Delighted by recognition

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Sophie and Kelly Harris with Sophie's painting of Papatūānuku, which she received highly commended for, and which came with two $100 gift vouchers. Picture by Liam Clayton

A proud mum sent her daughter's artwork off in a competition . . . and then the cheque came in the mail.

Not quite a cheque, but Kelly Harris was delighted with the work her daughter Sophie produced at school in pastel and Indian ink, so she sent it off to an art competition run by Shirley's Shoes.

“Sophie is 12, and at the time she entered it she was 11. She just turned 12 a month after we submitted it,” Kelly said.

“She's always loved to draw and doodle but has never produced an art piece. This was her first time.

“My mum told me about the competition and because her art teacher had spoken so highly of her, and the piece got 8.8 out of 10 . . . my mum persuaded me to send it off,” Kelly said.

Sophie is in her first year at Gisborne Intermediate, and rather than being shocked, she was delighted that her mum sent her work off and by the results it got.

“My teacher congratulated me,” Sophie said, “and the art will be displayed in Shirley's Shoes' catalogue”.

Sophie's artwork depicts a woman's face as part of the landscape, and a tear is flowing from her eye into a river.

Across the top of the hills is the theosophical message, “You cannot walk the path until you have become the path itself”.

“At first I was going to do Young Nicks Head, but my art teacher gave me an easier idea,” Sophie said.

“That lady is Papatūānuku, and she is crying because Ranginui the Sky Father has separated from her.”

Sophie was the only student to have entered the competition, and Kelly said the other entrants were all semi-professional or hobby artists who have sold work previously.

Sophie's work won the highly commended prize and she got two $100 gift vouchers and will appear in the Shirley's Shoes catalogue.