Are you warm enough?

Maybe the hair cut has chilled him?

NGV Day 2

It was very enticing to go back and see what else was on.

View from gallery to the River activity

This time I focused on the Ian Potter Gallery and got a closer look at some of the "Live" pictures.

PUKARA by Maringka Baler

Corn  I think, but seeing it is not indigenous to Australia maybe it's called something else

Again there were a lot of children's art activity going on, as well as music, including this indigenous group outside the new Art exhibit.
I walked out along the river for  a space them over the Bridge marveling at what natural vandals young children are!
The security was kept busy asking mothers to prevent their children from rearranging the art works.
This design of stone of Fred Williams painting was a great attraction but look fairly original still.

Fred Williams. Pilbara Hillside

Out along the bridge I got a better look at the Living Art

This guy was very popular!

The picture standing next to him

This painting was one of the favorite 10 selected as well.
When I walked back he was in another pose seated!

Kids were trying to get him to look at them!

A Sargeant of the Light Horse

I didn't walk down to look at this one but it looked familiar.

NGV 150 Years

This weekend celebrates the 150th birthday of the national gallery Of Victoria. They had planned a huge weekend of celebrations,a nd when I arrived about 330pm there were kids adults and activity everywhere The themed Orange balloons were visible everywhere as the trail of activity led from Fed Square to the International gallery 

http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/ngv-150-party

It was 24 May, in 1861 that the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) was founded. But it was also the first public art gallery in Australia. There was a painting of Alfred Felton of Felton bequest fame established in 1904 who made his money supplying to those travelling to the gold fields. He had purchased art himself and  when he died left #338,000 (pounds not dollars) (invested) to the gallery. With that the gallery has  bought  $20million worth of more than 15,000 pieces!  Just paintings  includes some Rembrandt, Tiepolo, Monet, Cezanne, van Gogh, Turner and William Blake. as well as other types of art.

To celebrate the NGV’s 150th birthday, the gallery  unveiled 173 important indigenous works of art gifted to the gallery by the Felton Bequest. Since the NGV opened in St Kilda Road in 1968, the total collection has doubled in size to more than 60,000 works of art. 

The story of trying to build on the site is a story in itself and an engineering breakthrough that led the world.

They  ran a competition to name your top ten favourite pieces and the piece that was voted most popular in the competition.. John Bracks... Collins St 5pm

As well NGV Kids Space opened at NGV International; a dedicated gallery designed for children of up to 8 years old and their families. It is located just on the right of the main foyer .

Easy to find with all the pushers!

Featuring works from NGV collections and exhibitions, children and families can have fun together as they discover art, explore multimedia and hands-on activities while sharing new ideas. II came across some parents from the yacht Club who said they had been sitting for 45 minutes while the children explored; very restful they said!! t was an interesting space with lots of hands on stuff. The theme for the opening exhibit was Kaleidoscope of colour.

The figure is hidden by the Light Pole!

Along the walk from Fed Square to the International gallery there were balloons and cut out figures These were paintings from the Gallery with the Victorian College of the Arts' students in a life pose. At times the public were taken into the picture and draped in clothes to join in.

This was a picture of musicians

The Gallery was open till midnight with talks about some main pieces, musicians in some of the formal galleries. After 5 there was free champagne for the members, where I got chatting to a woman there who had taken advantage of the 2 for one membership offer.

In the great hall there had been kids doing art work on creating mosaics, and that was being cleared for the indigenous music concert planned at 5pm

Kids and parents at work Photo at 340pm

photo at 515pm Cleaned up quickly!!

The ceiling

My friend the Chocolate Cake

However I didn't stay round after 545 as I had come in early especially to get a ticket to the sold out My friend the Chocolate Cake concert, and as I had learnt from my thespian sister there are always tickets for guests etc. kept. 

They were on in teh Fairfax studio. They have released a new album and the crowd was a group of devotees as well as new new fans I expect. There were a lot of children in the audience as well; maybe students of violin or cello. The show was great as expected and good fun. David the pianist and singer was entertaining (love his voice)  and accompanied for 2 songs by his daughter (about 14 yrs I think)

A really great fun day and evening

pavement art

Spencer was back to resembling a sheep, so I had booked him in for a trim on a cancellation and luckily I got the call! So he now looks shiny and smooth and trim.
Down at Doggy Dooz (the alternative meaning of 'Dooz' makes for a not so nice Business name) I notice that they had had some artist at work. Seddon has quite a bit of an Art scene at times.
This morning the Indian cafe had not had anything done and they were engaged in doing a chalk design themselves.

