This is a painting of an abandoned sugar cane mill in Koloa Town on the island of Kauai . This studio piece was completed from a plein air painting I did on site. It was open for over 160 years and closed in 1996 and has been left to it's own devices.

As a painter I read about it and set out to see if I could get on the grounds and capture what I thought was a beautiful scene with the truck being overgrown with greenery and the abandoned plant keeping it company.

It had a big sign out front saying “We Were the First” so I felt it would be a fitting title for the painting. This is a 14” x 18” original oil painting and it comes in a gallery style wood frame.