All items were successfully auctioned off and over $20,000 Cayman dollars raised. The Governor of the Islands , Stuart Jack, attended the dinner and the event made it on the front page of the local newspaper and in-flight magazine. As with all these great adventures one need sponsors and help along the way, my Sincere thanks goes out to Kids Sea Camp,to find out more about the National Trust, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.ky

Rogest donated original, art, time and 100 prints.

Turtle's Set Free
14 turtles set free: Yes part of the same adventure saw Rogest painting and working with over a 100 kids at the locations of Curacao and Cayman Islands. For a 4 week period, they learned to dive, paint and got a little bit of a lesson of the beauty and fragility of the underwater environment. The kids, parents and Rogest created three large masterpieces which were auctioned, NOT for dollars but for the release of turtles, one bid one turtle. WOW how neat is that. Once the art was sold, the funds were used to purchase the release of 14 turtles from the Cayman Turtle farm. Rogest believes that we can all give back to the ocean thru art and passion.

www.divetech.com/turtle.htm
www.kidsseacamp.com

International Hall of Fame
Rogest has just been inform that the Board of Governors for the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame have recommended him for induction into the Hall. All recommendations must first be approved by the Ministry of Tourism before official word is sent. Rogest  is most excited and honored. www.scubahalloffame.com .

Work shop for Kids: Big succes.
In May 2007 Rogest hosted a free work shop forKids age 12 to 14. The plan was simple to excite and educate the young local kids about the Ocean and its environment and to create a sense of involvement. Its was an amazing success, all paintings have been completed and are on display at the library.

Auction was on May 27th. All painting had been sold with funds
going to the Birds on the bay and the Library education fund www.birdsonthebay.ca. Call to find out about the next session 604-592-6908 or Visit the Semiahmoo Library .

Kids painting work shop Ronald McDonald house in New York home for kids with cancer, March 22 2007. Too much FUN!

Truly a Million dollar painting
Thanks was the message from Ms J. Riebe, Manager of Fundraising   and Development  at the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

The park board will present the Rogest work of art  to the $1,000,000 donor, Mr. Pattison, who made his gift on the  Telethon which aired shortly after the storms that hit the west coast. 
It was his matching  donation that spurred on  many other major corporate donors ~50  who each gifted $10,000+ donations for Stanley Park. Some of the 75 prints donated along with the original art work  will be given to the 50+ corporate & individual donors and each one  will be framed & decorated with a nice commemorative plaque at the base.

"Provide, preserve and advocate for parks and recreation services to benefit people, communities and the  environment."
www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks

For a small donation made out to the parks, I will send you a  Rogest print.

Release a Green Sea Turtle! You too can do it!
Grand Cayman has a whole new activity that you can participate in, for individuals, small groups or families! How about releasing a green sea turtle ( Chelonia mydas)  from the Cayman Turtle Farm and setting it free in the Caribbean Sea? The program is just being introduced in partnership with the Cayman Turtle Farm, Rogest Art and Divetech Ltd who have gotten together to make this a wonderful experience.

The people of the Cayman Islands have a long history tied to turtles.  Rogest says “Let's give a little back, back to the ocean, give it a turtle. Join me and support the cause of freedom, compassion, caring and responsibility that we all must share as humans, set a turtle free”.

Enjoy a beautiful Rogest Turtle print as a thank you and reminder.

To sponsor the release of a turtle contact divetech@candw.ky or call (345 946-5658).
For more information check  www.divetech.com  or email to www.turtle.ky .

The 8 th Robert Bateman Writing and Art Contest
At Vancouver Aquarium

New Zealand Success 2006/07
Artist supports New Zealand environmental cause. Ron Steven (Rogest) is always looking for environmental causes to support, at the start of 2006 he Donated six sets of prints 6in each set) to raise funds for the Western underwater research team based in Auckland and the New Zealand  National environmental  Recreational Dives  Survey (NZRDS). When you make a purchase on TradeMe www.trademe.co.nz . You make a difference. This amazing year long event was made possible by the support of the Dive Pacific Magazine. www.DiveNewZealand.com .

All the 'Rogest' print presentations went off really well - the last being at Waitakere City Council, Waitakere, New Zealand.

Rogest Seahorse print presented to Mayor.

Military coup: Fiji 2006
Late November was spent in Fiji and yes we just missed the military coup de'tat.

Rogest was once again an invited guest of Kids Seacamp at the Castaway Resort Island. More than 30 kids from the United States and around the world  with their parents, experienced an unforgettable thanksgiving week on Castaway Island in  the Mamanuca Group, Fiji Islands.  An event aimed at encouraging children to be more appreciative of their natural marine environment.

