星空传媒

鈥淭o me, the School motto is about raising your gaze and being aspirational.鈥�

When Hilary Senhanli arrived at Yarra in Year 10, she came from a girls鈥� school into an environment where girls were still a rarity.

鈥淵arra had just begun to introduce girls and there were only a handful of us in each class. It was a bit of a shock!鈥� recalls Hilary.

She joined Yarra with a very specific purpose 鈥� to eventually be able to enrol in the dedicated Year 12 Arts program, which Hilary did.

鈥淓very subject in the Year 12 Arts program was arts-related. I remember going to commercial galleries in the city where teachers demystified contemporary art. I was a free spirit and the course allowed me to explore and experiment,鈥� she says.

After graduating from Yarra, Hilary studied Drawing at the Victorian College of the Arts and then Art Teaching at the University of Melbourne. She has taught art at primary and secondary schools.

Hilary has also enjoyed travelling and working overseas with her husband 鈥� initially in London and then in a small town, Ypres, on the Belgian-French border.

鈥淢any Australians died there during WWI and we were embraced by the locals. Every evening a bugler plays the Last post at Menin Gate in a ceremony to commemorate those who died in the war,鈥� says Hilary.

She joined an international art group, continued to draw and sold her work online. Wherever she is in the world, Hilary constantly observes and takes notes in a visual diary that inspires her work.

鈥淭hat diary is like a thinking tool. I see things, get ideas, write things down, take a photo, stick in a memento to remind myself later. After a few months I backtrack through the diary and I see ideas that spark something new,鈥� explains Hilary.

As well as continuing to produce her own art, she has developed a series of workbooks containing short activities to help students learn about the process of designing and developing art or any creative work. She encourages students to create their own visual diaries that become 鈥榣iving鈥� documents.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important that students learn how to experiment, how to allow themselves to fail, how to research an idea and to understand what exploration is and that鈥檚 not just important for art but for any subject,鈥� says Hilary.

Enthused by her latest project, Hilary has some key advice for current Yarra students.

鈥淜eep pushing, take action and don鈥檛 let things fester. Some things can鈥檛 be changed, but you can always change your attitude to make sure you honour yourself.鈥