> Joy Lankshear Case #75 - God and the University

The art I love

June 25, 2026

The art I love

To give our readers the opportunity to get to know the CASE Team better, we’ve been asking members to share something of themselves. This edition it's the turn of our long term graphic designer, Joy Lankshear.

I was born in a fishing village on the south east coast of Thailand, where Mum and Dad were working in a mission hospital, run by OMF. When I was six years old I was sent off to boarding school in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia.

At boarding school, while there was sadness, there was also so much beauty. If I could describe my childhood using a colour, it would be the most verdant of greens. Growing up in the tropics, and then in the rainforests of Malaysia, I was surrounded by the most incredible wildlife. The beauty and abundance of God’s creation had a profound influence on me.

My first introduction to art was the two large mural paintings on the walls of our school dining hall, which had been painted by one of the staff, Diane Webber. One of Diane’s paintings in the dining hall.

I never enjoyed the boarding school food. There was a ‘finish what’s on your plate’ policy, so I had more than ample time to stare intently at these paintings, while ignoring the food on my plate. There were so many details, like little insects and birds, leaf forms and tree shapes. I give some credit to Diane for kindling my passion for art.

Diane was also the staff member who most encouraged me to read my Bible. When I was about 10, she took the time to sit with me, one-on-one, working through a Bible passage to help me understand its meaning. I will always cherish her patience as she demonstrated the importance of Bible reading.

In primary school I recall that I paid no attention in class but instead counted down the minutes until school would finish for the day and I could play in the school grounds.

Nestled in a valley in the midst of a tropical rainforest, the school had a crystal clear bubbling stream winding through it, a boat pond, a huge tree house perched in a tree on the slope overlooking the school swimming pool, a soccer oval, a playground, and climbing trees. It was just the place for an outdoorsy child to explore.

Eventually our family returned to Australia to look after my aging grandparents, and for me to start high school in central Victoria. It was late winter and Victoria was in the midst of a 5-year drought. Everything was so dry and brown. Where was that verdant green I’d grown up with?

My interest in art grew through high school. At university I studied a Bachelor of Arts (Graphic Design). I came to appreciate the design and typographic skills of Massimo Vignelli and Saul Bass, and marvelled at the landscape photography of Ansel Adams (left), and the light and shade in the photography of Max Dupain and Olive Cotton.

The habit of appreciating and observing God’s creation, fostered in me as a child at Chefoo School, has stayed with me. The artists I admire most are those who reflect the works of the greatest artist of all, God. In mind are Australian landscape artists like Pamela Griffith and bird photographer Leila Jeffreys.

Outside of work hours these days, I love nothing more than spending time in nature. With a camera in hand, and with gratitude in my heart, I try to document some of the wonders I see—whether it be a blue-banded bee in my garden, or a tiny fungus, or a tree fern-laden valley in the Blue Mountains.

Image credits:

Title image: Joy (aged 7) at boarding school with Grade 2 teacher Molly Metcalf. Photo courtesy Joy Lankshear

Mural by Diane Webber. Photo courtesy Joy Lankshear

Monolith, the Face of Half Dome by Ansel Adams, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org