Last week I got a feel for dawn. Every morning for seven days, to avoid traffic, I got up at 5.15am to be at Coomera State School (a 1 hour 20 minute drive North) for a 7.30 start.
I was dreading it, being a country (rather than a four) lane kinda girl, but it wasn’t so bad. Neither was leaving the boys to do the lunch box and getting to the school bus thing. There’s always a gift. And they rose to the occasion.
I was entering a new state and territory with this mural. This was my first outdoor classroom and my first venture into the landscape of legendary storybooks.
The right angle walls of the grey library building created two sides and huge sandstone blocks, a concrete path and a deck made up a square. The space was trying hard to transport the children into a secret garden but the look was very angular so I suggested to the Deputy Principal, Taylor Hayley, that a meandering rocky creek with sandy banks on the path would warp the square and really transport the annex into another dimension.
Giant, richly hued tomes separated Narnia, Oz, Wonderland, Hogwarts, Treasure Island and Never Never Land. Characters were banished, except for a small Peter Pan and a caterpillar off with the fairies, so the portals could tempt an imaginary fate for those learning a lesson in the secret garden.
This mural was my most joyful creation. The creek was the last paint to flow. You can almost hear the water as it babbles over smooth rocks. Swimming fish, their shadows stalking them create movement and the dancing reflection of the sun an illusion of depth.
The school will scatter glass sand and apply a heavy-duty sealant so the students will be able to safely walk on water.
I just hope they only dive in with their imaginations.