Dates :February 2 - February 8, 2008

Trip price for 6 nights accommadations,  full breakfast and either lunch or dinner plus  5 days Workshop fee is  $1800. Ground Transportation and  airfare not included. Partners not participating in workshop welcome at $1400.

This will be a small intimate workshop due in part to the location. Only a few spots available. Couples welcome. If interested (read details below) please let me know as soon as possible!

View from porch at Holualoa Inn

Shampooing with the ginger plants

I recently returned from Hawaii where I visited my daughter who is working on an organic farm on the Big Island. While there I found a great location for a botanical workshop. Believe it or not, February is just around the corner and most dates are already taken. Hawaii is paradise on earth, especially for the botanical artist. I have come up with a wonderful location on the  west coast of the Big Island.

The Holualoa Inn is 1000 ft above sea level with a view of the sunny beaches of Kona in the distance. It is located on a coffee plantation with mango, avocado, fig, and countless other fruiting trees. The gardens are lushly planted with many kinds of ginger, some that can be used for shampoo ( note the photo of my son doing just this) hallaconias, and countless other tropical flowers. The inn itself is gorgeous. We will be taking over the entire inn. Please go see for yourself at there website: www.holualoainn.com

I stayed four nights and never wanted to leave. The small village of Holualoa is an artist’s community and while there we will also be able to learn the ancient Hawaiian technique of decorating gourds (photo enclosed) by one of the local artists. The Kona coast is a 15 drive down a paved (thanks to being in the good old U.S. ) road.

The focus of the trip is to be close to botanical subjects to draw, and they are everywhere. The colors and light in Hawaii is brilliant. The inn has  open air roof covered porches for us to work in. They are outside but protected from the sun and occasional rain which often happen at the same time in Hawaii!

 Participants may want to stay longer and visit other parts of the Big Island. I would be happy to make recommendations. TheHawaii Tropical Botanical Garden at: http://www.htbg.com  is impressive. I have never seen a more lush expansive garden anywhere. The Hallaconias were something like30 feet high.

Volcano National Park seems like visiting another planet and there are many great beaches ,excellent snorkeling and hiking everywhere.

I have checked airfares and right now it appears to be approximately $650 - $750. I anticipate an additional $150 - $200 in ground transportation.

Flights from the U.S. are usually connecting either in Atlanta or California. The total in- air flying time is approximately 12 hours. There are some direct flights to Kona.

Ancient Hawaian technique of gourd decorating

Thanks!

Wendy Hollender