A love story_February's Wallism

The care and love that went into creating this piece of Wallism is evident.  
The level of artistic endeavour that now graces the urban wall space of our cities is of a constant wonderment to shiftazine. 
Thank you.

PonyFish_Down under

PonyFish is a truly unique bar which nestles under the Yarra Pedestrian Footbridge (connecting Southbank to Flinders Street station).  
A set of stairs, found at the road level, on the Southbank side, 
takes you down to this watery wonderland. As the City of Melbourne website descibes it “The vibe is eccentric, and the city perspective is very different”.

The tone of PonyFish’s character was completed by Moth Design, 
who converted the small and industrial space into an island of relaxation and fun, 
with the use of recycled timber, shipping palettes acting as seating, hessian sack covers and wooden planter boxes filled with hardy green plants.  
All of this sits overlooking, if not really, immersed in the Yarra River.

The tiny kitchen is open from early early to late into the night producing delicious food that hits the spot and suits the tastebuds, no matter the time of day or night.  
And the coffee, as with most places in Melbourne, is great.

Southgate Pedestrian Bridge/Southgate Avenue, Melbourne VIC 3006

Hours: Mon: 8am – 1am; Tue: 8am – 1am; Wed: 8am – 1am; Thu: 8am – 1am;   Fri: 8am – 1am; Sat: 8am – 1am; Sun: 10am – 1am 

Feel the JOY of Summer

The feel of wet sand between my toes on a hot Summer's day or the smell of Summer rain after a huge Summer storm brings me JOY equally.  
I love the feel of the contrast of the burn of the sun and the soft coolness of the sea or the rain water on my skin.  

Celebrate the thing that brings you JOY on JoyDay on the 25th of November each year.

Any element becomes important when it’s connected to another.

A palette of colours can be so reflective of the period in which it is used. 
It can tell the future viewer much about the psyche of that particular time. 
At the same time, a particular palette of colours can be perennial and can connect very different times, places and viewers in a universal way. 

The above imagery shows a 2013 painting by Australian artist Ross Laurie, entitled ‘Berlin’
which engages the same palette of colours as ceramics created in the mid 20^th century by Australian ceramist Martin Boyd.

Unexpected colour combinations have an enduring resonance to the eye and the soul regardless of when they are used.

Street Details

This image is a perfect example of how many details are waiting for us on the street.  These funny little metal stools with their quirky leg design.  
The odd wooden table / cupboard that compliments the stools.  
And then there is the divine colour scheme of the blues, blue greys, browns, biscuits tones, and warm greys that is out of this world.  It's all there.

The world is made up of billions of details. 
They are all important and can give us so many ideas, and resolutions to many different types of problems. 
Keep your eyes and mind open and embrace and consider not just the bigger picture  but the details.  

As ‘they’ say both god and the devil live there. 

Conversation_January's Wallism

The power of Wallism is that it opens up conversation for all those who might notice it.
It is an opportunity for anyone, who has something to say, either verbally or visually, non sensical or extremely focused and current, to say it loud and proud.

Greece Colours: No.3 The Colour of Life

The colour of olive oil says it all.  It glows. No need to wax lyrically about its qualities, 
the smell, the taste, the feel, you just know when you taste it how wonderful good olive oil is.
The best olive oil in the world (in shiftazine’s opinion) is found in the beautiful island of Crete,
but then again maybe all of Greece is equally blessed.  After all it is the land of the gods.

Taking it all in

Taking it all in, is not just about seeing what’s around you but truly absorbing the experiences, 
the feelings these experiences have triggered, allowing these places, experiences, objects that have been apart of your summer, to become apart of you is not tiring, 
it’s enlivening.

This summer Damien Minton Gallery in Redfern held 14 exhibition openings over 14 consecutive nights showing a total of 93 artists.  
It was wonderful!  
A full moon glowed with its silvery light over us all on the balmy nights as we walked back from the gallery to one of the many eateries, such as Tapieo, 
which have fantastic huge paper stencil owls populating their walls. 
Every moment was a memory. The pictures speak for themselves.