Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Crafting with the best
Marlborough children will have the chance to craft with one of the best at Blenheim’s Millennium Public Art Gallery when illustrator Fifi Colston holds two special workshops these school holidays.
The events are held in conjunction with the picture book exhibition, ‘Picture This!’, which features work by the finalists of the prestigious Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for emerging Illustrators, 2017, including works by Fifi.
Gavin Bishop is an awardwinning children’s picture book writer and illustrator who will be appearing at the Marlborough Book Festival to be held on July 28 to 30.
Fifi, who some may remember from former TVNZ show Good Morning and What Now, has had a varied career as a writer, illustrator, poet, wearable arts designer and costumer for the film industry and she regularly runs art and writing workshops with schools through her company, Fifi Colston Creative.
Her school holiday workshops are on Wednesday, July 19 at 10.30am to 11.30am and 2pm to 3.30pm.
The first, entitled Tiny Tortoises, is based on Torty and the Soldier by Jennifer Beck and illustrated by Fifi, which is shortlisted for the 2017 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
At the workshop, which is for ages 10 and under, children will hear about Torty, New Zealand’s oldest WW1 survivor, and make their a tortoise to take away.
All materials are provided but caregiver supervision is required. Fifi’s second workshop, entitled The Painted Poppy - Illustrate like a Master, is for ages 10 to 14 and costs $15 per person, with all materials provided and no caregiver supervision required.