ONE of Jesse Munzel’s ancestors, who was the brains behind the spiral staircase, moved to Gunbower in the search for redgum hardwood in the 1850s.
The teenager’s creative drawing talent with the paintbrush and pencil has certainly flowed from the older generations of the Munzel family.
“I think it came from the idea of wanting to create something,” the Echuca College 2015 graduate said.
“One of my grandfathers worked with charcoal and Henry Munzel used a lot of detail in his drawings and designs for the staircase.
“And, my father is an engineer so it is important he uses fine detail.”
Henry, a Brazilian refugee, arrived in Sydney in March 1850, where he established a business crafting billiard tables. In 1853 they moved to the Sandhurst gold diggings, where Henry established an artisan workshop and crafted staircases and furnishings for the new buildings of Bendigo. He trained his son Edward, and his grandsons, Heinrich and Charles, in the use of redgum hardwood, and the extended family became involved in the gathering and crafting of Murray River hardwoods from the Gunbower and Barmah forests.
More than 165 years later, a new generation of the Munzel family is one of the district’s finest young artists.
Jesse is preparing to host her first ever art workshop in Cohuna on February 27.
The workshop will be held just seven days after she moves to Bendigo to study a Bachelor of Creative Arts at La Trobe University.
“I did almost every art subject in VCE; art, design technology, studio art and visual communication,” the former Gunbower Primary School pupil said.
“I love how art can be anything and everything and I love it for the after effects, the x-factor, as much as doing it as I go.
“The hardest part is at the beginning when I do preliminary sketches.”
Jesse’s love for drawing stemmed from a stint at the Royal Children’s Hospital as a nine-year-old with genetic chronic kidney disease.
“Drawing was something that I could do; it helped me become calm and relaxed, and with no internet it was either drawing or watching repeats of cartoons,” she said.
Jesse completed work experience at the Bendigo Art Gallery and was one of just 12 young artists to be selected in the Regional Arts Victoria Creative Leadership Program last year. The program involved presentations by key leaders in arts management, networking opportunities, and a chance for each individual participant to spend “a day in the life” shadowing arts managers from across the industry.
Jesse said the aim of the workshop was to get young people thinking about their creative abilities that may be hidden otherwise.
“I am nervous but super excited because kids are easy to work with and the age group will identify those students who are really interested and eager to learn.”
The workshop, for children aged 12 to 16 years of age, will be held at the Gateway to Gannawarra Visitor Centre from 10am to 1pm on February 27.
Cost is $10 and includes materials and lunch.
Bookings are essential to Jesse on 5487 1448.
