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After almost not entering, Kingsway College student Eliana Braddock came second in the 16 to 18-year-old category at the Greater Auckland Art Awards Exhibition last month.
The Year 13 student received $250 at the exhibition prizegiving at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in Henderson on September 26.
“It was such a surprise,” Eliana says.
“They called me a week before the prizegiving to say I would be receiving something, but I didn’t expect to come second.”
Eliana’s art teacher, Mary Morgan, encouraged her to enter.
“If it wasn’t for her believing I could do well, I wouldn’t have done it,” Eliana says. “I was a very late entry.”
Eliana submitted two pieces. Her prizewinning piece, Young, was from her school art board.
“My art board shows how hopelessness can start young, but that hope can grow and mature as we do,” she says. “I want people to know that being in a dark place when you are young doesn’t mean you will never find hope, which I think is very relevant in this day and age.
It has become a personal and important message to me.”
The painting is of Eliana’s two younger sisters, Evangeline, 8, and Mikayla, 13.
“It was so hard to get them to look sad when taking the photos – there were lots of giggles.”
To create the piece, Eliana used black acrylic paint and applied it with a dry, small paintbrush. The only colour in the piece is a spot of blue in Mikayla’s eyes.
Eliana will continue her art when she leaves school at the end of this year.
“I’m looking forward to doing art as a hobby rather than for school. It’s something I’m really passionate about.”
