The artwork of a talented young Howick girl will feature in the 2016 edition of a long-running calendar project.
Nine-year-old Maddison Easton from Howick Preparatory School, was chosen as the winner in the special education category.
Maddison, who is in Grade 4, said her love of art started at an early age. She believes that God gave her purpose by giving her the talent of drawing, instead of being able to run.
She was a rather sickly child and would draw while recovering in bed.
The theme for this year’s Santam calendar competition was “A place of dreams”.
Maddison’s picture is titled “Gymnastic flick flacks” which depicts the beauty of movement.
She said she drew inspiration for her artwork from the theme as well as a discussion on the place of our dreams and personal experiences.
“I’ve been doing art since I was about 2 years old, and I love it because as soon as you start, it takes you into another world. It’s so bright and colourful. I am grateful for the opportunities Howick Preparatory School affords me, too,” Maddison said.
Santam’s Child Art project is one of South Africa’s oldest social investment projects, and has been running since 1963.
It aims to promote love of art among children and give them a platform for expressing their ideas creatively.
Child Art also runs an annual art competition which seeks out 13 winners from various regions.
The 13 winning artworks are selected to appear in insurance company’s annual calendar.
This year, the organisers received more than 4 000 entries from across the nation.
“It was very interesting to see how far and wide the children could go when imagining their dreams,” said Tersia Mdunge, the firm’s corporate social investment manager.
“We were excited to see the different interpretations of this theme across the age groups – their innocence and wild imaginations are always so inspirational. The learners have all done an outstanding job with their artworks,” she said.