Wanganui artist Jack Marsden-Mayer is off to Auckland with a whale and a penguin in tow, hoping to win the people's choice award at the NZ Sculpture OnShore event in Devonport.
Marsden-Mayer creates his sculptures from driftwood and his emperor penguin piece is a commission for King's College. It was the first time he had made a penguin or whale.
"The whale has taken me a little over a month to construct and I have collected the driftwood along the west coast from Paekakariki to Wanganui," he said.
"It is interesting that I find the bigger pieces as I travel north, the smaller pieces come from the southern part of the coast.
"I paint them with decking-stain oil so they should be weatherproof forever, apart from the screws - and they should last for up to 50 years, according to farmers who use them for fencing and buildings."