30 Women, 30 Careers: Celebrating Diversity
Career — Teacher
A teacher who holds a student’s heart can leave an imprint that lasts a lifetime.
Teacher explores the quiet and lasting influence of those who encourage, nurture and believe in us. The sculpture grew from my own memories of two primary school teachers who recognised and encouraged my artistic ability when I was young.
Their kindness and encouragement stayed with me long after I had left their classroom. Although I no longer remember their names, I still remember their faces — and, more importantly, I remember how they made me feel about my work and my ability.
My connection with this sculpture is deeply personal.
When I was at primary school, two teachers encouraged my artistic abilities in very different but equally meaningful ways.
One was a male teacher who said something particularly kind about my Chinese calligraphy. His words made me believe that perhaps I was good at something I had not yet recognised in myself.
I remember entering a school-wide calligraphy competition. While I was writing, I remembered what he had said about my work. Instead of simply completing the exercise and moving on, I made a much greater effort. I concentrated, persisted and tried very hard to do my best.
I came third in the competition.
The result itself is not what has stayed with me. What has stayed with me is the realisation that one person’s encouragement can change the way a young person sees their own ability.
My other teacher regularly presented my artwork to the class. She gave my work a sense of importance and allowed me to experience the quiet confidence that comes from having someone recognise what you have created.
Neither teacher probably realised how significant those small acts of encouragement were.
But I remember them. I don’t remember their names anymore. I remember their faces.
The concept of Teacher grew from the idea of holding a student’s heart.
A teacher does not simply pass on knowledge. At their best, they recognise something within a young person and help nurture it — sometimes before the student is able to recognise it themselves.
A few words of praise can become confidence. A small opportunity to show one’s work can become belief. And consistent kindness can become a memory that remains for a lifetime.
The sculpture therefore explores teaching as an act of encouragement, recognition and care.
The idea of holding a student’s heart is at the centre of the work.
Some teachers gently hold a student’s heart in their hands — protecting it while it is still developing, encouraging it until it learns to beat more strongly on its own.
The heart becomes a metaphor for confidence, creativity and potential. The teacher’s role is not to keep hold of it forever, but to nurture it until the student has the strength and belief to carry it independently.
The heart held in her hand, modelled vessel by vessel.
I think of an encouraging teacher as a quiet source of light.
Like sunlight reaching a fragile seed, encouragement may appear small at the time, yet its effect can continue long after the moment has passed. A teacher may see a flicker of possibility in a child when the child cannot yet see it themselves.
Through patience, praise and belief, that small spark can be nurtured. It can become confidence. It can become courage. It can become a lifelong creative journey.
Was there a teacher who left a mark upon your heart? Someone who noticed something in you, praised your work, believed in your ability, or simply made you feel that what you were doing mattered. You may not remember everything they taught you. You may not even remember their name. But perhaps, like me, you still remember their face — and how they made you feel.
Teacher is hand-built in stoneware clay and is currently at the greenware stage, before firing.
The sculpture develops gradually through shaping, building, refining and reworking the clay. This slow process reflects, in its own way, the concept behind the work: growth does not happen all at once.
An earlier stage, with a real book used to work out the position of the open book above her hair.
Like a student developing confidence, the figure develops through many small stages, with each layer contributing to the final form.
The unpredictable nature of clay — its capacity to shrink, crack, distort and transform through firing — becomes another part of the creative process.
Shown with a person for scale, revealing the physical presence and life-sized proportions of the work.
Teacher forms part of my ongoing series 30 Women, 30 Careers: Celebrating Diversity, a body of life-sized figurative ceramic sculptures celebrating women across a diverse range of professions.
The series looks beyond the profession itself to explore the individual, character, dedication and humanity behind each role. For Teacher, that humanity is found in the quiet influence one person can have on another.
This sculpture is therefore also a small tribute to the teachers who encouraged me when I was young — teachers whose names I may have forgotten, but whose kindness I have carried with me.
Finished — fired & glazed
This piece is awaiting its bisque and glaze firing. Finished photographs will be added here once it comes out of the kiln.
For enquiries about pricing or to commission a piece, please contact lee.anchor@optusnet.com.au.