A huge congratulations to Greer Clayton for her Whale Tales piece, ‘Whakaora Whale’, fetching the highest price at auction earlier this week.

Presented by WWF New Zealand, this immersive art trail took place across Auckland’s city centre from January 24 to April 18. If you live in Auckland or visited recently, it was certainly hard to miss the 80 ‘Big Broos’ (large Tail sculptures) and 80 ‘Pēpi’ (mini Tail sculptures) designed by artists from all disciplines, as well as children, that were displayed throughout streets, parks, and public spaces of central Auckland.

The first half of the tails were sold on Monday night at a live auction in central Auckland, fetching $525,000 for WWF-New Zealand’s conservation efforts with an online auction selling the remainder with the total raised sitting at over $650,000 in total.

The top-selling tail from auction on Monday night, was ‘Whakaora Whale’ by Parnell Gallery artist Greer Clayton which went for $26,000. ‘Whakaora’, means to save and restore and just as her painted landscapes represent a connection to a sense of a place, Greer’s whale seeks to connect to its oceanic environment – ocean to sky. Textured paint echoes the moody underwater depths and merges with light-filtered hues as we near the surface while a metallic shimmer on the tip of the tail is inspired by a kiss from the golden sun and sparkling waters.

One of Whale Tales located in Parnell for the duration of the trail was by another Parnell Gallery artist, Sofia Minson, which fetched an amazing $23,500. Sofia’s ‘Sirius Dreaming‘ is detailed with gold, and is inspired by the ideas of entering a new paradigm in which we are awakening to the messages of the earth, the ancient gods, and animal and nature spirits (pictured below in Parnell’s Heard Park).