An exciting and new addition to this year's Bay of Plenty Garden & Art Festival in November is The Weekend Sun Emerging Artist Award.

Fourteen artists were selected as finalists by the festival artist's committee.

The Weekend Sun Emerging Artists project has been a wonderful opportunity for the artists to develop confidence and build on their existing skills through attending workshops during the months leading up to the festival.

One of the fourteen will be awarded ‘The Weekend Sun's Emerging Artist' award and all of the finalists will have work exhibited at Bloom in the Bay, which will be the festival hub at the Tauranga Racecourse.

Thirteen of the emerging artists selected as finalists spent time with artist Rob McGregor over two workshops held at Tauranga Racecourse. These are Sharn Lambert, Anna Price, Sandy Clarke, Trish Coates, Marilyn Muirhead, Vicki Fraser, Sally Ward, Carmen Hutcheson, Vanessa Ryder, Lisa Stowell, Deidre Callaghan, Myra Nelson and Diana Spence.

Imogen Munns, a youth emerging artist, enjoyed four art sessions with Jacqui van den Berg who along with Rob have been festival artists.

At the first development workshop with Rob, he asked them to bring along something that was meaningful to them.

The subject matter was varied – a cow, horse, portraits, a dinghy, and of course flowers. Some used acrylic paints, while others used fabric, inks, oils, pastels and real poppy petals.

'I don't normally paint flowers but I thought it was a good challenge,” says Lisa Stowell from Te Puke. 'We were told to come with ideas.”

The artists also came with easels, paints, canvas and painting tools, with Rob covering important aspects of composition, perspective, focal points, and having enough artistic licence to move things away from where they may appear in a photograph.

'I haven't had a lesson before and I've always wanted one,” says Vanessa Ryder from Aongatete. 'I nearly didn't enter. I didn't think I was a real artist.”

A true emerging artist, Vanessa will be seeing her work exhibited along with the other artists during the Garden & Art Festival.

"The Emerging Artist Award has proven to be a really good way of providing a platform for local artists to grow and gain experience in their craft,” says festival director Marc Anderson. 'With the extraordinary Rob McGregor running the workshops, the artists involved gained a lot which we are sure will put them in good stead for wherever they go from here.

'I was really impressed with the calibre of work created by this group, and we are really proud to show their work off at this year's festival hub - Bloom in the Bay. We look forward to continuing the Emerging Artist Award in festivals to come and thank The Weekend Sun for their support in this event."

The Bay of Plenty Garden & Art Festival runs from November 19-22. Access to Bloom in the Bay is free with a festival pass.

Get your tickets now from the 2020 Garden & Art Trail sponsor Palmers Bethlehem, or on-line at eventfinda.co.nz or gardenandartfestival.co.nz. Tickets also available at Tauranga i-SITE, Decor Garden World, Pacifica Home and Garden Store, Te Puke Florists and Katikati Information Centre.