South-west artist's special moment as AFL club unveils Indigenous guernsey

Keerray Woorroong and Yorta Yorta woman Sherry Johnstone painted Geelong's artwork for its 2024 Indigenous guernsey.

The Cats will wear two different variations of the jumper - a predominantly navy blue version against Gold Coast at Darwin's TIO Stadium on Thursday, May 16 and a predominantly white version against GWS Giants at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, May 25.

Johnstone, who turned 50 last week, said she would be in the Northern Territory to see her artwork in action for the first time.

The mother-of-two - her eldest son Dion spent time on Melbourne's AFL list - said it was a thrill to have her work showcased to a national audience.

Guernseys, beanies and scarves with her design will be available for fans to buy.

"I was teary and shaky because it did mean a lot to me and it's kind of a big deal," Johnstone told The Standard.

"The feedback I got was that my style was a little bit different and they loved the story as well.

"Sir Doug Nicholls round is a great platform for Aboriginal people to showcase their talents and for us to focus more on that.

"There's so many more opportunities for Aboriginal people today and it's about recognising that and celebrating that and what a cultural perspective can bring."

The opportunity comes after the Warrnambool-based Johnstone took "a leap of faith" to "see how I would go as an artist".

"I have always loved drawing," she said.

"When I hit secondary school I started to really challenge myself in regards to creating different styles, different versions.

"I did a sign-writing apprenticeship when I finished school and then worked with Aboriginal community after that for nearly 30 years as well as working in the (Warrnambool) Art Gallery for the last two years before I resigned to become a full-time artist.

"I just needed to wait for the right time and for me to learn, grow and experience different things that can now be part of my artwork and my story-telling.

"It is very satisfying and I am definitely in my happy place."

The Geelong guernsey design, titled Layers of the Land, has a strong emphasis on the environment.

"It is to create conversations and thoughts about what we're currently experiencing with our environment and the impact we're having," she said.

"At the top of the guernsey is the message stick and the circle is about coming together and working as a team to spread the message about fighting for our environment and to also pass that message onto the future generations."

Johnstone, who created an Indigenous guernsey and netball bibs for Hampden league club North Warrnambool Eagles in 2023, said she wanted to see the damaged environment be "revived and restored" and areas which were thriving to "keep them thriving".

"It (the environment) is something I am concerned about and I am sure it's in the back of a lot of people's minds - what's it going to be like in another five years, another 10 years," she said.

"I don't think we can continue doing what we're doing. There's a lot of people fighting for the good but there's also still a lot of things that need to be put in place and a lot of practices that need to change."

Johnstone said the process for the Geelong job started in 2022 via an expression of interest.

She sketched the design in February 2023 and painted the work four months later.

"A community member sent me an email with the expression of interest and if he hadn't have done that, I would've missed it completely so I was really lucky he thought of me," Johnstone said.

"I thought it would be pretty exciting and it was something I was going to aim for, to have my artwork on an AFL guernsey.

"They (the Cats) were really good to work with and really respectful of making sure they didn't lose the essence of the story."