When Stevie Cook paints, she relies heavily on her photographic memory which is so accurate her family is often amazed at what she can recall.
Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet centre rear, with Art Centre artists from Enrich+ Supported Activities in Te Awamutu. From left: Stevie Cook, Unity Collins, Leanne Cummins, Julie Tate, Ian Cotterell, Ben Bayer, Hannah Macfarlane. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
The 31-year-old Enrich Plus Supported Activities client has regularly entered the IHC Art Awards with no success but according to art facilitator Theresa Siemonek, she is one of the best artists she has worked with.
“Stevie is great with stories, names and meanings,” she said pointing to her entry in this year’s awards which open next month.
Awards ambassador and IHC patron Dame Denise L‘Estrange-Corbet visited Enrich’s Art Centre in Te Awamutu on Tuesday to promote the awards which annually showcase the talent and achievements of people with intellectual disabilities.
Stevie Cook with the painting of her grandfather, Te Awamutu photographer Phil Brown. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Stevie was born in Te Awamutu. Her parents Matthew and Cheryl Cook were sharemilkers, so she grew up on farms around the region.
She remembers clothes she wore as a five-year-old, the layout of the houses they lived in and activities she took part in.
“My dad can’t believe it sometimes,” she said.
Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet in the Enrich Group boardroom in Te Awamutu with art completed by participants in the Enrich+ Supported Activities programme. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
As a child she would visit her grandfather, photographer Phil Brown, at his studio in The Arcade.
Then she would run out into the main street where the local florist would give her leftover parts of floral displays.
“I’ve always been artistic,” she said.
When he died in 2017, she painted him in acrylic from a favourite photograph and filled in bits and pieces from her memory to bring him to life.
She entered that in the IHC Art Awards without success.
Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet chats with artist Ben Bayer in the Enrich+ Supported Activities Art Centre programme while Ian Cotterell completes a painting.
Stevie has already completed her entry for this year. It is called Holiday Memories and features a caravan and awning at the beach with flowering pohutukawa.
“It reminded me of Whangamata where I used to go on holidays.”
The pohutukawa flowers were painted using scrunched up glad wrap dipped in red paint and then dabbed onto the tree.
The Enrich Art Centre spent many years at the Rosebank Art Centre before moving to Teasdale Street three years ago andd was recently renamed Gallery on Teasdale.
IHC Art Awards visit to Te Awamutu with Stevie Cook and Hannah Macfarlane. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Clients receive 100 per cent of the sales of their art. About one to two pieces a month are sold to whānau, friends or members of the community.
The centre holds three exhibitions a year in the gallery with the Waipā Creative Conduit and the IHC Art Awards being the big drawcards. Enrich artists regularly enter and has had pieces make the top 30 with artwork placed on IHC products like tote bags, booklets and postcards.
Last year, for the first time, Enrich held its first IHC Art Awards showing to allow friends and whānau the opportunity to view entries before they went to Wellington.
Different mediums are encouraged to allow artists to learn more and expand their creative knowledge. Art pieces vary from independent clients to clients who require hand over hand support.
IHC Art Awards visit to Te Awamutu – Stevie Cook with Dame Denise L’Estrange Corbet.
