Defined by the bristles of her paint brush
"I've always loved art. I can lose myself in art. I forget about everything around me and focus solely on the canvas in front of me."
Lin Qiuhong, a Grade 12 pupil from Lincoln Heights Secondary School (LHS), was recently crowned overall winner of the Newcastle Visual Art Eisteddfod.
The Biennial Eisteddfod initiative serves to promote visual arts within Newcastle and surrounding areas by giving pupils from Grades 8 to 12 the opportunity to showcase their artworks and receive feedback on their progress.
“This year’s event received a much larger number of entries, a much better standard of artworks over a range of media and showed a higher level of creativity from pupils overall. The event was very successful, and we’re looking forward to seeing more schools enter next year,” said Anri Du Plessis, event organiser and Head of Arts Department for Ferrum High School
In search of a winner, a panel of teachers from St Dominic’s Academy, Ferrum High School, Newcastle High School, St Oswald’s and Lincoln Heights secondary schools, judged more than 650 artworks submitted, using various media, including paintings, pencil drawings, photography, oil pastels, scraper boards, mosaics and other mixed media, to name a few.
Lin’s work was judged as overall winner out of 163 artworks entered by LHS alone, many winning gold, double gold and triple gold awards. “I’ve improved a lot, but I feel I could get much better. There are many talented people at my school, so there’s a lot of healthy competition and it pushes us all to improve,” she said.
Lin’s journey began in Grade 8 shortly after enrolling in LHS. “One of my teachers saw my sketchbook in Grade 8, and encouraged me to take art as a subject when I get to my matric years,” she said. “I’ve always loved art. I can lose myself in art. I forget about everything around me and focus solely on the canvas in front of me.”
“Lin is naturally gifted; helping her channel her creativity has been a joy for me,” said LHS art teacher, Afzal Khan.
Soon to graduate from high school, and despite being unsure of her future, Lin is determined to not leave art entirely. “I haven’t decided what I’ll be studying next year, but it won’t be art. It will definitely remain as a lifelong hobby though,” she said.
