Artist: Tom Sanders Year: 1968 Location: Eltham Town Square, Arthur Street, Eltham
Ceramic mural (earthenware tiles) consisting of a playful/organic abstract design similar in style to the Spanish artist Joan Miro. Shades of blue, yellow and black glazes are layered onto matte black and shiny bronze tiles.
Sanders was a well-known local potter who worked for a time with David Boyd at the Martin Boyd Pottery, before returning to Melbourne where he had some association with Arthur Boyd, at the pottery in Murrumbeena.
Sanders set up a studio in Eltham in the early 1950s and made the first of a series of architectural ceramic murals with painter and print maker Lawrence Daws in 1956. In 1957 he left for Europe and while there was inspired by the Spanish artist Joan Miro’s unconventional painting style and large-scale murals, in particular Wall of the Moon (1957).
After returning from his travels in Europe to Australia in 1964, he began to work solely on creating ceramic murals, some of which were commissioned for Southland Shopping Centre in Cheltenham Melbourne 1968 (now demolished), the National Mutual Centre Melbourne 1964-5 (now demolished), Dee Why Library Sydney 1966, Woden Valley High School ACT 1967, Tullamarine Airport Melbourne 1969-70 (now demolished), Perth Concert Hall 1971 and The University of Melbourne 1975 (with John Olsen).
This mural is one of only three remaining in the public realm by Tom Sanders (the others are at the Perth Concert Hall 1971 and at the University of Melbourne 1975).