I started drawing in the library five years ago. My first illustration was a 'Good luck in your exams!' message after a colleague asked me to create something to cheer up the students.
I now work with library management when we need to advertise services or events. For example, I drew a big coffee sign using the characters from the video game Cuphead with an arrow pointing to the café, and I was told recently that no-one asks for directions to the coffee shop anymore.
I think the students enjoy my drawings because they start a conversation.
Some days, especially during exam time, students are here for six or seven hours studying, and it’s a little bit of entertainment for them.
I had a student say, 'You really inspired me; I’m going to start doing my leatherworking again.' That’s excellent news from my point of view. A little bit of inspiration can motivate people to give art a go.
Another example is a former workmate who started a simple life drawing class, and now she is sending me photographs from Paris of her beautiful representations of statues. She had never been an artist and never thought that she would do it.
My mother is a painter, my granny did oil paints, my grandfather did landscapes and my dad is quite a famous musician back home in Ireland.
My favourite illustration at the library is my robot because I grew up with Japanese anime and I love Astro Boy.
My mother is a painter, my granny did oil paints, my grandfather did landscapes. My dad is quite a famous musician in Ireland. There are a lot of creative Irish families like this back home.
I watched Dead Poets Society in high school and thought I’d like to be someone like John Keating, the teacher in the movie played by Robin Williams.
I did two years of a teaching degree, then did my prac and realised it wasn't for me. So I went back to Ireland, did a bit of work there, came back to Australia and worked in restaurants. I eventually decided to harness my lifelong love of art. I applied to the Sydney KvB Institute of Design. I did my graphic design training there and then worked for a few years as a freelancer.
I then heard there was a shelver job going in the Macquarie Library. I got the job in 2007 and I’ve been here ever since. I think I’ve done every job in the building in these last 16 years.
