Editorial: Silky Oak shows art with heart

For the second year running, I've been lucky enough to help judge the annual charity competitions run by Silky Oak Chocolate.

Taradale's sweetest attraction has been steadily building a successful community contest for cake-makers and floral designers and benefiting the Brain Injury Trust along the way.

This year I could not make the Cake Couture judging - our Community Publications Editor Rachel Wise got that gig, while I joined the judging team for the Floral Festival competition yesterday.

I have to confess I was jealous of Rachel. I like cake. And I know a lot more about cake than I do about floral art.

Fortunately, the judging panel for the Floral Festival was headed by Cheryl Lattey, president of Floral Design Hastings, and she knows all about flowers and the arranging of them. So the panel was well led through a tough process. There were some incredible designs around the theme of Kiwiana. Not only were there more entries than last year, there were more of a higher standard.

You look at creations such as these and get a real sense of the artistic talent in the community. It's nice to win a ribbon but just the process of dreaming up and then successfully constructing such elaborate artworks seems to me to be some kind of reward unto itself.

It's a bit like the Arts and Crafts movement. You don't have to be a professional or fulltime artist to create amazing work. In fact you can do it in your own kitchen or living room with cake and icing or flowers and foliage.

So hats off to Jeanette Darwen at Silky Oak. She has helped give voice to some truly talented Bay creatives.

Last year's competitions raised more than $4000 for the Brain Injury Trust, enough to buy a shower chair for use by people with brain injuries at Hawke's Bay Hospital.

Floral Festival works are on display at Silky Oak Chocolate, 1131 Links Rd, Taradale from 10am to 3pm today, tomorrow and Sunday. Entry is just $2.