ANNE Conlon has been teaching art for 36 years.
The Saint Anthony’s School Kedron teacher was the creative mind behind the school’s latest artistic endeavour – a towering, multicoloured decoupage tribute to the saint himself.
“I wanted to show St Anthony’s love of learning, so I drew a sketch of him with his lilies and books,” Mrs Conlon said.
“We decided to involve the students and give everyone a chance to contribute.”
The three-metre portrait took over two days to complete and required six coats of varnish from Bunnings.
Year Four students Howie Price, Emily Hardy, Lucinda Varitimos and Sebastian Peach said they must have used “hundreds of recycled magazine pieces” to complete the artwork.
“We brought heaps of magazines from home and then stuck them on for the block colours in the background,” Sebastian said.
Acting assistant principal Religious Education Aimee Bodley said it was wonderful to see the students so involved in art.
Year Six students Grace Mansfield and Sascha Hastie keenly visited Mrs Conlon every lunch time to help finish the project.
“My favourite part of the artwork is the entire thing,” Grace said.
“The different shades on top of each other look so cool.”
Ironically, Mrs Conlon said St Anthony – the patron saint of finding lost things – sometimes “gets lost” amid the other saints.
“When I think of St Anthony, I think of someone who goes about things unobtrusively but gets things done,” she said.
“Sometimes we forget about St Anthony, so having the artwork is a nice reminder for students.”
Mrs Conlon’s artistic touch could be seen throughout the school’s existing mosaics, paintings, and pottery pieces.
Ms Bodley hoped the school community were “awe-inspired” when they saw Mrs Conlon’s work.
“We hope it reminds students they are a part of St Anthony’s.”
