I was ambling around the Abbottsford/ Collingwood area, and found it has the most interesting history.  There are quite a few informative boards, including the map below, that shows Victoria Park is now the ground for Collingwoood Football Club, fans called Magpies, or pies, their colours being black and white.  I took a photo of the sculpture sitting up on a mound, framed by two magnificent Eucalyptus trees....I read that this area was covered in them originally. The scoreboard is a reminder of the old scoreboard in that position, it apparently was quite iconic, and had spring-loaded winding mechanisms with  bike sprockets and wooden handles to move the numbers and signs, hence they are represented in the new sculpture called The Final Siren.

The Collingwood football ground seems to be a nice place to exercise dogs on a perfect Melbourne day!

A variation of Beige on Beige!

You cant tell a book by its cover, so choose your book by the look of the folio!

Such a diversity of building styles to enjoy...at last I found my way to the Abbotsford Convent, in Abbotsford on the banks of the Yarra river. The formal gardens and the buildings are of national heritage significance due to their historic, landscape and architectural values. I would love to come back on a Sunday and take the guided tour to learn more about the Sisters of the Good Shepherd , who for over a century provided shelter, food and work for thousands of vulnerable and poor women and girls.  
The blossom has welcomed in spring!  I enjoy the filigree on the Victorian cottage houses, and spied a sign that might indicate that the owners are from New Zealand... Haere mai  is the Maori word for Welcome!
The bare trees are majestic, I have enjoyed noticing the different forms wherever I have been, wonderful matured trees that are well cared for. 

I have known about the Firestation in Armadale for a few years, as they are an open -access print studio and they run great sounding workshops. I always wondered how difficult it would be to get to a class on public transport, so found out it would be no problem by taking the train.  There was an interesting exhibition on featuring other independent printmakers in Melbourne, including Lancaster Press, Rambunctious Press, Sinclair Press and Trinacria Press.

Wednesday is a good day to go to Sth Melbourne as the Market is open.  It is easy to get to, today I took the No.1 tram that goes past the National Art Gallery...currently the Monet Exhibition is on offer, but I am still happy finding art wherever!  Sth Melbourne used to be called Emerald Hill, I think its a pity it was changed as the latter seems to sum up the lovely shops that are there.. as well as the Market for fresh food and all sorts of wonderful things. On the main street... Clarendon, there is a florist that has been there for 25 years, it is called InFullbloom. It always has wonderful window displays incorporating found objects, flowers and foliage.  This time there were hanging bottles, and an old printers chest holding the type cases  - brought back a yearning to get back into letterpress!

A much needed break from visual stimulii, saw me getting some dirt under my finger nails! Great! Actually I like gardening in Melbourne as the soil is so friable the weeds easily are pulled. A lovely warm day and a pair of secateurs...started attacking a climbing Jasmine that was threatening to cause a fence to collapse, and a plant that I hadn't seen before, that had interesting pods. I carefully put some of those aside, and continued cutting til coffee time, when I explored an interesting piece of rock that i found in the soil, as well as the innards of the pod. I combined the 2, and had constructed some Nature Art, and spent a happy time photographing it.
I have since found out the plant is called Moth Vine, native to southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and is deemed a weed as it smothers small trees and depresses their growth. Not surprisingly by what I found inside, it reproduces by wind dispersal.  The piece of rock or coral maybe remains a mystery...

Took the trusty 109 tram out of the city, along Victoria Street, passing by the best cafes for all types of 
Asian food... (I have sampled quite a few now, always delicious and authentic), noticing the golden basted ducks hung up to dry for Peking duck....to a big shopping Mall, called Victoria Gardens.  Most people like it because there is a huge Ikea store there, you need to be fit to make it round all the show rooms... but my daughter and I always meet up at the pet shop that has puppies and kittens for sale...Always entertaining if one of us is late....
Today however I noticed a huge mural on the outside wall of the complex, wonderful textures, and a winding metal sculpture to represent the Yarra River that is close by...Great block carving possibilities....

Today I walked along Johnson Street to Smith Street in the arty Fitzroy precinct, slightly uphill on a warm sunny day, taking in interesting sights....
a sculpture in what seemed an empty shop window, of a "human" form, made from piano hammers and plywood, kitchen vege steamers for face parts.
I have some piano hammers waiting for inspiration to strike, so good to see what someone else has created with them..

