Judging the Puddles to Ponds artwork competition
Saranne reveals selected artworks that will be presented on the interpretation board at the Highland Folk Museum
The Curling Pond at the Highland Folk Museum is undergoing a restoration this year, and has recieved funding to boost its biodiversity and assist the recovery of freshwater ecosystems.
As part of the funding package, an interpretation panel will be produced by the High Life Highland museums team, showing the native wildlife that lives in and around the pond.
Our HLH Ranger schools competition this year, was to produce piece of art of each of the more common species that are found in our Highland ponds: that is the amphibians, invertebrates, birds, mammals, plants, trees and fish associated with ponds. These selected pieces of art will be used as part of a child centred interpretation panel, the idea being to create a whole pond of pond species and educate visitors about the importance of native freshwater species.
It was a pleasure to assist the staff from the Folk Museum in the judging of the artwork that would take pride of place on the panel.
We were delighted to get 45 out of the 51 suggested different highlands species represented in the entries. Unsurprisingly frogs were the second most popular creature to draw with us receiving 30 different piccies of frogs – but the surprise was the fox, we recieved a whopping 31 different drawings!
The quality of the artwork and the hard work that had gone into producing these pictures for us was amazing. To say we were impressed is an understatement. The youngest entry selected for the panel was from a P1 pupil and the oldest from a P7.
Overall, 19 primary schools took part - from all over the Highlands, which, again, shows an impressive commitment and is testament to the hard work and dedication of our teaching colleagues connecting their classes with this project.
The judging panel took a whole afternoon, carefully deliberating over each submission. We started by sorting the entries into species.
Then we judged which picture of that species was the best representation and would be able to be reproduced - with these ones selected to go onto the interpretation panel.
Certain ones piqued our interest. The dragonflies for example. We had three defined species – Golden ringed, Common blue and the Emperor – very impressive. They were easily identified from the drawings and remarkably inspiring. I particularly liked the Raft Spider, forget-me-not and Daubenton Bat.
Last but not least, an overall winner was selected. This was the spectacular Swallow drawn by Kaye Halewood at Banavie Primary School– well done 😊. The overall winner won a prize of a free lunch for the family at the Highland Folk Museum. Commendations shown in this article went Andrew Sparks - Daviot for his Raft Spider, Joseph Sinclair of Grantown for the Midge, Sorley Allan of Balnain for the Blackbird and the Water Vole from Ayla in Ardross, Ross-shire.
More about this project:
The panel is expected to be installed and ready to view in a few months time. We will be sure to let you know when that is.
Saranne Bish is a consummate communicator and empathetic High Life Higland Ranger, with a life devoted to environmental stewardship. Saranne excels in educating and engaging with diverse audiences about the natural world, blending scientific knowledge with a warm, accessible approach. Her ability to connect with people and nature alike makes her a true advocate for the environment.