Designers of the future impress architect

SUSTAINABLE architect, Talina Edwards has gone back to her childhood this month.

She’s the official judge of the Ballarat Children’s Art Award, and this year’s theme, ‘When I grow up, my house, my space will be…’ has inspired work much like something her younger self might have produced.

Reviewing 1500 entries, from pre-school and primary aged children, and secondary students, the works have been diverse.

Young artists have been prompted to think about their future, look at building, interior and landscape design, and create an innovative space.

Many have utilised pencils, crayons, collage, textas, paints, stickers and glitter, while one chose digital rendering.

Looking at the creativity, ideas, use of colour or lack of, composition, balance, detail and thought injected to each piece, Ms Edwards has been “blown away.

“Amazing entries. Different interpretations. So much thought and effort has been put into them, but it’s really hard to judge them because they’re all gorgeous,” she said.

“I love drawing, it’s my favourite thing, and looking at all these artworks, I can see a lot of similarities for how I used to try and express those ideas too.

“Drawing a house, you start with the typical square box with the triangle roof, but then you move on to playing with elevation… front view… plan view… bids eye view…”

She said entrants have explored underwater homes, houses in space, in the bush and on mountains. Some have chosen to unpack what the inside or outside of their future home might look like exclusively.

Ms Edwards loves to see children being creative, so was honoured to judge, approached by organisers, Margie Balazic and Katherine Henderson.

“To have this creative thinking and being able to express their ideas with pencils and colours, I feel that hand-brain connection’s really important,” she said. “It’s important for the future, especially when everyone’s relying on digital technology… It’s a skill but it’s also really fun, and you can see everyone’s given it a go.

“Some of them have artistic talent that you can see straight away, and others have ideas that are so creative. They might not paint or draw as well, but the ideas are brilliant.”

Currently selecting 20 finalists for each age group, Ms Edwards hopes all the artists keep up their making whether they win an award or not.

“It’s been really hard to narrow down. They’ve all done an amazing job. Don’t give up, don’t think because you haven’t won that you don’t have the talent because you absolutely do,” she said.

The Ballarat Children’s Art Award began in 2013 with entries growing 25 per cent annually. Prizes are awarded to age group winners.

An awards evening will be held on Tuesday, 29 October at 5pm at North Ballarat Football Club. Keep an eye on facebook.com/ballaratchildrensartaward.