From Newsletter 158 President's report
As I write, our annual exhibition 'Splash' 2014 is in its final weekend at the Michael Fowler
Centre. The overwhelming response from visitors is that they love the show. A group of
Australians visiting on a cruise ship said Its a fantastic show, much better than the ones we go
to in Sydney. They commented that the paintings were very reasonably priced given the high
quality of the work.
Other visitors have praised the variety of subject matter and styles and the quality of the
layout and hanging. A manager who was running late for a meeting insisted on viewing all of the
paintings, saying This is more important!
A number of visitors who have been attending our exhibitions for years have said they think this
is the best yet. Our 'Splash' exhibition has now firmly established itself as one of the
highlights of the Wellington Arts Calendar.
This year the WNZ Supreme Award of $1000 went to
Bernadette Parsons
of Mercer for her stunning painting Waimakariri. With so many outstanding paintings in the
exhibition, the judges decision was a difficult one.
The Gordon Harris Award for the most innovative painting went to
Svetlana Orinko
for Twilight. Its rumoured that Svetlana may be doing a workshop for us next year in which she
will reveal some of her secrets.
The French Art Shop Peoples Choice Award went to Adrian Cave for Tall Trees, Urewera. We
acknowledge the generosity of both The French Art Shop and Gordon Harris for
providing these prizes.
Of course an exhibition like this doesnt happen without considerable work behind the scenes. I
would like to thank the members of committee, the exhibition minders and the artists who gave up
their time to do the lunchtime demonstrations which have proved so popular with the public.
Without their efforts it wouldnt have been possible.
I am particularly grateful to Jacky Pearson, our guest artist; Alfred Memelink and Sue Wild, who
have worked tirelessly to make the show a success; Dianne Taylor, who organised the
demonstrations and to new committee member Sudha Shenoy for her initiative, organisational
ability and hard work. Charlotte Hird has been very
generous with her time, assisting with the set-up, minding the exhibition and the pack-up. Were
an organisation of volunteers and we depend on people like this to make our show a success.
Finally, it was good to meet the artists who travelled from all over the country to attend the
exhibition. We hope to see you all back again next year. Once the exhibition is over, I might
actually have the time to get some painting done myself!
Happy painting over the Christmas break.
John Toft
President, Watercolour New Zealand Inc.
