[caption id="attachment_205" align="aligncenter" width="300"] High School Students working at Hoomaluhia[/caption] Lucky Castle HS art students! Their teacher, Casilda Gracias used her 2015 WAG grant for a field trip to Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden. Her concept was to have students research native Hawaiian plants, then create both a pastel painting, and a canvas painting, using the techniques of artist Georgia O'Keefe. They additionally learned the meaning of endemic, indigenous and native plants, as well as state laws that govern over threatened and endangered native Hawaiian plants. [caption id="attachment_207" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Hard at work[/caption] Their chalk pastel painting designs were first sketched in pencil.  The subject had to touch all 4 sides of the paper, and the focal point was required to be off center. The sketches showed value, shadows and highlights, then were colored with pastel in either warm, cool, or realistic colors. At the end of the project, each student successfully produced a Native Hawaiian mini canvas watercolor painting. Some of the finished works

Aloha WAG Members, Our monthly newsletter has been sent via membership email, downloaded onto our Facebook page  (Windward Artists Guild) as well as posted here. We are very interested in what our membership is up to creatively so please email me (Carol Moore) at CMoore8506 (at) aol.com with your creative newsworthy events. Whenever you email someone from the WAG site, remember to format the email address appropriately.  We always have to change the emails to resist SPAM, so simply replace (at) with @ and take out all spaces. UPCOMING WAG EVENTS Place.A Design Atelier by Philpotts 40 South School Street No 100 May 2-23, 2015 Schedule • April 30, 2015, Thursday, 4-6:00p.m. Dropoff art work at Sherree M’s home 145 Kaimoani Way, Kailua • May 1, 2015, Friday, 4-6:00 p.m. Pick Up all art work from Sherree M’s home • May 2, 2015, Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (noontime), drop off selected work at Place (address above) • May 5, 2015, Tuesday, 6-8p.m. Opening (bring pu-pu) • May 23, 2015, Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (noontime) Pick up Unsold Work We will have postcards April 30, 2015 for you to distribute far and wide about this exciting new venue that is hosting our juried exhibition. MEMBER NEWS Edward “Ted” Clark has a mural project ongoing in his glass studio. Artist Sergio Garzon is creating indoor/outdoor/ceiling works of art in Ted’s facility. Ted extends an invitation to WAG members who would be interested in helping Sergio create a few murals as a community development program. If this opportunity speaks to your creative self, please contact Ted directly via email edwardclark (at) taongaglass.com to find out the particulars. Cynthia Schubert Richmond expresses gratitude to WAG for the $500/yr. grant that the prison ministries, Total Life Recovery, receives for her art class. Cynthia has volunteered over the past two years teaching watercolor, following in (deceased at 91 years young) Ruth Pistor’s footsteps who taught for nine years. The financial help from WAG is so helpful for getting supplies that would otherwise come out of Cynthia’s pocket for which she is so very thankful. All art supply donations are gratefully accepted. Marti Wiese-Rounds invites you to her new art exhibit (March-June 12) at Assagio’s Kailua featuring her batiks. The renovated Diamond Head Tower of the Hilton Hawaiian Hotel is now finished with acrylic works from Marti’s “Retro Hawaii” series on each floor in the elevator area. The Star of Honolulu is redoing their decor and has chosen four each of Marti’s batiks and acrylics. The current (free) issue of Hawaii Wellness Magazine has images of Marti’s batiks on the cover and the Table of Contents page. Way to go Marti!!! Carol Moore/Red Door Artz Studios/Gallery invites you to First Friday, April 3, 6-9p.m. 1041 Maunakea Street. Open studios of four artists, WAG members Shyrl Topp Matias, Patty Pavel Lentz, Stacy Cheng Suzuki..mixed media, watercolor, oil, jewelry, encaustic. Prints of their recent international collaboration with “Swarm The World” (Honolulu Star Advertiser 2/2/15) will be on view. Mahalo....and will write more of your WAG news in April!.... Carol Moore, President

Although this story is mentioned briefly in the newsletter for WAG, I wanted to flesh out the details and share a little more of the story of the charitable side of the Windward Artists Guild. For years now, WAG has been donating grants to education in the community in the arts. Each year, windward Oahu teachers can apply to receive grants to help buy art supplies for the classroom to lighten the burden on the art teachers in our community. WAG also helps with the Total Life Recovery Program in the Women's Community Correctional Center by providing a grant to Cynthia Schubert Richmond, a member of WAG and the volunteer art teacher in charge of the art class for WCCC. In teaching the ladies at the facility, she hopes they will learn to use artistic expression as a coping mechanism with the challenges they face. I asked Cynthia to write a little bit about the program, and this is what she wrote, "Ruth Pistor, who was a member of WAG and a signature member of the Hawaii Watercolor Society started teaching there about eleven years ago. Unfortunately, she passed away at 91 a little over two years ago. That's when I came into the picture. Ruth and I were friends from church and after she passed away, she left a huge gap in our hearts and in the prison ministries. That's when I decided to talk with Chaplain Tammy from TLR who told me that they would love to have me take over. All volunteers have to go through an eight hour training session at the Dillingham correctional facility. So after doing that and turning in letters of recommendation, I began teaching one day a week, an hour and a half each time. I can't say enough about how this ministry helps both the women and the teachers. I feel blessed by the experience of being with women who are free just by knowing God even though they are in prison. I teach them about art. They teach me about life. Doesn't seem like a fair trade but that's how it is! :) WAG has generously given our class $250 in 2013 and increased it to $500 in 2014! TLR and I are indebted to this financial support. If anyone would like to donate art supplies, they can email me." Cynthia's email is c_schubertrichmond (at) hotmail.com. Please note that I always include emails written in a format to avoid the automatic SPAM robots, so simply replace the (at) with @ and take out the spaces. For more information about the Total Life Recovery Program, please visit http://totalliferecovery.org/programs.html