19 Dec 2022Auckland artists Kim Littlejohn and Carol Green recently unveiled their new mural ‘BRINGING NATURE TO THE CITY’ on the wall of a building off Lloyd Avenue, Mt Albert. Kim and Carol were one of ten winners from across the country who took out the top prize in Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s Resene Nature Mural Competition 2022, to paint a mural with an environmental theme or message and to help beautify an area. Kim (Te Ataiawa, Ngāti Tama) and Carol took inspiration from the nearby Te Auaunga (Oakley Creek) which runs from Puketāpapa (Mt Roskill), through Ōwairaka (Mt Albert) to the Waitematā harbour. They included plants and birds from the area (whau, kawakawa, kōwhai, pōhutukawa, pīwakawaka, matuku moana and tūī) as well as organic shapes reminiscent of the water in the awa. Kim (a graphic designer) and Carol (an illustrator) designed the mural to help soften the building work and ever-increasing development occurring nearby and all around the central suburb of Mt Albert, and to help remind people that nature is all around them. “We wanted to brighten up a grey corner of suburbia where we share a studio by reflecting what might have been there in the past,” the duo said. Kim and Carol used a large selection of Resene paint colours including Resene Daredevil (a pure red), Galliano (yellow), Half Titania (cream), Calypso (lighter blue), Elephant (dark blue) and Aqua (pale blue). Permission for the mural was received from building owners, and is approximately 36m2 in size. About the Resene Nature Murals Competition The Resene Nature Murals Competition, which is part of the Paint New Zealand Beautiful programme, ran from April to June 2022. Community members were called on to submit mural designs, which include an environmental message, for a wall to paint in their local community. Artists from around the country sent in their designs, with the top ten murals selected based on their environmental message, enhancement of the community, and originality/creativity. Winners then have 12 months to bring their mural to life. Winning designs receive a $750 Resene paint voucher and other materials to paint their mural, receive a $1,000 grant upon completion Keep New Zealand Beautiful CEO, Heather Saunderson, says: “Our Resene Nature Murals Competition provides a great opportunity for artists to beautify their local communities. In its sixth year, this competition continues to grow in popularity and we’re always so impressed with the calibre of entries we receive that narrowing down the selection to just ten winners is getting harder and harder. We’re so excited to see these murals come to life, knowing how the beautification of public spaces greatly benefits communities by increasing civic pride and deterring vandalism and anti-social behaviour such as littering and graffiti.” The ten winning artists and regions are listed below, and their designs can be viewed here. Micaela van den Berg, Sunrise, Kaipara Brigita Botma, Harmony, Auckland Carol Green & Kim Littlejohn, Bringing Nature to the City, Auckland Corey Harbrow, Keep NZ Beautiful, Christchurch Danny Owen, Nature, Invercargill Leon Hohepa, Future Generations, Porirua Matt Russell, Resilience, Wellington Paranika Dudley Heeth, The Return of Nature, Auckland Shann Whitaker, The Interconnection of all Living Things, Mangawhai Vanessa Barclay, The World is in Our Hands, Cambridge Share this page
