Anna Czerkasow

Celebrations were sensory feasts – wonderful foods (homegrown products), spontaneous music and harmonised singing, dancing, storytelling and hours of fantasy, fun and interaction for the children.   Growing up in Melville with my brothers and sister during this incredible time, before the bush was swallowed up by suburbia, provided us with amazing opportunities to explore our environment. We had our favourite retreats, cubbies, trees and orchid patches. Though we had few possessions, we felt rich and lucky.

 Following the sudden death of my father when I was 12, I felt lost and disillusioned. I found solace in dance, literature, music and art. They were the avenues for me to work through and heal my pain.

 After the birth of my first child in 1973, I decided to become a teacher to provide security for my daughter. Between 1974 and 1982 I studied art while completing a Diploma of teaching and worked towards a Bachelor of Arts Degree. My studies were interrupted when I was transferred to Northcliffe to teach in 1983. My first thoughts were that I could not survive in such an isolated, tiny place. Within two years, I had fallen in love with the community and environment  (not to mention my husband-to-be) and could not imagine living in the city again.

Country life was more challenging than I had ever expected. It reminded me of pioneer settlers as well as my parents’ early years in Australia. I had to learn to chop wood, light fires daily to cook on a Metters No 2, cart domestic water from the township for five months and deal with a variety of wildlife. We worked hard and became involved in the community. Any spare time was spent exploring the forests, tracks and surrounding bush.

Eventually, the country air got to us (-or was it the power failures and lack of television?), resulting in two children. Shortly after the birth of our youngest child, we moved to “the block” near Warren National Park where we lived in a shed. I returned to teaching at Northcliffe while my husband took on the onerous task of looking after two small children AND building a house. My eldest child had by now moved to Perth to continue studying.

Somehow we survived all the trials and tribulations of this adventure. We had produced children, dogs, chooks, sea monkeys, silk worms and guinea pigs, but I had not done any art! Once again I became passionately motivated to express myself artistically. As a teacher, I encourage students to explore their options, to find out what they need to know and develop their potential. So it was natural for me to become a living example of this shedding and rediscovering process.

 Teaching has taught me that I am a lifelong learner. I love the challenge of creating a visual image as a form of personal expression as well as the feeling of resolution when a problem has been solved. I am particularly interested in playing with light and capturing or creating a mood.