Karly Sivewright spent 100 hours working on her latest masterpiece. Photos: Brett Sivewright.
A Griffith accountant-turned-artist has completed a spectacular mural celebrating native Riverina birdlife, transforming a 90 sqm wall at East Griffith Public School.
Karly Sivewright, who once attended the school – as did her parents Robert and Toni Fattore – returned to leave her mark – this time with her own son Charlie, now in Kindergarten.
The three generations of the Fattore family East Griffith alumni and husband Brett worked side-by-side, contributing more than 100 hours over 10 days to bring the mural to life. The design features birds commonly found around Griffith, including the red-rumped parrot, black cockatoos, rainbow bee-eater and superb fairy-wren.
The complete mural.
For Ms Sivewright, the biggest hurdle wasn’t the scale of the artwork – it was overcoming her fear of heights.
“It’s OK when I’m up against the wall but as soon as I step it wobbled. It doesn’t get easier the longer you’re up there. I kept my paint cans close to me so I didn’t have to reach and look down too much. I knew I wasn’t going to fall off but I couldn’t shake that feeling,” she said.
“It was scarier when I had to get my elevated working platform licence, where they put me in a boom lift that reached 11 metres, I could see my parents’ house in Yoogali from there.”
Karly conquered her fear of heights.
Another challenge was translating a detailed design onto such a large surface.
“I thought about using a projector but a pole was in the way,” she said.
“I did some research and saw a European artist use virtual reality goggles – Meta Quest 3.”
Using the headset, Ms Sivewright was able to overlay her digital design directly onto the wall at full scale.
“I get my iPad, draw up my design in an app called Procreate, then upload it to the app of the VR goggles and then put my headset on, connect to the internet, upload it and I virtually attach my design to the wall. I did a few crosses on the wall and drew up my design in a day,” she said.
The innovative approach allowed her to map out the mural quickly and accurately, avoiding the limitations of traditional projection methods.
It’s not her first large-scale work. In 2024, Ms Sivewright painted a mural on a 12-metre wall behind Kooyoo Street. She continues to balance her art with a career in finance and now also teaches classes at the Griffith Regional Art Gallery.
“I just want young people to do art. I had a wonderful mentor in Jenny Forster and I hate to see art die in Griffith,” she said.
Completing a project at her old school held special significance, tying together her family’s history with the site.
“My mum Toni did a mosaic here when my brother and I were at school, so we’ve come full circle with my design,” she said.
“Karly is back and I want to make 2026 the year of art.”
