, and will help you to just stay strong and confident in the moments when it’s really hard to push forward as an entrepreneur and as a creative…

What would your advice be to any young creatives or entrepreneurs just starting out in making their own business or BEING a creative in general, something that you would’ve wanted to know when you first started?

The BIGGEST piece of advice that I could give to somebody right now, is to just try. JUST TRY.

If you don’t have clients, go out and talk story with somebody. Go to a mākeke and meet somebody. Give them your name and your number, and your email, just try! If you don’t feel like you’re ready to do that, go out and TAKE photos of something or whatever it is that you do, try to MAKE some progress in some way, or find inspiration from something. You know?

As artists, we get inspiration from EVERYTHING! So maybe it’s not you sitting down and making the actual work, but maybe it’s you reading something that’s gonna help to inspire you. Maybe it’s you going out and working in the lōʻi.

That’s gonna help you to recharge! Take SOME kinda step forward and know that progress doesn’t HAVE to look like “I’m doing this EXACT thing that’s for my business, and I can prove that it’s for my business, and that it’s gonna push me forward in that way!” - Progress can also look like rest.

Progress can also look like fostering these other aspects of your life that can help to inform the work that you do as a creative person. So, just try, and try to NOT allow the noise to keep you from trying.

THE BEST THING that we can do is just believe in ourselves, and make steps, and know that not all steps have to look the same, and that progress is not linear. So, the best thing that we can do is try and learn and try again!

Does NOHEACREATIVE have an end goal? How far do you see yourself taking this studio and business?

I don’t really think that I HAVE a specific end goal for NOHEACREATIVE… because I don’t see an end…

My ongoing dream is to continue growing as an artist and to continue growing as a community member, and as a collaborator, and as a visual storyteller. And a storyteller in general! AND to grow as a kanaka maoli! You know, all of these things are synergistic to me… They ALL intersect in how I view myself and my own growth over the next 5, 10, 20, 30, however many years I get to be on this earth.

It’s a never-ending process of just growth, and it all has to do with how I am as a person in this space, how I am as a person in our community, and how I am as a creative! My ongoing goal, is to just continue growing and learning. And, DEEPENING my knowledge and my expertise, and hopefully making some really valuable and life-changing connections along the way.

I feel like I’ve already experienced some of that through the amazing people that I’ve had the opportunity and honor and privilege to work with, and to LEARN, and to get to know their stories and tell their stories. So I hope to just CONTINUE being able to do that, and continue being able to have a positive impact on our community and our lāhui!

And again, to be a positive representation for future kanaka maoli artists…

NOHEACREATIVE, as a multimedia Art studio, of course, includes fashion! With your most RECENT fashion venture, designing a fashion line in the 2025 MAMo Wearable Art Show, how was this experience for you and your work?

Yeah! So through being in my indigenous entrepreneurship cohort, I got to participate IN the MAMo Wearable Art Show, that’s hosted by the Paʻi Foundation. I was with my WHOLE cohort, so we had 10ish minutes for a run of show. And we ALL got to showcase different things, and I’ve never designed fashion before, but I’ve been drawn to it - I like to shoot fashion photography. And again, I believe that I can do ANYTHING that I try... Or that I can at least teach myself anything.

And I’ve done sewing in the past, so I was like, “You know what? I’m just gonna go for it, and I’m gonna make these pieces by hand! So I had 2 pareos which I hand sewed (well, using a sewing machine, but you know, HAND-made), and I did an ʻāina technique I was exploring, so I was able to actually get the REAL prints of Pua melia on the pareos themselves, and so the pua melia actually DYED the fabric, and I was expirimenting with natural dyes so I had PRE-treated and dyed the fabrics using avocado pits and peels and red hibiscus…

And then I did the ʻāina printing with like HAMMERING the pua melia into the pareos. So I had those 2 looks, they were also accompanied by tote bags that I’m selling! That, I do the ʻāina printing technique on, and then I sewed a WHOLE moʻo outfit cause our theme for our show kinda revolved around moʻo and moʻolelo! And so, I had my moʻo dress, which was BEAUTIFUL, and shoutout to my AMAZING models who brought it all to life because truly:

You can’t have the look without the kino underneath, and the energy too! The MANA that they all brought to it… So thank you, mahalo to Brandi, Momi, and Hiʻi for that! They all did amazing, but it was an incredible experience, and I REALLY appreciate being able to have the opportunity, but also to be able to share it with those other AMAZING artists in my cohort.

