Winners of Design a Stamp competition announced

Winners of Design a Stamp competition announced

A group of talented New Zealand youngsters discovered today that their artwork is to be showcased all over the country and the world, with New Zealand Post announcing the winners of its 2006 Design a Stamp Competition.

The 10 winners, aged from five to 15, come from towns and cities throughout the country, and their designs showed many different interpretations of the competition theme “what Christmas means to me.”

Ten-year-old Hanna McLachlan of Three Kings School in Mt Roskill, Auckland, was named winner of the Supreme Design Award for her simple yet striking picture of a fern curled in the shape of a koru and set against a blue sky and bright yellow star. As winner of the Supreme Award, Hanna’s design will be reproduced on an estimated 22 million self-adhesive 45-cent stamps.

In her description of how the picture fitted with the competition theme, Hanna wrote: “This picture represents New Zealand by the fern, and every swirl of the fern represents a member of my family, and reminds me of how at Xmas we spend lots of time together.”

New Zealand Post received an estimated 17,000 entries for the competition. The artistic depictions of a Kiwi Christmas ranged from traditional nativity scenes, to pictures of Santa, to images of the beach and New Zealand plants and wildlife. Christmas as a time for family was also a strong theme in many children’s designs.

Some of the more unusual interpretations included pictures of Santa in his sleigh being drawn by kiwis rather than reindeer, and unfortunate farmyard animals fleeing from their fate as Christmas hams or turkeys. One entry even featured a casual and very ‘Kiwi’ Santa drinking a beer in a backyard filled with derelict cars.

Acclaimed author/illustrator and competition judge Lynley Dodd said: “We were overwhelmed by both the number and the quality of entries received, and it was extremely difficult to select only 10 winners. However, in the end all the judges agreed that these 10 winning designs have the x-factor we were looking for.

“Congratulations to all of the winners, and to all of those children who entered the competition. I think this year’s Christmas stamp issue is going to be an outstanding one thanks to these talented young people!” Ms Dodd said.

Over 28 million Christmas stamps will be printed this year, with the stamp series including six different 45-cent stamps, as well as a 90-cent, $1.35, $1.50 and $2.00 stamp. Winning designs came from primary and secondary schoolchildren spread throughout the country, from Dunedin right up to Northland.

Each winner will each receive $500 in a Kiwibank account, $1500 for their school, a New Zealand Post stamp album and stamps collectable packs.

The New Zealand Post Christmas stamp issue will be released on 1 October 2006.

The nine other winners of the 2006 Design a Stamp competition are:

- Rosa Tucker of Auckland (age 5) for her beautifully decorated Christmas tree against a plain red background.

- Isla Hewitt of Christchurch (age 6) for her picture of shepherds, surrounded by light, gazing at an angel.

- Caitlin Davidson of Auckland (age 8) for her colourful scene of family members in front of the Christmas tree.

- Pierce Higginson of Hamilton (age 8) for his unusual yet charming kiwifruit with a Christmas hat.

- Gemma Baldock of Dunedin (age 10) for a strikingly detailed camping scene

- Sylvie Webby of Northland (age 11) for her bright depiction of pohutukawa flowers from New Zealand’s own ‘Christmas tree’.

- Deborah Yoon of Queenstown (age 12) for her brilliantly composed summer beach and scene.

- Hannah Webster of Wellington (age 14) for her beautiful painting of a wood pigeon.

- Maria Peterson of Wanganui (age 15) for her graceful depiction of a Madonna and child.

ENDS

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