Salvador Dali

A few weeks back, Room 20 were assigned to do an independent presentation on  a famous artist. There was no reason for choosing this artist in particular, I thought it was a good idea because I had already learnt about him personally. I learnt so much more about his life and how he got to where he is now. He was weird, crazy and known for good things... Enjoy:)

Reproducing an artwork

This term, the extension group had the opportunity to reproduce one of Charles F Goldie’s paintings. As you can see, I decided to have a try at drawing a 94 year old one, ‘The High born Lady.’ During the weeks, I found out more about the true meaning of the Maori culture, what the moko’s & tattoo’s meanings are and the way Maori’s like to show their families and their life. 

The current painting ‘The High born Lady’ was originally painted in the year 1918 and up to today, it’s still well known. To make this artwork, Charles used oil paint as a finishing product which most artists use but this man, used it in different ways.  

When I observe and watch his paintings carefully, it almost feels like he’s trying to convey a message. Also, when I look at this picture, it reminds me a lot about my Grandmother, because she stays strong and is determined to do anything until it's perfect. From the beginning to the end, I have had fun learning new things about the Maori culture and Charles F Goldie. 


I struggled quite a bit and lost track of time while I was finishing my artwork. I needed to manage my time more carefully, make the time for my classroom work and extension work. Along the way, I have learnt more about the Maori culture, what the moko's and tattoo's represent and how they feel and think about their work. From what I see, Maori's are strong, tense and are proud about their culture. I thought it was a great experience learning about an artist with a different culture and I had fun.

I wish when people look at these Goldie pictures and look real hard that they will find the true meaning and what Maori people really try and do. As I've been told over the past few years trying my hard to accomplish things, "A little hard work, builds character".

No ordinary Girl

“OH MY GOSH!” Mino reacted this way when our plans for the day were to paint and be creative. As I interrupted during the talk about what the instructions were, Mino glared at me and hushed me until I was completely silent. I knew Mino, when it came to being creative, being a movie maker, animating and especially being a member of a group discussion, she was focused and ready.

Back when my friends and I were younger than today, Mino had to be the one who stood out the most. She had long smooth bushy hair, cute round eyes and was very quiet. She was more of a mover than a talker but nowadays, it’s the other way around. She’d always been fond of drawing, being creative and being a movie maker the most at school which showed she was a talented young girl. We’d always loved to talk, run around and be different to other children and as we grew up, we still stayed the same.

Experiencing a new Sport

As the students of room 20 paced themselves to the courts for our Kiwi Kick session, a gust of wind blew strongly towards our way. My teeth were chattering, I couldn’t keep still and goosebumps were slowly appearing around my body. We finally reach our destination and I then murmur to myself “This is going to be a disaster”.

To start our session, the tutors asked us kindly to be seated facing and listening their way. Samwich, Anita and Mikey all introduced themselves and gave a little speech about ARL to introduce us to the sport. While our tutors were explaining the rules to the students in our class, mixed thoughts were going through my head.

“Tag” was the only word I could hear around me. Continuous tag was our warm up before any of us were allowed to learn anything and it seemed to be the most important thing. The aim of the game was not to get tagged and have fun I guess. All I could see after a few games were people panting, weezing and breathing very loud. Samwich blew the whistle, which only meant one thing, ‘GAME TIME!’

I wouldn’t know, but part of being in a sports team, you have to know what the skills are to accomplish anything. Skill 1: ‘Drop Punt’, if you are getting ready to kick a ball, alway remember, ‘Laces away from Faces’. Another thing, Skill 2: ‘Hand Pass’. In this sport, many people have difficulties doing this skill, so it’s easier if you move with the ball and hit it with your fist. We got told that we have a chance to learn skills every week, so it wasn’t a problem at all.

To finish off our day, Samwich said we had more final thing to do to end our session. We were able to practice and do our best to ace the kicks one last time. In our partners we had to aim for our targets, which were Samwich and Mike. “You can do this! You can do this!” was all I could say in my head during the time. I kicked the ball softly and with great success, I jumped up and down with laughter.


AFL was better than I imagined. Our tutors are the best, we learnt really cool skills and I had a great time! I think next week when we go again, I will know what I'm doing which means I can have much more FUN!