Nice pile timber on a pallet .....A print from the end grain just begging... such interesting colour patterns too, I don't suppose the loader had an art scheme in mind!!

Nearly up to the Smith Street corner, when my eye was attracted to some brightly coloured spectacle frames piled high on a pole in a shop window.  Since I have done a piece of print art with frames, I was intrigued with the display. Looking further into the shop I spot an antique typewriter... another passion.... mmm, out came the camera.... and out came one of the assistants from the shop....she was young and a design delight in herself! "Ho" she said, "why don't you come inside the shop and take photos..." So had the loveliest experience in an optometrists shop that had THE most amazing displays of their brightly coloured wacky spec frames that are made in Adelaide, and can take prescription lens.  She persuaded me to try on several pairs, Oh, if I could have carried off the look I would have ordered some... so if you are feeling like a new image, I recommend a visit to ispex funky spex.

I turn right into Smith Street, where the sport clothes outlet stores are neck and jowl. One side of the street is in the shade, and the other bathed in sunshine, so I cross the road and the tram tracks, to a cafe that has instant appeal from the interesting name of Pavlov's Ducks. Great coffee in the sun, perched on one of their brightly striped chairs... have I mentioned I like stripes... amongst other curiosities such as a 3 wheeler chain bike (had one of those as a wee girl). A quick use of their loos, only not so quick, as the foyer area was wallpapered with pages from a book, and the toilet papered in Where's Wally pages. Looked til i found him, just to remind myself of how much fun those books were...Also a side dresser of interesting stationery and paper emphimera....

Now well satisfied, I passed a shop that has a dog, it was just scooting under a ladder with great patina... you can admire both....and spied something that I thought was Lost... The Lost and Found Market..... It used to be at the other end of Smith Street, it is where I first had a hankering for a retro typewriter, this led me on a mission back in New Zealand and the subsequent acquaintance of Olive. (I will introduce her another time..) The Market is in Perry St. and is a collective of antique/retro owners, each having their own booths.... It requires quite a long time before you can say you have seen it all, believe me there's EVERYTHING here... I took the photo of the Dentist's equipment for a friend who was a school dental nurse, brings back terrible memories, and I loved the front door, as my studio door is also red... and the bricks.. nice!

This morning fortunate to see some REAL art.... no, not the current Monet exhibition with its admission charge... FREE... Straight out of the spray can! I love Graffiti, sorry to all those who dont.... so I wandered down Union Lane to check out the mark making and colour combinations... stunning! I fell into discussion (as you do) with 2 respectable youths who were busy over arting with their message. I asked if I could take some photos of his hand at work, and he obligingly put his hoodie up to preserve his annonymity, so we both were having a happy time... he then asked me what I thought it needed!! After some thought I said, "there didnt seem to be many circular motifs along the way".... so he proceeded to squirt some pink blobs.... then he took up the yellow paint and with a confident squirt did the "mars" word... methinks he has done that before! Anyway, lovely memories, and something to look for next time I'm downtown.....

I ventured up Swanston Street, a slight detour into the second hand book shop, to the RMIT gallery where there was an exhibition of the work by Gosia Wlodarczak.
 The Polish artist spent nearly two and a half weeks packaged inside a sensory limitation cube (otherwise known as a giant black box), embarking on a self-imposed challenge to sketch on the walls of the box  everyday from 10:30 AM to 5 PM with as little exposure to the outside world as possible. The entire adventure, titled "A Room Without A View", was documented via webcam.

A beautiful sunny warm day saw us strolling next to the Yarra in the South Wharf precinct. I was especially excited, as I am related to the once New Zealand owners of “the most beautiful ship built in Belfast”…. The Polly Woodside. 
It was launched in 1885 and the wind billowed in its enormous sails all over the world. The first owner was William Woodside, and his wife’s nick name was Polly. In 1904 it was sold to New Zealand owners and renamed “Rona”. When steamships took over from sailing boats, her masts were removed, and it was used to take fuel and coal to other ships. It has now been fully restored as an interactive Museum, and is berthed in the historic Duke’s & Orr’s Dry dock. The surrounding area is bathed in the history of the docks and there are very photogenic relics at every turn. I thought the rigging on Polly will make an interesting dry point print one day….