The following is provided as a 'jumping-off' point for teachers who may wish to explore the 'Living the Gospel' imagry more in depth and develop activities around it. The artist was kind enough tom provide a few words about his work and touch on the symbolism of the images.

The following is an explanation from the artist, Brian McKinnon, in his own words:

A The Sun is here for the belief of the Aboriginal People that it sustains life.

B The Light Blue is for the wind.

C The spirit figure is flowing from the fire and the story teller in the minds of the children as they learn about their culture and history.

D The red background is for fire.

E The Idea of the field of flowers is to represent the purity of this event that is happening and also a rebirth of understanding and awareness

F The blue background represents water.

G The concentric circles represent fire places or campsites and waterholes.

H The 'U' shapes represent people sitting cross legged.

This is the old storyteller sitting at the fire with a group of children telling of the creation spirit.

...Flowing from the creation panel, this is the creator visiting the story telling site

I With the gift of wind (symbol of wind indicated in the fine line work).

J The creation spirit with the gift of fire.

K The creation spirit with the gift of water.

Brian McKinnon is a Geelong based aboriginal artist, originally from Western

 

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