Children’s art on green theme

THE Henley Youth Festival art competition winners have been announced.

The theme of this year’s 29th annual festival was “Going Green” and the young artists showed their interpretations of saving the planet.

The awards were presented at the town hall on Saturday, the penultimate day of the nine-day festival.

Mayor Michelle Thomas was the judge of the logo competition and Michelle Frith, an artist, judged the 2D and 3D art competitions.

The winning design was created by Elin Barr, 12, of Valley Road, Henley, and it was used as the official festival logo.

The Mayor said: “It’s the best for me because it represents everything — the green theme, the festival logo and the year 2023. It’s lovely and eye-catching.”

Welcoming parents and children, she said: “The free use of the hall today is the town council’s absolute pleasure.

“We’re here to celebrate art and every single one of you had the courage to stick up for your talents and enter the competition and it has paid off.

“Art is so important in everyday life and can be carried forward possibly in your career — there are all sorts of creative jobs.” The winner of the 2D design for three-to six-year-olds was Poppy Bayley, of Badgemore Primary School with her piece, Landscape.

Mrs Frith said: “Poppy has produced a wonderful mixed media piece here, combining water colours, papier-mâché and a very careful use of wool wrapped around tiny nails.”

For ages seven to eight, the winner was Isabelle Carruthers, of Valley Road Primary School, with The Roots of the Earth.

Mrs Frith said: “What an outstanding piece of art. This mixed media piece of collected collage and felt pen instantly caught my eye when it was laid on the ground among all of the other works. Great response to the theme with a fantastic use of vivid colour. I loved the rhythmic image of roots of the earth.”

For the nine- to 11-year-olds, the winning piece was Mother Nature, a collaboration between Maya Shlewet and Neve van Blerk, of Rupert House School.

Mrs Frith said: “What a beautiful piece of art, a very well-designed collaborative mixed media piece. Great drawing skills and such a mature and creative use of colour.”

The winner of the 11- to 14-year-olds’ category was Alexander Bowater-Rubio, from Shiplake College, with Save the Squids.

The judge said: “An outstanding response to the theme. A wonderfully put-together piece of art finished off beautifully in a frame. It almost feels like we are looking at this scene through a TV or screen.

“Some great use of painting to create the background and then a very well-designed and carefully created squid surrounded by pieces of plastic scattered around the subject matter.”

The final category for the 2D competition was for ages 15 to 18 and was won by Freddie Carlsson, of Shiplake College, won with his painting Oil Impact.

Mrs Frith said: “They say a picture paints a thousand words and this is one of those examples. This artwork has an immediate impact. The painting style evokes so many emotions.

“It’s an apt response to the subject matter, using drips of paint in such a clever way to a sensitive subject. It is aesthetically a very pleasing piece and mature in style. It would not look out of place in any high-end gallery.”

For 3D art by children aged three to six, the winner was Roxanna Savage, from Badgemore School, with Rubi the Rubbish Monster.

Mrs Frith said: “This is one of those pieces of work that you cannot help but smile at. Roxanna put a note with this piece telling us that she’d collected rubbish from around the town and the park. She goes on to explain that Rubi is a monster because people who throw rubbish in nature are monsters.”

First place in the seven- to eight-year-olds’ category was Eva Floyd, from Valley Road School, with Ways of Going Green.

Mrs Frith said: “This is a fantastic and imaginative piece of art with the concept of rolling the dice to get ideas of ways to go green.

“She has produced six different works of art within one piece using a variety of materials, including recycled materials.”

For ages nine to 11, the winner was Austin Lawrence, from St Mary’s School, with My Solar- Powered Tree Charger.

Mrs Frith said: “I was blown away by this piece. Not only does Austin’s solar powered tree look impressive but the concept is amazing.

“Austin produced a whole booklet of step-by-step images and text of this creation.

“I would have been pleased with this project from a GCSE student so to receive this from a 10-year-old was beyond impressive.

“Austin explains that he made a reusable energy tree which can charge Apple devices using solar energy.

“He used junk modelling for the project including newspapers, an old plastic pipe, cardboard boxes and wood clippings.”

The event was organised by Charlene Brown.