SHOUTOUT TO ALL of them: Kamahaʻo Rods, Hiwa Creations, Pohai Studios, Shawn Travis, Hōʻaiolona, get some T-shirts over there! Aloha Nōhie, I can’t forget our Alakaʻi through all of this, she’s got a lot of experience with all of that, but it was amazing. It was a wonderful experience, and I really hope to be able to kind of do MORE of that in the future!

It opened up a new avenue for creation for me, and I’m excited to continue exploring it. That’s my whole thing is just exploring these new mediums, so I’m excited to keep going. But I’m very very grateful and a HUGE mahalo to the Paʻi Foundation and Kaʻiu Takamori, and Aunty Vickie Takamine for GIVING us that chance to do that as well!

What can the fans of NOHEACREATIVE expect to see soon?

You can continue to see more FROM me, and I promise to keep you on your toes. I LOVE to explore (as you know), so I’ll keep everybody posted on what that exploration leads to, and I can’t wait to share it all with you!

Is there anyone you want to give mahalos to and thank for where you are today? Anyone else you’d like to shout out?

Man yeah! I have like a million mahalos that I could give. I feel a lot of gratitude for THIS whole process and being able to work with Delusional Palace on this documentary! It’s kind of coincided with my cohort, and with ALL of these changes and transitions that I’ve been experiencing. And so all of this, this whole year, has been a really amazing opportunity to grow and to learn more about myself.

And so I’m grateful for ALL of the chaos and where it’s got me to, and endlessly, endlessly grateful to ALL the people who have been there for me: cheering me on and supporting me and helping me along the way.

(Outside of that), I think the IMMEDIATE ones would have to be to my family. My Dad was an artist himself. My Mom is an artist herself! In their own ways, they 100% like impacted and influenced me!

My Dad is a sculptor and a drawer, and my Mom is a photographer and a ceramicist. They paved the way for creative expression for me, and they also equipped me with ALL of the skills and tools that I have used over the years to become also a leader and a valuable collaborator, and a caring, empathetic individual *laughs*!

So yeah, huge mahalos to my parents for that, my sister, and my brother-in-law, my niece, who are just INCREDIBLY supportive of me on this process, and who have also guided me in their own ways as I’ve grown up, and as I’ve transitioned into this new world! This whole past year has been just SO full of changes in my life, and many of them - Very VERY positive toward these things that I’m now embarking upon, in my personal AND professional life.

And so, my family and my friends have always just been there for me and supported me and guided me through all of that, so I’m endlessly thankful for all of them!

Thankful to all of my teachers who have shared the ʻike with me, to BE at this point… And to all the people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with over the years, and to know, and to CONTINUE connections with even years later, who I STILL get to check in with and talk story and just see how they’re doing now.

Even though our time working together has passed, long, long ago. So, I’m thankful to ALL those people who have played a role in where I’m at today, and who have really valuably, positively impacted my life, and brought such joy and fulfillment and support into everything that I have tried to endeavor into and CONTINUE to endeavor into as well…

Where can everybody find you at on da socials?

I am @noheacreative.art, you can find me on Instagram, and I have a website at https://www.noheavisuals.com/. So you can find me there too!

And just in general, Nohea how’s life going for you right now!?

Life is going good! *Laughs*… endlessly busy... That’s just my gift and my curse, is that I’ve got A LOT going on, always. I’ve got some fun, personal things coming up and opportunities to travel and see old friends, so I’m really excited for that!

And you know, I’m kinda coming OFF of the MAMo Wearable Art Show, and what I was able to accomplish for that, and so, I am kinda in a moment of actually having a LITTLE bit more time back for myself, and so yeah.

It’s kinda like a rest and rebuild moment, but I am REALLY excited to hopefully jump into some mākekes coming up, and make more connections in the community, and continue building on my client base, and just seeing where things take me over the next year with the business, and personally.

What is your final message to the world, Nohea?

The first and last person to keep you from your dreams is yourself. So don’t EVER close the door on yourself, and don’t ever close the door on the opportunities that you could give yourself because of fear of failure.

YOU have to believe in yourself first… So that other people can believe in you, too, and why not just go out and try?

And with that being said.

Be Delusional.

follow noheacreative here.

Nohea Coleman: Sharing Hawaiʻi’s Stories Through a Multimedia Studio and Photography for the Arts.

“Owning a business is betting on yourself, AND it’s challenging yourself just to ʻonipaʻa. We will keep going. We’re gonna hoʻomau. We’re gonna just PUT that paddle in and keep on paddling forward, and through rough and calm waters!”

- Nohea Coleman