What the fork? A canteen sign inspired by Luna Park!

: A little sign pointing the way to the school canteen

Our little school canteen needed a new sign, but there wasn’t much room, so I bought a plank of wood to attach to the wall.

Shortly beforehand, while I was pondering what style to use, I happened to visit Luna Park in Sydney, where I found the perfect inspiration in the form of a gorgeous retro toilet sign…

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… so when I got home I took a photo of my hand holding a fork…

The fork had some lovely reflections, but luckily the glove would hide my bitten nails.

… which gave me the perfect model to draw the fingers and hand position.

I think the fork ‘prodding’ the lettering gives an added bit of fun and movement for the children to enjoy.

You don’t need your glasses to read this canteen sign!

After the old junk-food advertisements were (thankfully!) taken down from above the school canteen, it was looking a little drab, so a friend and I painted this sign one weekend. I drew the lettering freehand on a large piece of paper, then cut out the letters to make a stencil. Unfortunately, it happened to be very windy on the day I tried to put it up on the wall, so my struggles with the enormous cut-out would have been hilarious if there had been any onlookers (though the swearing wasn’t pretty). Somehow I managed to stick it up long enough to draw the outlines on the wall… eventually.

I really like the fruit and vegetables we painted within the lettering, but in retrospect I think the bees buzzing around may be a little too suggestive of flies (or is that just me?). I also think the lettering is a trifle too large, and I regret not having painted the background. Overall though, it’s a big improvement, and the colours fit in nicely with the existing rainbow painting and the murals we painted on the nearby columns.

Tired old school mural gets an upgrade

I was tired of looking at these depressing old columns in front of the school canteen. They were painted by the students years ago, and they definitely hadn’t improved with age.

When I mentioned them to the school principal, quick as a flash he replied “Are you offering?”. Well, there’s no sense in whinging about something unless you’re prepared to do something about it, so while I was there each morning for assembly, I pondered the problem and a friend and I came up with a new design which I mocked-up in paper for staff approval.

At our request, Bunnings very kindly donated some paint. Then the two of us spent two and a half weekends at the school painting the new mural, and singing musical hits at the tops of our voices to the empty playground from our ladders. It was good fun and very satisfying. Here are the results: