We were lucky to have Vanessa Heaver (ex Redwood pupil) come to talk to some of our students about her penguin art work. She produced a penguin titled “No Bond is Stronger than Family” which was on display in Shirley during the summer holidays.

She spoke about how she was chosen to do the work and the process involved. It was interesting to me, that after she painted it, the penguin was glazed with an anti-graffiti varnish. All of the penguins were auctioned off to raise money for Cholmondeley. Vanessa’s penguin was sold for $35,000 (the third highest price). It’s great to hear about the work our ex students are doing. Thank you for giving up your time to come and talk to us.

Sandra Matai

Pop Up Penguins!

On Monday a wonderful lady named Vanessa Heaver visited us at school in the hall on Monday and explained the meaning of the great arts she had created! Vanessa used to go to Redwood school and told us that when she was little she used to love art and everything about it!

One of her designs was created on one of the famous “pop up penguins!”. Pop up penguins were sculptures shaped as a penguin! The penguins were scattered around Canterbury! It took months to complete the beautiful piece of art that Vanessa had created, named “No Bond is Stronger than Family”. It has the father penguin and a baby penguin surrounded by white trees and spikes with a beautiful icy blue background. Vanessa also enjoyed doing art in her own time. When she finished talking to us about the pop up penguins she gave us some information about her and what she does for a living! We asked her for some tips on art and also asked her some questions about her! Soon after she left! It was very fun and inspiring!

By Daniela & Patience