Donald Namohala Yuen created the Malama Torch®️ in 1967, but he was known for his work well before that. Don was born and reared in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. He spent the Korean War in the US Navy. After the Navy, he attended the California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts).
Don’s art esthetic was formed by the Arts and Crafts movement and Abstract Expressionism of San Francisco, then the center of high culture on the West Coast. While there, Don developed a wholistic philosophy of art, incorporating his sense of design into everything from utilitarian objects such as lamps and door knobs to fine jewelry.
But, even before attending college, Don was recognized as an artist. The U.S. Navy put the young sailor to work painting murals in the officer’s mess, dive training tank, and other sites at Pearl Harbor. The paintings remained for many years.
Don continues to remain true to his heritage, incorporating the history and culture of Hawaiʻi into his art.
Don continues to create, these days working primarily in copper, and also building sculptural stone walls on his property in Puna.
In addition to art, Don has had various careers and vocations. He golfed on the professional circuit, and was a golf pro in Hawaiʻi. During the Korean War, he served in the U.S. Navy. In college, he and his first wife, Geraldine, built a replica of a Dutch Galleon, which his daughter, Leilehua, considers her first home as she has no memory of the apartment they lived in at the time. The 1960s also saw the young family dealing in Asian imports and a tropical fish store in the San Francisco Bay Area. Returning to Hawaiʻi, Don was a rancher, raising beef cattle, and racing the occasional thoroughbred horse, all the while continuing to golf. Through all of his adventures he played Hawaiian music, delighting scores of romantic women.
