Cats, pirates and elephants down the lane..

Back in Mt Lawley. After the 30 Artists, 30 walls, 1 Laneway project during the Beaufort Street Festival last year Grosvenor Lane alone provides a multitude of marvelous murals. The clowder of cats above was painted by Jackson et famille.. Jackson the son of a friend who owned the house was thrilled to be painting alongside the other artists, a future muralist in the making! To quote Shrink pirate artist below 'extreme boredom can do strange things to the mind', agreed!

...and last but not least the mural below by a favourite of mine James Giddy, you've seen him before on the blog.. love his gentle creatures around town, detest taggers, especially over other artists work grrrr! It's the last day for City Daily Photo members to catch that illusive 'camera shy self-portrait' I'd better get onto it today :) have you got yours sorted? Happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe..

To see more murals from around the world click here..

Joondalup Festival Twilight Lantern Parade.. 'Our Curious Landscape'.

One of the highlights of the Joondalup Festival is the Twilight Lantern Parade. First time viewed for me. I was blown away by the creativity of the entrants. A participative community arts event, with wondrous creations by school students, community groups and professional artists. The theme this year 'our curious landscape'..

There was so much more to see, but there was a point when I stopped to just enjoy and although I absolutely appreciate the work that went into the above I have to confess the excitement of the littlest participants holding their simple lanterns aloft so preciously was the most entertaining and a delight to see. Once again taking photos at night without a tripod.. très difficile! Can't believe the weekend is overs already, well mine anyway :) Happy Monday, take care and stay safe...

 Only two days left for City Daily Photo members to prepare their 'camera-shy self portrait', can't wait  to see the results..

Joondalup Festival at twilight..

Yesterday evening found us wandering around this year's Joondalup Festival, it was hectic! Joondalup City is roughly 26 km north of Perth and just ten minutes on the freeway from where I live. When Aimee was looking to buy her first property Joondalup was on the list. A festival is not a festival without the flying swings, I remember loving those swings, these days I'm happy just to listen to the screams :) now the carousel below is another matter, I quite like the idea of choosing a mount and having a ride!

Pop up coffee and Gelato bar!

The Beatles were there.. they were fab!

The real reason we were there was the same as the thousands of children and parents below excitedly waiting for....! Show you tomorrow :) Hope you're having a groovy weekend (man that just aged me), take care and stay safe...

The 'Extra Mad' chandelier!

Well I guess it's not really all that mad, but it was the first thing that I noticed on entering Mad Mex at Hillarys Boat Harbour.. if you pull the image in you'll see the perfectly placed rows of Corona Extra beer bottles make a pretty cool chandelier! As soon as I downloaded this shot I knew it would be fun to have bit of a play, works well with the colours inverted don't you think? Bon weekend, take care and most of all stay safe...

  Visit James to see more WEEK-END REFLECTIONS

  

Sunny side up.. this way and that!

I like the young lad's expression :) Couldn't resist showing 'is this a step forward' by Keld Moseholm (Denmark) it was one of my favourite pieces from Sculpture by the Sea this year. Three chubby chaps absorbed in their reading, about to step off the ...! As an avid book reader I can relate, I've burnt many a dinner distracted by words :)

... and 'ocean lace' below by Britt Mikkelsen (WA) just because it's pretty in the sunset! Look at those surfers out there.. you wouldn't catch me in the water at twilight, feeding time for big beasties in the sea! End of week already and storms predicted for Perth today, I hope they've got it right this time, a storm would be most welcome! Happy Friday, take care and stay safe...

The hot, the cool and the ugly!

We went to Kings Park yesterday, it was a perfect Perth afternoon and it's a lovely spot to enjoy a coffee, two sugars, a splash of milk and spectacular views s'il vous plaît  :) Walking down towards the State War Memorial the summer planting around the Eternal Flame is fabulous as always, flame Red Salvia (I think), remember the end of spring view below, cool Blue Salvia (I think) All good so far, and then...

... of course I had to spoil the ambiance by looking out over the city to see how my least anticipated of all the building projects going on around Perth is progressing. Elizabeth Quay.. what can I say, still trying to keep an open mind but after all this time it still looks like a bloody disaster! You never know, before I retire from PDP I might be able to show you the finished view from Kings Park :) Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe...

Birds and the bees!

When I first set eyes on Peregrine House above, home to BirdLife Western Australia I thought how perfect! It almost looks like a bird hide don't you think! Nestled in the 80 hectare of Perry Lakes Reserve, 13 hectare of which are conservation wetlands, surrounded by old eucalyptus trees, many in glorious flower right now.. if you pull in the shot below you'll see each flower has several gorging bees inside. The reason we were there at Peregrine House is because P, who has infinitely more patience than I when it comes to birding, is joining as a member.. if you have a spare four minutes I'd love it if you had a squizzy at his very first video here.. guaranteed to relax if you're feeling a wee bit stressed :) Happy Wednesday, take care and stay safe...

