Posted at 9:26 a.m., Monday, May 7, 2007

Painter Tae Ja Koki wins 37th annual Aloha Show

Advertiser Staff

Tae Ja Koki's award-winning "Moon Light" Roy Okano

Tae Ja Koki's "Moon Light" oil painting took the Best in Show award at the Association of Hawaii Artists' 37th annual Aloha Show.

First place went to Vernon Miyamoto's photograph "Keawe Tree — Kualoa Beach Park."

Artist and art instructor Paul Levitt juried the show.

"It was a very positive experience to judge the AHA annual exhibition. When asked to select prize winners, I looked over the all the entries and chose the ones that stood out for me. They were all works of art that were not looking for easy resolution. They express a unique point of view that push past a desire to just make a commodity. They spoke of the individuals desire to look for truthful, genuine expression of what drove them to create and search for beauty. It is wonderful that so many of you want to make art. But it is the few that takes on the adventure to create an original voice."