Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land and pay respects to the elders past present and future and pay our respects to the Awabakal and Worimi people.

We recognise the indigenous land and that it was never ceded.

-Ned

Editors note

Welcome to issue 222! We've decided to put creativity at the forefront for this one. Highlighting students work, ways to be creative through up-cycling, how to take your creativity into a post school pathway and more! A big thank you to Jamie for this weeks banner image which happens to be an artwork of theirs.

Hope you enjoy and feel inspired to create.

The benefits of creative activities

Writing and drawing are both great activities for a person’s wellbeing, regardless of how ‘good’ they are at it. Being creative, through writing, drawing, painting and writing, all help to reduce stress and anxiety.

Creatively expressing yourself also causes your brain to release hormones like dopamine which improve your mood and help you relax.

I used to draw a lot when I was in primary school but for some reason I stopped and haven’t really made an effort to get back into it until recently. The reason I’ve started drawing again is because I love creative writing and world building, and I want to be able to put my ideas down on paper.

I’ve been following tips from a book and using reference images from Pinterest to help me.

-Emiel

Student art featured on water fountain

In big hydration news, Cooks Hill Campus has a new and improved water fountain. This week we chatted with Rayne from Advisory 4 whose artwork features on it!

Tell me about the artwork you created for the new water fountain? What inspired you to make an artwork for it? What meanings does it hold?

The piece of artwork on the bubbler is named ‘The Awabakal and Worimi community and country’. This piece of artwork shows community through symbols and country through the painting of the land. The ‘U’ shaped symbols are the symbol for people in the Aboriginal culture, this represents how we are brought together as a community. Our totems are our protectors, our connection to land, creation and the tribes ancestors and their stories, which is why I added the totem the wedge tailed eagle into the centre of the painting to represent protection and connection.

What kind of other art do you make?

I make art that represents communities, that show stories from my life that cannot be explained. I have another piece of work called ‘The stories of Taribelang’, that represents what has happened in my tribe that represent the stories of my tribe.

Do you want to do more art around the school like this in the future?

Yes, I think it would be a great opportunity and an amazing thing to see Indigenous culture being represented, the stories they tell and the meanings behind them would be an amazing thing to represent in not just our school but others.

What advice would you give other students nervous to put their art out there?

That it's not as scary a thing as others think, whether its traditional art, abstract, realistic, photography or even sculpture its an amazing thing to see put out there and only you can know the true meaning behind your own art and its not others to judge.

-James

Chinese ink painting workshop

On Monday the 18th of August, we got the opportunity to take part in a workshop run by Newcastle University's Confucius Institute, as part of their partnership with the Central China Normal University in Wuhan. Which is dedicated to teaching various facets of Chinese culture and language.

This particular workshop, run by Prof. Li Guo, who is an associate lecturer at Central China Normal University and accomplished Chinese ink-wash artist. With some help from Cher Jones and Stuart Yang translating, students were taught basic techniques in this medium, and created a painting to demonstrate and combine these into a painting of bamboo stalks.

Along with teaching us these techniques, the Confucius Institute was generous enough to allow all participating students to keep the brushes they used, as well as the leftover traditional rice paper. This is being kept with Alison if you would like to give it a go!

Big thank to Prof. Li Guo, Cher Jones, Stuart Yang, Carol Huang and the language teachers, Hannah Shuai, Azalea Shao, Bella Liu, Lola Young and Michelle Lin, who helped out. As well as Alison for organising this for us!

-Jamie and Sammi

I was inspired to write this during my work placement at Upcycle Newcastle. Upcyle Newcastle is an environmental organisation that focuses minimising textile waste.

Upcycling is when you take used items such as clothing you don’t use anymore, and recycle it into something new to use again instead of throwing it out. Clothing can take years to decompose when thrown out and often ends up in the environment instead of landfill.

Here is a youtube video on how to up-cycle an old pair of jeans into a new bag instead of chucking them out.

-Shae

Student Spotlight - Jamie (Adv 1)

For their senior project, Jamie is working on their Portfolio/application for the National Art School (NAS). The National School of Art is a Sydney based post-high school academy that focuses on painting , sculpting, drawing, ceramics, printmaking, and photography. The school offers a Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate in Fine Art. The school's application process includes creating an art portfolio consisting of 12 works and the drafting stage of each creation, a written artist's statement, and an interview with a professional.

Jamie primarily works with oil paintings, with a recent inspiration coming from medieval-era art styles. Jamie was drawn to the school after being inspired by various works put out by NAS in their various showcases. A Cooks Hill Campus alumni, Lily, also applied for this school and is currently studying there, today.

Jamie says that Cooks Hill Campus has lots of opportunities for artistic students like themselves. Jamie's encourages other artistic students at this school to take advantage of this school's amazing facilities.

One final piece of advice that Jamie has for artists is to broaden their horizons, saying "there's lots of cool stuff out there. So, just draw it. Have fun."

-Harvey

Announcements

This year’s theme is

'Happy Place'.

Where is your happy place?

TO ENTER

Send a photo of your artwork and the completed entry form to bwilliams@hunterprimarycare.com.au

Entries should be submitted in high res jpg, png or pdf format.

Artworks can be drawings, paintings, photos, digital art …. Anything!

Entry form can be found at

headspace.org.au/newcastle

TAFE Youth Engagement Strategy (YES) courses and TAFE Start Your Future courses have been announced for Term 4!

Short proposed courses include dental assisting, nursing, real estate, architecture, fitness and more.

Head to the Learning Through Internship CANVAS page for more information.

Startup Stories - Storm Menzies (ByStorm Beauty)

The University of Newcastle's Integrated Innovation Network (I2N) has organised a fascinating talk by Storm Menzies on her entrepreneurial journey. This links in excellently with our current LTI tasks on enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Hear the experiences of an entrepreneur and business owner – the highs, the lows, the wins, the mistakes, the inside story.

Discover how Storm Menzies a University of Newcastle alumna, has founded ByStorm Beauty

Creating the world’s first adaptive makeup tools that actually work for people with disabilities.

Born with mild cerebral palsy, Storm didn't realise how exclusive beauty standards were until an injury made doing her makeup nearly impossible. With true entrepreneurial determination, she taught herself 3D modeling and set out to revolutionise the industry with a mission: making beauty truly accessible for everyone.

Date and time: Wed, 3 Sep 2025 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

This is a FREE event, however, you will need to register for tickets using this link.

Thanks for reading!

Page updated

Report abuse