One side of Healesville Walk Shopping Centre’s exterior is now being painted with a giant kangaroo which wishes to bounce through the town.
Healesville-based artist Paul Sonsie is drawing the piece as part of his project A Giant Leap Forward, paying homage to the creative leap forward for the community.
Mr Sonsie runs a design studio in Healesville, Sonsie Studios.
“I do lots of branding and public artwork. I’m a graphic designer, so a lot of my murals are quite bold, graphic and simple,’ he said.
“I’m super passionate about Healesville. But I’ve just seen a gap in Healesville that we just need more public artworks, so I’ve drummed up this.”
The size of the side wall of the Healesville Coles building is 37 metres long by four and a half metres high.
The project will take about a month to complete including the two-week planning phase and another two weeks for the painting.
The artist said he loves creating artwork that people can relate to and is enjoyable for all ages.
“During our first week of painting, we’ve had over 300 positive comments, with nearly every second person walking by saying how much they love it,” Mr Sonsie said.
“I love artwork that people can easily relate to as opposed to having it too abstract and too weird.
“I love painting big animals. I painted big ibis birds at the other end of town a few years ago, and then (they are) no longer there anymore because of the buildings built around them. But I had such a big positive response from that as well. People love seeing big animals.”
Not only the positive feedback from passersby, he also received lots of sponsorship along the journey, which enabled him to put his idea into practice.
“I’ve initiated this project myself, and I’ve got to get it over the line. I’ve got a couple of sponsors. I’ve got a Haymes Paint sponsor, Kennards in Lilydale sponsoring the scissor lift, and a small monthly grant from the Yarra Ranges Council,” Mr Sonsie said.
“I’ve also got the owner of the whole precinct here, which is called Healesville Walk (Shopping Centre). They contributed some funds as well to help fund this project.
“We need more public artwork in Yarra Ranges, so hopefully, this will be a catalyst for more ongoing projects.”
