My Place, Your Place. A mural....local artists interview by Pam Fyfe

It is
difficult to think of another space that would have been large enough for the
task of creating a 7.5 metre mural. The mural tells the story of Birregurra and
its relationship to the Birregurra Mechanics Hall and is part of the
EnLightenMe project. The concept was to have a designing artist and have
community participation to complete the mural.
Gunditjmara artist Joey Chatfield, the designing artist,
presided over the local community participant’s efforts. Joey attended meetings with the community to
hear the stories of local history of farming families, landmarks, the land uses
and local flora and fauna.
Joey then came up with a wonderful design to
incorporate as many of these ideas as he could. He ran workshops to assist
participants to acquire knowledge about the dreaming, kinship systems,
traditional ways of living, painting techniques, the meaning in paintings,
symbols and stories.
After the initial meetings with the community the design was created and local artist Natalie Newton was asked to paint some of the circles representing the districts important icons and/or symbols. She agreed and asked two other artists from her painting group to join her.
Natalie Newton
Natalie was good at drawing when she was young and practised
regularly. She developed her painting through workshops and classes; she also has
been a member of groups where the members enjoy painting alongside others of
like mind. Family and work commitments stalled her painting at various times.
After she retired she undertook a Diploma of Graphic Arts.

Natalie’s paintings on the mural feature cows and the
stockyards, sheep, a shearer, a platypus and fruit, representing some of the
major influences of the town and the surrounding district.
Natalie was also Joey’s right hand being onsite during the
work, understanding the intricacies of the story and the work as well as the
importance of the colours and the accuracy of the dots. She also assisted and
guided the many volunteers working on the mural.

Barry Gill

As a child Barry’s mother had encouraged him to draw. While he was still at school a teacher encouraged him to keep up his painting. He enjoyed painting and so it was not too difficult. Although there were breaks due to work commitments, he continued to paint.
In 70/80’s Barry attended classes and joined a group of painters and has continued to do so. Now living in Birregurra he sought out others who might be interested in setting up a similar group and that was when he found out about the group Natalie had started. He joined. “The sharing aspect of being a member of a group helps to keep you interested in continuing your work,” said Barry.

Allison McClaren

As a child Allison had a passion for drawing and in fact
would draw over everything including walls, tables etc. She is self- taught and
her styles and areas of expertise are continually evolving. When her children
were young she started painting with oils. Today she prefers acrylics as they
dry quicker enabling her to continue her painting at a faster rate.
Allison has, in the past, created caricature dolls using
hand painted calico and making all the clothes. These she sold at markets.
Later she used polymer clay to create daringly different “little people”
caricatures, again exhibiting them and selling them at markets.
Over the last 10-12 years Allison has turned more towards
painting. She found out about Natalie’s painting group and joined. She enjoys
regularly attending the group and swapping ideas, working alongside others but
doing her “own thing”.

Some of the Dotters
Although many people demonstrated enthusiasm for the
project, numbers were reduced. Regular days of Wednesday and Sunday made it
difficult for some people to attend and to develop the skills necessary for the
dotting.
As the time went on regular “dotters” included Beryl Bush, Deb
McSephany, Christine Smith, Gail Maddern, Deb McIntyre, Subi Leeson, Judy
Goddard, Pam Fyfe and Barry Gill. Sunday the 4th February saw the
placing of the final dot by Natalie, with Joey Chatfield and the other
“dotters” looking on.
There were still some restorative touch-ups and then the
graffiti proof final coats were applied. There “dotters” were then able to
place their handprints on the reverse side of the mural. The final placing of the work of art will be in
the area next to the hall.
For more info about the mural and the enLIGHTen Me project, head to www.enlightenmebirre.com
For more info about the mural and the enLIGHTen Me project, head to www.enlightenmebirre.com