During the Mercury Bay Art Escape, the works of art exhibited at Hot Waves Café are open to voting for the People’s Choice Award which is sponsored by Ryan Laird, Kaizen.
This year Vanessa Graham of Otapaurau won this coveted award. Her stunning ceramic piece ‘Into The Trees’ was the people’s choice. This colourful clay display piece with a branch structure, a conical beehive and pohutukawa leaves was designed to be hung for depth and movement. Vanessa describes creating ‘Into the Trees’ was intended to make hearts smile and to bring the marvels of nature into the home.
Vanessa makes charming, eclectic ceramic art from pockets of wild clay found on her Owera Farm property and attributes finding and sourcing her own clay as part of the creative magic. She is inspired by colours, textures, forms and oddities of the natural world. Her maxim is, she makes what she loves.
