Stunning digital artwork honouring saints and martyrs now graces the renovated Family Block’s Religious Education wing. We spoke with eight Year 10 students behind the pieces about the challenges, choices, and personal connections involved in bringing their illustrations to life.
The artists — Piper Lee, Matilda Parry, Teresa Zhu, Matai McNicholl, Bella Skogstad, Kiana Schoeser, Georgia-Rose McFarlane, Anna Hawke and Year 11’s Emma Swain — were invited to create a welcoming RE environment through digital art celebrating figures devoted to Christ.
Their finished artworks are now a standout feature of the new RE space, bringing the Special Character of our school to life for both current and future students. Truly amazing work.
When asked how they chose which saint to represent, the student artists shared a range of thoughtful and personal reasons. Some selected saints who inspired them or stood out through research into influential figures, while others were drawn to those they found visually appealing. Matilda mentioned being assigned a saint connected to children, while Teresa chose a saint who shared her name and whom she related to on a personal level.
Bella said her chosen saint simply stood out and resonated with her, and Kiana selected a younger saint she felt students could relate to. Georgia-Rose picked one that no one else had chosen, appreciating the saint’s love of the outdoors and shared interests. Meanwhile, Anna was curious to learn about a saint she had never heard of before, seeing it as an opportunity to discover someone new.
Describing the most challenging part of creating their saint artworks, the students highlighted a variety of artistic difficulties they faced throughout the process. Piper found that getting the skin tones right was the hardest part, while Matilda and Bella both mentioned struggling with symmetry and precise details, especially around the facial features. Teresa and Anna focused on capturing the right art style, working to make their pieces look more cartoon-like and cohesive.
Matai found refining the outlines to be the most challenging step, and Kiana said that choosing the right colour combinations took time and experimentation. Georgia-Rose shared that the biggest challenge was making the figure look realistic and human-like. Despite these difficulties, each student persevered and produced a piece that reflected both creativity and growth.
Reflecting on whether they had a personal connection to the saint they depicted, the students’ answers varied. Matilda and Kiana, related to their saints through family ties. Teresa was moved by her saint’s story and also shared her name, deepening her connection. Bella recalled learning about her saint during primary school, which influenced her choice. Whereas Matai and Georgia-Rose selected their saints because of their own confirmation experience. Finally, Anna connected with her saint through his qualities of resilience and perseverance, seeing them as inspiring traits to reflect in her artwork.
