Kambrya College student Ashleigh de Vent does some touch up work on Billy.By Callan Date
TICKET inspectors should have no issues with Berwick student Ashleigh de Vent and her friend Billy boarding a bus.
That’s because 17-year-old Ashleigh has created Billy from more than 300 used Metcards as part of an art project at Kambrya College.
The unusual inspiration for the artwork came from the amount of tickets Ashleigh and her friends had collected from their journeys on Melbourne’s public transport system.
By the end of the 10-month project nearly half of Kambrya was collecting Metcards for Ashleigh touse on Billy and the acoustic guitar he holds.
“I have a very supportive art teacher who let me work on him in nearly every art class,” Ashleigh said.
Billy will soon have some company when Bella the Ballerina is completed and the first Metcard couple come together.
And Billy may become more than a one-trip wonder with Ashleigh currently talking with Metlink about the possibility of a public display of some sort.
In the meantime Ashleigh will continue her enthusiastic artwork – which she hopes will be the start of a career in a related industry.
“I would love to go to university and study to be an art teacher,” she said.
