Griffith accountant shows creative side by painting giant butterfly wall mural

If you want colourful artwork to spruce up your town, you generally don’t seek out an accountant for the job.

But Karly Sivewright has shown there’s more strings to her bow by painting a mural on a 12-metre wall behind Kooyoo Street that has everyone talking.

“I would say I’m both creative and an accountant. But I’m not a creative accountant,” she said.

“I’ve been painting since I was 14 and wanting to do a mural for a long time. The design was bigger than anything I’ve ever done.”

A Transport for NSW initiative called ‘Her Way’ has funded projects designed to make the streets safer for women. Griffith City Council received the grant to do the project, which commissioned the small business Banna Lane Festival to do it, which in turn selected Ms Sivewright.

“I first thought of doing a layout of some Italian food, but the new water tank mural now has that, so lucky I didn’t,” she said.

“I ended up doing a design that symbolises my journey into motherhood, how it took a long time to turn into a butterfly again. Sometimes you feel like a caterpillar and you need something to brighten up your life; you meet new friends, do new things, spread your wings and become a beautiful butterfly.”

When she first started the gig, she feared she’d bitten off more than she could chew.

“There was one butterfly that I painted by hand; it was a black and white one. It took five hours; I thought, ‘This is going to take me a month’.

“But then Jordan Lucky, one of the other mural artists, rocked up with a whole bunch of aerosol cans. It was the first time I’d used spray paint and I was able to smash it out. I’d had no idea how to use them; I just watched YouTube videos and asked other artists for advice.

“Another problem was that they just don’t make bright orange at the paint shop, because who wants to paint your house wall that colour? I was in tears trying to mix up paint to make it orange. I got through my artist bloc eventually.”

The 33-year-old was able to paint her design in just a week, thanks to a lot of support.

“I had my dad on the roller, my husband on the brush, my mum on the small brush. I had my whole family helping until I got to the butterflies, when they just had to get me food.

“My four-year-old son Charlie wasn’t impressed that he wasn’t allowed to help. But I practised with him with the spray paint in the backyard; he loved it.”

Ms Sivewright was inspired to take up painting by former Griffith-based artist Jenny Forster.

“She was my art teacher; I still hear voice saying, ‘Stand back, rub out unnecessary lines’. She taught me all the techniques and how to paint from scratch.”

Although she has her hands full with her economic development role at council and raising two kids, we can expect more art from the accountant in the future.

“My dad [Rob Fattore] keeps telling me I should do a mural on his shop (Driver Supermarket). That’s something I’ll do someday; we just have to find a theme.”