Paws lead to Doggy Dooz

There is also a shop selling soap and cleaners, that now has a range of shampoo etc as well as household items and hand made bags, door stops etc; Some really nice things.
I have had the shampoo for a few weeks now so picked up a matching conditioner .
I bought a new door stop for my room as the door does not stay open, and Celia's duck really belongs at her door.

Party supply shop

The Post Office. Open on Sat morning!

 It all adds to the 'village' atmosphere of the place.
When I went in to the city later I parked at North Melbourne Station just in front of this!

Day 40: Tatami and Shoji Screens

There is nothing like the smell of fresh tatami. It is correct to say Tatami, not tatami mat as Tatami IS a mat (That's like saying a Koala bear)

Rooms can be opened up fr more space and the 'walls'  disappear

A tatami is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core (though nowadays sometimes the core is composed of compressed wood chip boards boards or ploystyrene foam), with a covering of woven soft rush, tatami are made in uniform sizes. Usually, on the long sides, they have edging (heri) of brocade or plain cloth.

A tea House in Tokyo

Rooms always come ina  combination of 4.5,  5 or 8 mats, Rules govern the layout and an inauspicious layout is said to bring bad fortune. In homes, the mats must not be laid in a grid pattern, and in any layout there is never a point where the corners of four mats touch.

 I love the look of light filtering through the screen

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo While washi is the traditional paper, shōji may be made of paper made by modern manufacturing processes; plastic is also in use.

Beautiful detail on a screen in an old hotel

Shōji doors are designed to slide open, and thus conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. They are used in traditional houses as well as Western-style housing, especially in the Japanese-style room. In modern construction, the shōji does not form the exterior surface of the building; it sits inside a sliding glass door or window.

Futon  (means whole bedding) with the quilt and protector

Lots of private homes I visited were western design but with a 'Japanese Style' room where futon were laid out for sleep for extra guests

Spontaneity 1995-2011

Walking on the lead. Could not be trusted off!

A tribute to Wendy's devoted Sponty who was gently put to sleep after his great age and illness made life difficult.
A sad day for Wendy and all her friends who know how much he meant to her.

His beautiful coat and tail

The drive to develop

Visited Dylan today and enjoyed his "all of a sudden" developmental progress.

Sitting opens a new world! The bib is an essential as he is Dribbling+++

 After his Croup last week he stalled but suddenly is now sitting unsupported, moving from lying to sitting and now crawling. Nothing is safe!

Enjoying my Christmas present

Finished the cereal now for the rusk!

He's also moving along with solids and with his 3rd tooth through he enjoys any food offered and rusks!

Yacht Club Prsesentation Night

We had our annual Friday night get-togetehr to arrange the art creations developed under Di Leighfield's direction. We spent Friday night threading the toys, and hanging them from the netting, a traditional set up.

Getting the net up was a joint effort

The theme this year was beach party and people were to wear a beach hat (I didn't).

The Centre Piece

Decorations were cheap and cheerful beach toys in bold colours – a little kitsch but bright and happy. So bright that some of the tables enjoyed small bonfires when candles went a bit feral.

The Table Centre pieces were a great design by Di and in a beach theme the trophies were beach towels They were labeled with fabric printed from the computer. I gather you can buy sheets of 'paper' that peel off when printed. A bad year not to win a prize!

The labeled towels

Ewan's winning design

Cliff's creation

The winning beach hat was all from the $2 shop but Cliff's (not my future sailing Cliff) won an honorable mention!

The candles in the drive looked great as we walked in!

Dinosaurs

I had booked months ago to see the Walking with Dinosaurs Spectacular and to take Nick and Kate. They are probably at the edge of the upper age limit but they were happy to come with me!
It was well worth it and from their point of view the actual animatronics alone was worth it.  The younger kids must have been a bit nervous as they were so lifelike!!

This bird (covered in fur) name I forgot was a highlight

The bird was flying along suspened on wires, and the screen at it's back showed it soaring over the land, cliffs  the sea then during a storm  and back to land again The view on the screen was what those directly in front would have seen.

Creepy Raptors

I was really informative about the development of the earth and the forces driving it and how that influenced the  dinosaurs themselves.

The highlight was the appearance of Tyrannosaurus Rex Scared the screams out of the kids sitting in front rows!

Day 39 Dishes

Many Japanese restaurants serve one type of food in a few variations. Tonkatsu, Soba, Sushi, Donburi etc  They have developed a system of varied dishes that suit the courses on offer and these are usually stacked in colourful shelves behind the counter.

Dishes for sauce,  rice, sake, soup etc

The pestle is birch wood and grooves make crushing easier

Some restaurants have  a signature style. This bowl is for us to crush the seeds to add to the rice rather than serving it on the rice.