Valerie Cuthbert

I've been a painter and printmaker for 18 years since I left professional life as a secondary school teacher. Over the years I've won awards and been accepted into selected exhibitions like the current one – Botanical Art Worldwide at the Botanic Gardens, Manurewa. I love to teach and am print tutor at Estuary Arts Centre, Orewa, where I run an open studio on a Friday morning.

My images come from my interest in NZ birds, eg godwits, stitchbird and saddleback living on Tiritiri Matangi Island, an open sanctuary. Extinct huia and the endangered NZ black robin are also important as a reminder of what has gone, and what has been saved.

I am also fascinated by our indigenous flora, alpine plants that appear almost in the snow like the Mt Cook Lily, and our tiny green orchids growing in alpine forests.