Glenholme School Class A4, Haiku writing and illustration Workshop to celebrate national Poetry Day Friday 23rd August

 Letter from multi -award winning Author,  Lee Murray to Zara Matthews,  Teacher at Glenholme Primary School. 

 Thank you so much for entering your Glenholme Primary School Class Stories and Artwork to our competition. 

I'm delighted to inform you that your class entries have WON the ART section of the Young NZ Writers Primary School Story and Art Competition. Young NZ Writers is upported by the Wright Family Foundation.

We're thrilled to say that  we are sponsoring the prize for this section  which is a visit to your school/classroom by professional artist, writer, and photographer, Janet Keen

Janet is a superb artist who is well-known to the Rotorua community.

 She is an experienced teacher of young artists and an inspirational workshop presenter and speaker. 

Young NZ Writers is very excited to be able to offer this opportunity to your class.

Congratulations to all class members for completing the haiku and  and illustration workshop.
 You are all great achievers and a pleasure to teach. 
Fantastic results.

That haiku shows humour, subtlety and a  flair for colour and design.

Funny and clever, unusual and also using humour to great effect.

Lovely, big, powerful  drawing. Well composed.  Deft manipulation of pastel, a medium that can be challenging at times.

 Cheerful , welcoming and lovely.  Drawing skill and creativity, plus attention to detail was commendable

 Very realistic and dedicated drawing, bold background makes it pop

Gorgeous drawing of a very happy cat. Worked quickly and made time to colour in background.

 So cute, huggable and attractive . Neat and creative drawing

Loved the crown on the head, imaginative, details in the foreground.  

  This was well thought out and so cute and her colouring in made the composition sing.

Nice expression in the eyes. Brilliant steep looking hill, nicely balanced work.

       Showed a really intelligent interest in the research and taught me something about deer I hadn’t known before.
Colourful; happy rainbow words, delightful pastoral scene.

 Nice action with the worms, expressive  humorous look in kiwi's eyes, well composed.

Bright, bold, powerful and scary spider that I wouldn't want to meet on a deserted beach.

Lyrical and imaginative, loved the colourful writing and the way the birds wings are soaring. Lovely circular branch composition frames the work well.

Stunning colours, pastel is bright and effective reflecting a very enthusiastic, friendly, delightful and engaged pupil.  

Beautiful details in background,  lyrical colour on bird, loved the tents in background, made me want to go camping.

Nice big tree in background, good facts in the haiku, lovely tree and composition of the tree on the page.

                     Cute cute cute, love animals with human characteristics, great attention to detail.

Very happy looking cat, well composed and thought out.  Very calm and serene feeling about this. which reflects a  peaceful haiku moment in time.

Lovely detail and unusual facts about deer. Made me feel thirsty. 

  Good choice to illustrate  own dog, love the bones around the outside and expression on dogs face,Fast worker, could have made two haiku and illustrated both in the time allotted. Well done.

Fantastic imagination with resigned work- hating look  face on the donkeys face.
Humorous haiku and captivating yet ambiguous details on donkeys body.

Scary convincing eel, well expressed, great perseverance. Did three different drawings, admirable focusing skills, never giving up. Attitude determines altitude. Keep up the good work.

Gorgeous clouds and convincing fantail.  Loved the branch composition and the happy orange  sun.

 So sweet, representative of variable temperaments in goats. So cute but  also so naughty.

 Cute bow on the tale, challenging to draw subject which  was handled well. Convincing, proportions  legs and  attractive mane.

Imaginative,  bold, unusual subject, cool tree in foreground, arresting and almost edible looking, yum !

                                        Drawing  convincing,  bright and well conceived with fascinating details, illustrating just how   intelligent,  naughty keas are prone to stealing things
                                                    Humorous haiku and attractive colours of letters.

Unmistakable icon,  cool trees and worms, nice colourful letters . Expressive eyes, we want to know what happens next.

 Clever in construction and bright and well composed. Loved the speech bubble. Moon and stars are whimsical.  I wonder what happens next?

 Very competently drawn.  Showed dedication to persevering.
 Striking on the page. Lovely large composition. Loved the way the tail is wrapped around the branch.

 So cute and heart melting, meticulous pencil drawing, I'm glad you coloured this in because it pops beautifully.

Adventurous exciting, dramatic, powerful.

Intricate and interesting

                                           scary, bold, nice and big and  powerful

                                      Certainly knew what this was straight away. Descriptive haiku well done.
                                    for persevering with quite a challenging subject.

                                               Lovely colours, happy and inviting, claws well handled.

Beautifully composed, a singing, soaring  piece of work.

 Cheerful, creative well behaved and enthusiastic class. Congratulations.

Quote for the day.
Every child is an artist, the challenge is to remain one once you grow up  Picasso

What is a haiku ?
 a Japanese poem  that can have  ( but doesn't always) have seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.

What am I?" Haikus are like riddles.  
The writer uses the Haiku to describe something.  Other people then try to guess what the poet was describing after reading the Haiku.
Here is a "What am I?" Haiku:

Green and speckled legs,
Hop on logs and lily pads
                                     Splash in cool water.


Pick an animals do some research on it.
Brainstorm ideas
 Write your own “What am I” Haiku.
Writing about an animal is an good choice for a topic  because all children can relate to animals and insects that surround them.
Illustrate your haiku,  in a big colourful and bold. manner.
it doesn't have to be realistic, use your imagination.
When each person has finished stand up the front of the classroom and recite it  so that everyone has to guess what it is.
Laminate each persons work and display it.
Remember this is just the start of your illustrating and haiku making skills.
If you made a thousand of these you would become an expert.

Creative quote. "Every journey begins with the first step".


Please enquire about after school accelerated art, writing and mosaic classes.
Limited spaces,  using quality artist materials.
 I aways welcome cheerful, enthusiastic, well focused people who have a genune interest in being extended creatively.

 Monday, Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school.
 Free initial half hour consultation to see if it would suit your child.
Or  pay for a  one hour initial lesson to see if your child wants to continue

Phone  0273513887
 Email: janet@jkeen.net
Available to run poetry illustration workshops in schools.
Please enquire about pricing.

Final Quotes.

"You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Your ‘actions’ create the ‘reactions’ of people around you. The world is your mirror. Ken Keyes

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”
― Amit Ray,  

Creating  a haiku and illustrating it every day will give you seven mindful sessions of peace a week.  Haven't got the time?
Try switching off your television.  you will suddenly find at least an hourof time you never knew existed.
Good luck.
Send me your comments. I will publish them if they are positive.  
janet@jkeen.net