Photos by David Fleetham

Rogest also spent time working with a local school in Fiji creating some  Marine art with local kids. We then sold the art work to visiting guests and we raised almost $4,000 for the  Mamanuca Environment Society with all the  funds being channeled towards promoting environmental awareness in the region, a program that they will continue to conduct in the new year. Paintings done through the guidance of Rogest, included portraits of a variety of marine animals such as sharks,  turtles, dolphins, whales, sea stars and many others.

Lasting contribution: Star-fish painting completed on location 24" x 36".

Rogest  (Ron Steven)  would like to make an ongoing and lasting contribution to the resort, the Mamanuca Environment Society and the Fiji people. We will donate the original art work to the resort and create a limited edition print that will then be sold via the resort with all funds going to  Mamanuca Environment Society.

Project AWARE and Rogest
Have teamed up to create a stunning collection of art cards. Project aware conserving underwater environments through education, advocacy and action. Rogest a proud supporter of project aware. All proceeds go to project aware.

Project AWARE Foundation Director Jenny Miller Garmendia ,
had this to say about the new cards, "Ron Steven's generous support of Project AWARE Foundation will help spread word of the need for conservation and protection."  www.projectaware.org .

Making a difference on Vacation WOW what a concept!
Art down under week, The “Rogest” Art Down Under week had group of visitors from the USA that contributed their time and talent towards the “Cayman Sea Sense” initiative organized by the Cayman Islands National Trust and Boatswain's Beach. The week, hosted at Divetech at Cobalt Coast Resort in West Bay was a truly phenomenal week of art, environmental awareness and diving in Grand Cayman. Each diver painted an original work of art .The paintings were auctioned at a wine and cheese event hosted at Boatswain's Beach on Friday, June 30 th , with all paintings being sold and raising a total of $ 1756.10 us - to Cayman Sea Sense. Come join us in JUNE 2007 and go a little dotty.

The Cayman Sea Sense project is a sustainable seafood education program dedicated to helping restaurants and their customers make informed and environmentally positive seafood choice.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.ky/seasense.html

Handing the check over
Marnie Laing , Education programs Manager of the National Trust said “We truly appreciate the support that these overseas visitors have shown us here in.

Ron Steven , Nancy Divetech and Arie Cobalt Coast Resort.

Jean-Michel Cousteau: "Sharks have much more to fear from humans than we do of them. 'Sharks in My Soup' is a clever wake up call about the serious fate of sharks worldwide at the hands of Man. A living legend and founder of Ocean Futures Society."
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Dr. Phil Nuytten,  - Nuytco Research Ltd, Inventor, diving industry pioneer,scientist and father - had a few words to say:
"A fish in my he art is totally a head spin from the artist Rogest/ Ron Steven, to be enjoyed by kids /adults and divers.  It is meant to be silly and fun with a bit of a feel for the environment, and something people will just have to keep reading."

DEMA 2005 : Fund-raising for Non-Profit CORAL group 
Art by Rogest and Caradonna Dive Adventures have joined forces to launch a fundraising project to help preserve and protect our reefs. This is yet another way in which members of the dive industry and art are making an effort to contribute to the well-being of the marine environment.
Giclee's Available $45O.00 18 x 27.
$100.00 Will go to Coral  Reef Alliance .
(See details on Gallery, ordering page)
Prints of an exclusive new original painting by Rogest will be available for purchase from Caradonna Dive Adventures with all proceeds benefiting the Coral Reef Alliance.

www.caradonna.com/caradonna/caradonnamermaid.aspx
The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) promotes coral reef conservation around the world by working with the dive industry, governments, local communities and other organizations to protect and manage coral reefs, establish marine parks, fund conservation efforts and raise public awareness with the mission to keep coral reefs alive for future generations. Ron G. Steven, the artist behind Rogest's distinctive creations, is well known in the environmental arena for his generous donations to and unwavering support of environmental causes.

Caradonna Dive Adventures commitment to the environment remains the cornerstone of their conscientious promotion of dive travel to the world's greatest dive destinations. For more information on how to purchase this wonderful print please email ron@rogest.com .
To learn more about what you can do to support the protection and preservation of our coral reefs, visit www.coral.org and join the ranks of divers doing their part to ensure that future generations will be able to share the experiences that we are so privileged to witness today.

Cayman Islands Out reach Program 2005
This Summer Rogest has been teaching children at the Kids Sea Camp based at Divetech at the Cobalt Coast Resort in West Bay ,Grand Cayman. During the Sea Camp, Rogest engaged the students in discussions about habitat, species diversity and species inter-relatedness. “Think locally, act locally. Forget all this ‘Think globally act locally' nonsense. Think locally and act locally too, exclaimed Rogest.“Everybody is too worried about: ‘If I drive my car today will it burn up the Brazillian rain forest?' All that is too much for most people. They don't know what to do. Think about your local environment, and do what you can to preserve it. Do something in your own backyard.

