Loxton High School Illustrations
Pre Show Stained Glass Artworks by Loxton High School Year 10 design class with Penny Gill
Loxton High School was approached by John Gladigau during Term 2 to see if we could contribute to this project. At that stage, we weren’t sure how we might be involved. As our meetings with the IlluminArt Team progressed, it was clear that having a side project that students could work on would be the best way to involve our Design students.
I chose the theme of stained glass as I though the colours and textures related well to the project, but it also linked contextually to the church based projection. Our students needed to learn some new Photoshop skills and this project really became a unique opportunity to marry our core curriculum with a community project. Students were asked to design an A3 image that reflected their feelings associated with Christmas. As you can see, they are quite varied – which is what makes this so engaging for our broad audience.
I’m really proud of what the students have done and can’t wait to see this come together later in December. Laminated prints of the students work will be on display in the Lutheran Peace Hall for the duration of the SHINE projection.
Below is a picture of the students involved and titles and inspirations/meanings of their works.
Lory Jungfer – Christmas Star
Each Christmas my family puts up the Christmas Tree and it’s a tradition to place a star on the top.
Tess Pankhurst – Pavlova
Every Christmas we have a pavlova made by Aunty Jo, it’s always delicious.
Scarlett Drogemuller – Pelican
Inspired by the giant pelican down the Loxton riverfront, with a Christmas twist.
Piper Gibbs – Caravan of Christmas
Piper GIBBS Caravan of Christmas Inspired by our love of camping at Christmas at river locations
Jessica Slade – Santa Surfing
Jessica SLADE Santa surfing Every Christmas we go to Port Vincent down the beach. That’s why I wanted to incorporate Santa with the surfboard.
Chrysanthi Sialas – Reindeer
Every Christmas my grandparents would always tell us grandkids christmas stories. The image of the reindeer is important to me as it reminds me of these times.
Alexis Magiarapis – Animal Christmas
Aussie animals are a fun part of christmas and this reminds me of the Christmas Wonderland here in Loxton.
Seth Martin – Reindeers Christmas
Whenever I think of christmas I think of reindeer, and why not let the reindeers have christmas.
Clarissa Mullins – Bells
During Christmas time, bells are associated throughout many things like songs and decorations. The bells remind me a lot of christmas especially since they are including traditional christmas colours.
Alaia Coll – Gingerbread House
Each Christmas we usually have a gingerbread house. They are fun to make and bring people together.
Shelby Wisniewski – Nativity of Jesus
Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, so why not display that.
Ella Clayton – Santa
Christmas means to me family, and the time you spend with the people you love.
Jett Lewin – Stockings
The image of christmas stockings above an open fire is intended to make people feel warm and a sense of calm.
Taylor Todd – Help! Santa has been turned into a reindeer!
I wanted to incorporate the fun magic of Christmas with a reindeer Santa delivering presents and snacking on some candy canes.
Mikayla Lehmann – Skiing Santa
Our Christmas is often celebrated on the river. The river, to me, is an alternative to a snowy Christmas. Our family enjoys going on river trips, and you can often find us there.
Teachers
Penny Gill has been teaching Art and Design at Loxton High School since 2000. Her personal practise sees her work vary from portrait painting in acrylic and oils, to digital drawing using Photoshop.
Keen to make authentic links between her classes and the community, Penny is an advocate of projects where students can operate as artists and designers in their own right.
This year, the opportunity to become involved in the IlluminArt Shine Project, initiated by John Gladigau and Little Town Productions, was an opportunity not to be missed. Her Year 10 Design class have created stained glass window images that showcase their response to the meaning of Christmas.
Penny is also very proud of her past Year 12 students, Alexia Flight and Aimee Gladigau who have been meaningfully employed by IlluminArt to operate as production artists for this project, during their gap year.
I am currently the Creative and Performing Arts teacher at Loxton High School, previously a primary classroom and music teacher for 17 years before switching to high school 3 years ago.
I have been involved in Little Town productions, in various roles, since moving to the riverland in 2003. I have been involved with the creative team for Shine, helping with building the initial storyline, before handing it over to Aimee to finalise. I have also mentored one of my year 12 Creative Arts students, Abby Hansen, through the process of working with Illuminart to illustrate the main characters for the story. This was one of her assignments for SACE assessment.
For me the most exciting aspect of being part of the Shine team is that it has helped to develop and foster the creative skills in our young people and possibly launch them into a career in the Arts.
