It is with great delight that the College can introduce the very artistic Mr Brian Tink.

Brian is responsible for the Visual Arts and Photography classes within the College.  He comes to Cornerstone with a Bachelor of Education with a Visual Arts major and an Industrial Arts minor.   Brian has over 20 years of teaching experience and is well known for his creative brilliance.  He is an artist in his own right, and delights in communicating and passing these skills onto his students.

Under his direction, over the past two years, his students have taken out the overall prize for lower school students at the prestigious ILUKA Visions Art Exhibition.  In 2010, one of his Year 12 students took home the Prize for the best sculpture -and given that over 700 students vie for a title at these awards,  it is a huge testimony of Brian’s skills as an educator and the quality of work produced within his classes.

Brian loves his job.  He enjoys seeing students who think they can’t draw being able to create something truly wonderful.  In his words; ”I like the fact that I am teaching something that I am passionate about and a subject that most students enjoy.”

Brian has learnt over his many years of teaching that most students want specific instructions and boundaries – and within this framework they feel safe to try new things.  Most of his students need to be taught skills which allow them to create works of art that they are truly proud of.  The water-colour skills he develops with his Year 8 students were those that received the notable awards.

In years 7-10 Brian gives his students the opportunity to develop their skills and creativity and to be able to respond to the art of others.  He also aims for his class members to develop a view of how art fits into our society.  Brian uses his own artistic skills within the College community, and is responsible for the design of our current school uniform and logo.  He is also credited with the colour selections on buildings at the College.

Brian believes that his students get a good variety of art experiences in his classes.  These areas include foundational drawing skills, various forms of painting, printing and ceramics.  When asked about his style of teaching, he said ”I would like to think my classes strike a good balance by being informal enough to be fun, but structured enough to encourage the students to be productive and engaged.”

There is little doubt that his students do well under his expert direction.