From the President

We hope youve had a relaxing summer break and are facing the New Year refreshed and energised.
This edition of the newsletter features some of your paintings done over the holiday period.

Weve got a full range of workshops for you in 2019, beginning with Svetlana Orinkos weekend workshop, Painting Flowers in Watercolour, which is already fully booked. Weve organised an autumn safari to Akaroa thanks to our Patron, Adrienne Pavelka.

Our monthly Wellington and Kapiti Outdoor Painting Groups, co-ordinated by Martin Jenkins and Audrey Moore, offer painters in those areas opportunities for plein air painting and contact with other artists.

Our Annual General Meeting takes place on 10 March at the Karori Arts and Crafts Centre. The AGM notice accompanies this newsletter. We would like to recruit some additional committee members and hope that some of you who provided valuable assistance with last years 'Splash' might like to serve on the committee.

After five years in the position, I will be standing down as president. A new president will be elected at the AGM. Im confident that our organisation is in good shape. Membership stands at over 450 the highest it has ever been. Five years ago, only about 30% of our members were from outside the Greater Wellington region. Now its 45%, so more and more of our newer members are coming from outside the capital. Watercolour New Zealand is becoming much more of a national organisation. This is largely thanks to our online presence. Most of our new members say they found out about us through an internet search.

I would like to thank the Watercolour New Zealand Committee for their support over my term as president, in particular two past presidents, Alfred Memelink and Sue Wild. Were an organisation of volunteers and Watercolour New Zealand couldnt function without the committee and those of you who help us out in other ways, particularly during our annual Splash exhibition.
Ill continue to help Watercolour New Zealand in any way I can but its time for somebody new to take over the reins.

John Toft
President, Watercolour New Zealand Inc.

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