Third-place in Maui's "Art of Trash" show went to
"The Connectress" by Dawn Roberts and Jana McMahon.
Artists on Maui have turned trash into treasure for the Fifth Annual Art of Trash exhibit at the Queen Kaahumanu Center in Kahului. Trashed
Barbie dolls, aluminum trash cans and plastic grocery bags are just some of the materials given a new lease on life as art.
The show is juried, for the fifth year, by Volcano artist Ira Ono, founder and organizer of similar shows on the Big Island and Oahu. It runs through May 5.
Call (808) 876-0911.
New releases from Hawaii authors, written by Burl Burlingame [ISLE PAGES]
GOD'S PHOTO ALBUM, by Shelly Mecum (HarperSanFrancisco, $23)
This is one of those books in which the concept so excited everyone that it became a success before it was printed. It has Great Idea and Fab Concept written all over it. Teacher Mecum, trying to raise funds to save the little Ewa Beach elementary school where she works, mobilized her kids and the community to create a fund-raising project: Kids were given cameras, pencils and paper and told to go forth and record their impressions of God in everday life. Did it work? Pretty much. There isn't a lot here that's deep, but it's also impossible to be unmoved by the splendor the kids found in everyday life, which is a vibrant reminder to us all. Although the kids' pictures are unremarkable --- washed-out color, poorly angled, fuzzy --- they are also visions of an exciting world, all new to them. The book shows us the world through their eyes, and that's quite an accomplishment in itself. Luckily, the production caught the interest of a big-time publisher, and "God's Photo Album" enjoys a highly professional layout treatment. It's not easy being this simple and pure.
THE VISITABLE PAST, A WARTIME MEMOIR, by Leon Edel (University of Hawaii Press, $19.95)
Acclaimed biographer Edel has lately been turning to his own life, and this volume covers the period during World War II when he was drafted at age 35 and sent to France. He wound up an intelligence correspondent in the Army. Edel was already a man of letters, used to looking at the world in a manner that could be distilled into fragments of prose. His war was not like that of other GIs. At times he seems to be on a Boy Scout outing. At other times he's gawking in cathedrals or grumbling about his diminished sex drive. Here, for example, is how he describes a date: "We lit a candle, ordered a bottle of Riesling. The Vogue correspondent grew mellow after a glass or two. She began talking about modern French poetry ..." and years later, "when I reread these notes, I told myself this was a situation in which I might have summoned sufficient libido for a bedding." No, "Patton" this ain't.
FOOTLOOSE THE MONGOOSE & HIS WONDERFUL OHANA, by Elaine Masters, art by Jeff Pagay (Island Heritage, $10.95)
Too many relatives move in with Footloose, and feeling overcrowded, he hits the waves. But the wide world is more dangerous than he'd like, and he returns and discovers there's no place like home. Illustrator Pagay not only draws with a breezy style, he contributed words and ukulele chords for Footloose's favorite song.
Click for online
calendars and events.
Send WatDat? questions, stories
or any other story ideas or comments to:
Features, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080,
Honolulu, HI 96802 or send a fax to 523-8509
or E-mail to features@starbulletin.com.
Please include your phone number.
