By Brendan Rees
As the song goes: “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he.”
But at Tooradin, this was not exactly the case. A Kookaburra is now king of Tooradin Primary School where he sits atop a school timber sign, laughing all day long.
Just one thing – he can’t fly because he’s one part of a mural painted by students across the school on Tuesday 17 October.
Tooradin Primary School well-being co-ordinator Rachel Davis said the school was privileged to work with the artists from Melbourne’s Murals, Brigitte Dawson and Melissa Turner, to create a large school mural.
“Students from across the school entered a drawing competition to work with Brigitte and Melissa to design and paint two large murals that captured the wonderful coastal environment of Tooradin,” Ms Davis said.
She said the students were asked to use the local coastal or bushland environments as their inspiration, with bunyips, fishing platforms and Sawtell’s Inlet included.
“After much excitement eight students were selected; Karlee, Ethan, Chloe, Josh, Jasmine, Hayley, Amelia and Mia, and their drawings were incorporated into the layout of the murals,” Ms Davis said.
“Bunnings Warehouse Cranbourne generously donated the three-metre blue boards to assist in making this community project a reality.”
She said the school community had watched in amazement as the murals progressed from the sketching of designs to the successive layers of paint, images, creatures and forms.
“It has been a true pleasure to watch each week as more of the project evolved with each visit that Brigitte and Melissa made and for the students to share in conversations about how and where particular creatures are appearing.”
Ms Davis said Tooradin students had learnt about the artist process, the effects of light and shading to bring images to life, and layered paint effects that gradually built up an inspiring piece of art.
“Brigitte and Melissa are very accomplished artists who have also painted murals at venues such as the Frankston Library and hope to work on more community projects to share their passion for design and painting with a wider audience.”
“Tooradin Primary School will position these two wonderful murals for the community to enjoy and for students and families for many years to come to share in the pride we all feel about our special coastal community and school.”
