The Sacred Kingfisher returns to Merri Creek Primary School
I did a complete makeover on a very dilapidated artwork at Merri Creek Primary School. Grade 3 kids cut the recycled plastic feathers and the preps painted new scales on the magical tail. The plastic was collected by the parents. The bird’s eye was made from a broken set of digital scales I had lying around and happened to fitted perfectly.
When Merri Creek was cleaned up about 30 years ago as a result the Sacred Kingfisher returned to its creek habitat in 1993. The creek had been full of plastic rubbish and the local community pitched in to restore it. The original artwork was much loved by the school community as these very special birds now regularly nest nearby and the parents and children gather beneath it every morning.
The original plywood bird was so securely attached to the wall with industrial glue and metal struts it was impossible to remove, so I created a template and cut those shapes from marine ply and worked in my studio on the paintwork and riveting hundreds of plastic feathers as screws wouldn’t hold in the thin plywood skin I created. The kids were shocked when I stripped the original artwork of rotted plastic bottles and really sweet when the new bird was installed in their school: Thank-you! Awesome! and Congratulations!
