Fine art for the flower show

It's traditionally been an orchid show but bromeliads have joined in over recent years.

And this week the Bay of Islands Orchid Society and the Kerikeri Bromeliad Club will be making room for a third attraction, in the form of art by some talented pupils at Kaitaia Pompallier School.

Teacher Gloria Seddon said the work was of such a standard some pieces had been sold to buyers in Auckland.

The bromeliad club was equally impressed and asked Mrs Seddon if she would display the children's work at the show after seeing one of the pieces in her garden on a recent club visit.

"The children are very proud of the work they have done. We get a lot of comments from visitors to the school about signage," Pompallier principal Michele Mill said last week.

"Gloria brings absolute confidence to the children. They leave her classes thinking they are little Picassos."

As far as Mrs Seddon was concerned, the pleasure was all hers, however.

"It's so pleasing to bring that confidence out of children, to allow them to express their artistic ability. Every child is different. And the kids love it, it's so much fun," she said.

The original art works were created using soft pastels, black ink and dye, Gloria then scanning them to create cards and signs.

Her art class methods are also creative. Before they began to create their kiwi montage her five-year-old pupils were invited to imagine themselves as a kiwi, eating their play lunch underneath their desks as if they were in burrows.

Mrs Seddon has also been working with the senior students, designing signs to be placed outside non-classroom rooms, with the theme of native plants.

The work is available as greeting cards ($18 for a pack of eight) and as corrugated iron sheet artwork ($195).

Ms Mill said it all began with the decision to name the classrooms after native birds and decorate them with children's artwork. Every child drew a native bird, Mrs Seddon selecting some of those, on the basis of how they portrayed the character of the bird in an appealing way, for transferring by the artist on to a mural that would represent their class. The murals have become aluminium signs.

Sale of the art work on greeting cards, corrugated iron and aluminium, the work that would make up part of the orchid/bromeliad show display, would hopefully cover the costs.

The orchid/bromeliad show is at Kerikeri's Turner Centre, opening to the public, 9.30-4.30pm, on Friday and 9.30-3.30pm on Saturday.