Alyssa’s work wins the people’s choice
At 12 years old, Alyssa Morel has already had offers to buy some of her artwork.
The Clarkeville School pupil took part in a recent art exhibition spanning 11 North Canterbury schools and was awarded the People’s Choice for the whole exhibition.
Each school submitted three panels to show, of which Alyssa’s made up one small corner.
All that visited could vote on their favourite, the majority selecting hers.
Someone even asked if they could purchase Alyssa’s winning piece.
Alyssa’s painting depicts a portrait of a girl, split down the middle to show the two sides each person possesses – the side others see and the side many don’t.
‘‘I thought of ways I could show the stuff I’ve been through, that people don’t normally see,’’ Alyssa said.
‘‘There’s a side of people that others don’t see, so that’s why there’s the dark-shadowed side with words that go around in your head people don’t hear.
‘‘The other is the side that people do see, which is why it’s colourful.’’
Alyssa spent about two weeks on her winning piece, from concept to completion.
She said she mostly worked on it after school each day, spending a total of about two hours in total to complete it.
Teacher Paula Gray, who usually teaches years 3 and 4, said it wasn’t until she was compiling the school’s panels for the exhibition that Alyssa knew it would be shown.
‘‘It was only that I went around the school and went into the different teams, I went into the year 7-8 team and just said ‘Oh, I need that,’ so I tracked her down and asked if I could put it in.
‘‘I don’t even think she knew about [the exhibition].’’
Gray said pupils were encour- aged to manage their own learning and Alyssa’s painting was part of a project around personal narratives.
Instead of writing hers, Alyssa chose art to express herself.
Alyssa said she didn’t first believe she had won – she thought a friend of hers had it in the bag.
She said she wanted to pursue graphic design and art, and had learned a valuable lesson from her recent victory.
‘‘Don’t worry about other people think of your artwork and just do whatever comes to you.
‘‘Don’t think about what other people are going to judge you by.’’