New Queensland bird carvings decorate Great Court arches

University of Queensland sculptor Rhyl Hinwood believes it is appropriate that nomadic and migratory birds feature in her latest carved decorations at the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus.

"University of Queensland students and staff are both migratory and nomadic," she said.

Ms Hinwood has just finished carving bird species found in Queensland arid regions, wetlands, forests and agricultural areas, and oceanic regions on the external sandstone arch voussoirs of the vehicular entry to the Great Court.

(Voussoirs are the wedge-shaped or tapered stones forming an arch).

The carvings, which depict a zebra finch, white-tailed kingfisher, Australian snipe, Channel-billed cuckoo, magpie goose, pink-eared duck, red-tailed tropic bird and the mistletoe bird, were started in March this year.

"I proposed the subjects and submitted the designs to an academic committee which includes zoologists and the proposal was accepted," Ms Hinwood said.

Perched on a 4.5 metre tall platform with sculpting tools in hand, including pneumatic hammers and chisels and a diamond saw, Ms Hinwood is a familiar sight at the University, having spent 23 years carving buildings in the sandstone-cloistered Great Court.

"I cannot afford to make mistakes, as they are literally set in stone," she said.

Last year she completed carvings of Queensland fauna, including a giant burrowing cockroach and a prehistoric Pterosaur. Ms Hinwood hopes her next University project will include references to names of Brisbane suburbs derived from Aboriginal words for local fauna because the arch she hopes to carve is adjacent to the Anthropology Department. A long-term goal is to undertake a large frieze on the theme of knowledge at the north-eastern main Forgan Smith Building entrance to the University.

For more information, contact Rhyl Hinwood (telephone 07 3378 3808 or facsimile 3878 4132).