Leigh Hobbs
Leigh was born in Melbourne and has variously worked as a teacher, cleaner and artist. It is in this latter area that his true passion lies and he has had cartoon illustrations appear in newspapers, as well as painting, drawing and sculpting – his Flinders Street Railway Station teapot is in the National Gallery of Victoria and he has worked on Luna Park both in Sydney and Melbourne.
Today, Leigh has built a cult following amongst school children with his characters of Old Tom, Horrible Harriet and Fiona the Pig reflecting many aspects of life and behaviour that are easily recognisable to young children.
Visiting schools, Leigh speaks about character development, leading the students through drawing Old Tom and Horrible Harriet (or Mr Chicken) before encouraging them to draw a character of their own devising. Students leave these sessions full of excitement and with imaginations alight.
With older students, Leigh can speak about taking the image from the page to the screen – Old Tom has made it to the screen as a mini series on ABC Television, which is regularly screened during the late afternoon.
Leigh was a big success with the students and staff. I am now looking for someone for next year around Book Week . . . someone like him.
Julie (St Agnes Catholic Primary School VIC)
I just wanted to say how much our school students and teachers enjoyed Leigh Hobbs' visit in term 3. He was punctual, well organised and very informative and entertaining. I would highly recommend him to other schools. He is also very understanding of how schools operate and the work load of teachers. He was a pleasure to work with.
Marg (St Oliver Plunkett Primary School VIC)
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