“I would like to make young people more aware of their environment through art. I would like to make some impact on their local communities.

“I also would like them to know that it is possible for them to make their living out of art. If I teach 20 kids and just one of them decides they can make a living as an artist later on as a result, how awesome is that?” the artist added.

The art produced by the students, and their descriptions of the water animal of their choice, was  displayed at the Butterfly Farm. An auction was held and all painting sold, the highest bid was for $731.31 US$. All funds raised will be donated to the National Trust coral Reef exploration for Children and The Dept of the Environment-sea turtle tracking program.

"This year the Department of the Environment will be releasing 3 turtles with satellite tracking capability. The funds raised will help to sponsor one of the turtles that will be named "Rogest", in recognition of the work done by Ron in creating the program and involving the local kids in it also. The turtles can be tracked on-line at  www.seaturtle.org/tracking/cayman .

Kids Sea Camp Curacao 2005
By Ty Sawyer Editor Sport Diver Magazine

The program has also begun to attract other environmentally and philanthropically minded people from the dive world. Marine artist and environmentalist Ron Steven aka Rogest has become a Sea Camp favorite. He takes kids on a dot-art journey into the lives of endangered marine life that's better, more effective and more important for our blue future than a thousand DVD slide shows. My kids started a lot of conversations with, "Mr. Ronnie said …" -- and the art they came home with now graces the walls of their rooms. Other supporters of the program include SCUBAPRO, Underwater Kinetics, Fish Flips, and Sea Life Cameras. ANOTHER SUCCESS Curacao 2005.

Islands beyond the ordinary
Rogest was the guest artist for the first ever PADI BoraBora, Tahiti dive festival. Rogest fell in love with this area almost 20 years ago when he worked as a dive instructor for 6 months on the Island of Moorea. The love affair is still evident. Padi divers and Rogest.



His mission was to have fun and paint. In between dives, some 50 divers all worked on an underwater  abstract; “Think of a color, shape and feeling that you had experienced on the last dive, then put it on the canvas.”


36 x 24 canvass painted by 50 divers. We had a fun poetry contest with the Rogest Silver Turtle award going to the winner.
The truth is everyone was a winner and the poems got to be enjoyed by all.
 
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Tahiti Kids
Painting that was named by the Kids is Heremoana

Rogest held one of his half day kids programs for the kids of Bora Bora. 16 local youngsters completed a work of hand print fish that was then presented to the Mayor of Bora Bora, with the request that it would hang in his office to remind him to look after the oceans for the future generations.

The combination of new friends, location, culture, diving, kids and the painting has made for a wonderful experience. Islands beyond the ordinary.  www.go-to-tahiti.com

Curacao house  by Rogest, July 2004

The Sea camp runs each day leaving time for the parents to play on their own. As a painter invited to attend for the week, it was my job along with the Kids Sea Camp team of dedicated staff to introduce the kids and even some of the moms and dads to the ecology of the world's oceans and the art of dot painting. The painting of the ocean and its critters on canvas stretched the imaginations of the little ones and brought out hidden talents and passions for the marine creatures that touched them the most.

To my delight this was accomplished while completing over 40 works of art. We also finished a large canvas measuring 4'1” by 5'3”. The work has been named "hands loving the oceans".

The start	The finish

Curacao
In July ,  Rogest Launched an Art Gallery at Habitat Curacao  Celebrating the arts and coral care in the Caribbean. Rogest has partnered on a new project with Habitat Curacao.

In the news and on the local TV
The exhibition will run from July 3 rd to December 30 th 2004. A portion of proceeds from sales of exhibition merchandising such as commissioned posters will go to benefit Reef Care www.reefcare.org

Guinness Book of World Records
Vancouver, Canada: Painting Challenge by Rogest Started March 2004
Make your mark as we attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the 'Most Painters of one Picture.'   As of July 2004 over 18,000 people have added a dot or two. The work will be located at Science World Vancouver part of the time and at the Rogest Studio when not at Science world. The Start of the 60 x 72 inch work We are attempting to break the current Guinness World Record that was set in 1998. The painting, 'A Little Dab of Texas', was designed by Jim Campbell of Brenham, Texas, USA and was painted by 25,297 people over a period of 3 years and 7 months. Our attempt will begin on March 6 and continue through until the end of 2004. Rogest (Ron Steven's) canvas will be displayed in the corridor leading to Eureka  Gallery while at science world www.scienceworld.bc.ca . As an official supplier, OPUS. (Opus Framing & Art Supplies ) We would once again like to thank Opus www.opusframing.com.