A proud Max Hinds-Brown won the IHC Art Awards. Photo / David Haxton
A proud Max Hinds-Brown won the IHC Art Awards. Photo / David Haxton
Max Hinds-Brown is a frequent visitor of Wellington City to Sea Museum.
He’s also an avid artist and draws a lot of inspiration from the museum.
In fact, it was a photo Max took at that museum that became an award-winning painting.
Max, 19, photographed a red chair atthe museum, which he was drawn to because he liked the details and the shading on it.
He then used that photo as inspiration and created a painting in his art class at Paraparaumu College based on it, which his teachers and support staff loved so much they encouraged him to enter it in the IHC Art Awards.
Almost 500 people entered the awards, which are an annual showcase of the talent and achievements of people with intellectual difficulties, and Max won.
An ex Paraparaumu College student, Erena Wylie, also got one of the top awards, placing third.
Award-winning artwork, called The Red Chair, by Max Hinds-Brown.
He attended the award ceremony, which was held at the awards’ pop-up gallery in Willis St, Wellington, with his parents Peter Brown and Jo Hinds-Brown, and his teacher aide Ellen-Jane Gee.
“The judges were very impressed by the detail in Max’s work, particularly the details in the shadows and how he has mastered colour and tone so brilliantly,” Ellen-Jane said.
Max was prompted to say something when accepting the award and, not knowing what to say, he quoted a line from the television show Fireman Sam, “When I order a chair, I expect a chair”, which he said the audience loved.
“I think it was kind of perfect,” said Maria Nicholls, head of supported learning.
He received a first-place certificate, and $5000, which he said he would put towards bills.
“There are bills that have to be paid.”
Some of Max Hinds-Brown's portfolio of artwork. Photo / David Haxton
All of the pieces of artwork were displayed in the pop-up gallery and were available for sale, and any that didn’t sell would be put on Trade Me, with all proceeds going to the artists.
Max’s painting sold pretty quickly, and he pocketed another $145 from that.
The chair painting, which Max said took him over a month to complete, was also used for his level three art portfolio.
The portfolio consists of several paintings, which were also inspired by photos Max took at Wellington City to Sea Museum.
His art teacher and head of art, Nicola Hoddinott, said she’s proud of how far he’s come.