"Adventure in life is good, consistency in coffee even better." Justina Chen.

“I told the waitress I wanted some coffee. She asked if I wanted leaded or unleaded, so I had to leave the restaurant, because I quit drinking gasoline years ago.”  Jarod Kintz

  

Drowning in coffee/tea.. who hasn't had one of those days :) Mural by Yowza spotted in Grosvenor Lane, Mt. Lawley. Couldn't resist popping in this little cutie below by super talented Perth artist Drew Straker, remember The Guardian of Highgate. Hope your week is off to a good start, Happy Monday take care and stay safe... 

 Click here to view all participants of Monday Mural

Along the South Perth foreshore..

Parking under the Narrows Bridge in South Perth yesterday afternoon, Aimee and I began our stroll along the foreshore. It was the last day, or so we thought, of the South Perth Fiesta, and there was something in particular that we were there to see. Along the way.. deckchairs set up for visitors to enjoy the city views..

Handsome man singing ballads...

Miam Miam a Bite of France.. the roving food vans preparing to begin cooking.

More deckchair views...

... and my view!  Whenever I come south of the river from now on I'm going to take a picture of this view because when the Elizabeth Quay project is eventually complete, this view will be changed dramatically. Oh yes.. the reason Aimee and I were here in the first place was to take some shots of an installation titled 'Intrude' by Sydney artist Amanda Parer, 7ft illuminated white rabbits, see what they look like here, what a fab shot that would have made with the cityscape in the background. Too late, it finished on Saturday night :) Ah well, c'est la vie! Happy Monday, take care and stay safe..

Oodles.. and oooodles of noodles!

It's officially 'Good Food Month'  here in Perth, a fact, that as I ate my second ice cream last night doesn't seem to have registered with moi :) We went into the city to the Night Noodle Markets in the cultural centre. It was crazy busy.. excellent to see so many young families enjoying the city. You might remember Lucky Chan's Laundry & Noodle Bar from this post, we did watch the noodle demons at work below, amazing.. there were so many hungry peeps to feed. Don't you love the washing line hanging up there, some interesting items on that line :)

Shot below a wee bit hazy, lots of cooking going on, mainly to show the crowds in town enjoying good food, good wine and a warm balmy night, the threat of rain was there.. but didn't happen.. Hope your weekend is going well, happy Sunday, take care and stay safe...p.s. big catch up today!

Through the looking glass at sunset..

I did make it back to Cottesloe yesterday evening in time to take that shot I was after.. I knew that the glass sculpture by Japanese artist Toshio Iezumi would translate in a completely different way as the sun was setting over the beach.. remember it here in the morning light. In the evening with iridescent colours bouncing off every sculpted surface it was truly a wonderful work of art. I couldn't decide which shot I liked best so here they are both, which do you prefer the closer or wider shot? To see how the event was organized and some of the sculptures I missed have a peek at this very short video here. Here's hoping you have a safe and happy weekend, take care..

Click here to view all participants of Weekend Reflections

Sculpture by the Sea 2015.. the storm.

An outdoor event like this is always a temptation for the weather gods to have a little bit of fun, as they did last week when we felt the effects here in Perth of a cyclone further up the coast. Although none of the sculptures were damaged in the storm the pieces closest to the water had to be moved a fair bit higher read about it here. I was so surprised when I saw the piece above which is high up on the beach close to the tearooms, only feet away from where the sand has been washed away, incroyable! It did strike me as a little ironic that the work by Ben Juniper (WA) is titled 'event horizon' ..more like moving horizon!

The work above would also have had to be moved as were the red flamingos. I feel the titles of some of the works were provoking a challenge :) this piece perfectly titled 'way of the wind' by Yuko Takahashi (WA) was a favourite. If you pull it in close you'll see that the whirls are made up of many recycled aluminum cans attached to stainless steel pipes, so much work, so clever and so perfect for a windy situation. Below, 'a creature of many guises and deceptive simplicity' the 'sea anemone' by Rebecca Rose (NZ) would have felt right at home so close to the water, or maybe in the water.. still hoping to get back to Cottesloe to take those sunset shots. Happy Friday, take care and stay safe...

It's not a sculpture.. a mothering moment!

First up I apologize that these aren't the sharpest of images, was using my 300mm long lens without a tripod.. or my knees :) I couldn't pass up on this sweet scene while walking in Pinnaroo late yesterday afternoon. I don't know if you have ever seen a joey, it's head inside mum's pouch suckling while she waits with patient expression.. amazingly it's a first for me! Bit of a change from sculptures although we might be back to them at some time very soon :) Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe.. p.s. last shot, look what I spied through the trees beside the lake, last seen here..