Each year all Art students from Years 6 – 10 showcase their creative talents in the annual Art exhibition. This year the theme was “Home”

I wanted students to create an individual piece that would contribute to a collaborative installation in the school grounds.

Linked to Australian Identity and Suburban Icons we used the humble garden rake, (purchased for under $10 each at Bunnings) as our vehicle to metaphorically and symbolically represent the Aussie bloke in his shed, mowing the lawn and raking the leaves. Before commencing, students discussed the notion of identity and researched other Australian and suburban icons.

Students used pre cut coloured contact that we recycled from Hawthorn sign makers “Signwave” to give the handle personality and colour. In their Visual Diary Students drew a series of faces and a number of different expressively styled mouths, eyes and noses. After selecting the facial designs students then modelled Ceramic facial features from clay and painted them using underglazes. A final firing of a clear glaze gave the pieces their shine. Students then used a variety of wools and yarns to successfully weave their characters hair. Finally the characters were adorned with decorative elements such as buttons, beads and pipe cleaners.

The rakes, almost scarecrow like, made a great addition the school grounds.

David Williamson
Visual Arts Teacher
Camberwell Grammar School
Suitable for level 4