Never judge a book by its cover..

 'Before we call for the wrecking ball, we could look again at our concrete beasts. Below that rough skin, we might see a little brutish charm' .

You have seen pics of the Brutalist architectural style of Art Gallery WA here. Directly opposite is the State Library of WA. The exterior of the library, in true Brutalist fashion looks a little severe, but once inside the spacious multi-levels of the library are light, bright and have fabulous views out over the Perth Cultural Centre and the city. It was unusually quiet when we were there a few days ago. Brutalist buildings are often on the world's ugliest buildings list, check it out and see if there is a prominent piece of Brutalist architecture in your city, I must admit some of them certainly had my flabber-gasted :) Happy Friday, take care and stay safe..

'It was this big'..

Caught this cute moment in the city yesterday while keeping an eye out for that elusive 'streetscape', the February theme for City Daily Photo bloggers around the world. Check out those shoes, those shoes were made for walking the beat :) Hope your week is going well, happy Thursday, take care and stay safe..

She wears flowers in her hair..

Driving along Walcott Street in Mount Lawley last week I spotted the mysterious brown eyed beauty here peering out from under her hibiscus adorned hair 🌺 I love it when artists combine nature with their work, unfortunately I couldn't find a name to credit the artist here which is a shame because this sultry eyed seductress certainly adds to the streetscape. Those relentless blue skies are back, 38C yesterday.. not complaining! Happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe..

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WA unlimited..

I remember the first time I saw the WA Unlimited  exhibition at Art Gallery WA the paintings by Badimaya First Nation artist Julie Dowling brought tears to my eyes.. it's not often you see such intensity of expression looking straight back at you.. I would love it if you would embiggen and read the words, the links also.. the words are so important..

The work here by Nyoongar artist Sandra Hill also tells of the feelings of displacement for those who lived under the shocking Assimilation Policy. Two eminent Australian artists telling it as it was/is. It was Australia Day yesterday, no fireworks to see here ✨ Happy Monday, take care and stay safe..

Every which way..

Reflections in the mirrored ceiling of the walkway across Murray Street in the city. Same shot below reversed, thought it looked pretty cool.. one pic two ways 😉 Hope you are enjoying your weekend, happy Sunday, take care and stay safe.. P.s. should have reversed my signature below :)

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Foie gras et escargots..

I took mon amie française Marie to the Re Store Leederville on Thursday. The Re Store, family owned since 1936 specializes in gourmet food and liquor from all over the world.. so many delicious goodies. Mon amie searched and found the foie gras and escargot, taking home the former but in tins of 8 dozen, not the latter. When we were in Paris together Marie encouraged me to try many 'different' foods for the first time, snails slippery little suckers were not a success, 8 dozen escargot are 96 too many pour moi 😉 She did however surprise me with a packet of super tasty French lemon shortbread biscuits, much more my cuppa tea :) Happy weekend, take care and stay safe..

Ruffled around the collar..

The second large scale shade canopy, companion to the numbat here, in the Connect South project is the frilled neck lizard. What a super cool sight to see when you arrive at Mends Street Jetty from Elizabeth Quay.. an exciting start to the zoo experience. If you pull the above shot in you can see how tiny the meerkat mob are in comparison. The canopies are designed 'to resist windloads of up to 45 metres per second, regional wind speed only encountered every 500 years in Perth' .. fingers crossed :) Happy Friday, take care and stay safe..

Mends Street Mob..

It has been cloudy and grey for the last few days in Perth, even a few drops of rain.. luvverly! You may remember the last time, see here, that we went to check out the progress of the Connect South project. Visitors arriving at the Mends Street Jetty in South Perth from the Elizabeth Quay Jetty city side are now also greeted by Mikaela Castledin's mob of meerkats. They are an absolute delight and were so popular with visitors lining up to take photos with them. I am definitely coming back in the evening to take some shots, will look so cool with the city lights in the background don't you think..

There are ten of the little cuties, the five above and three more spotted while walking up Mends street, the key public route to the Perth Zoo, there are two more along the way. If you click the artist link above you will see how the meerkat mob were constructed. There was also another large new carnivore on the shore, show you tomorrow. Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe..

When the contents are more important than the package..

Last week while visiting the Art Gallery WA to see the Perth Brutal: Dreaming in Concrete exhibition I took the opportunity to take a couple of shots of the gallery's twisting central staircase. The art gallery itself, built in 1977 in the Brutalist style, might be considered simple and perhaps even severe, but a quote by Executive Architect Tadeusz Andrzejaczek 'the main purpose of our work is to create a suitable environment for enticing visitors to the works of art. It is not the purpose of the building to compete with the works which it shelters' makes sense. Personally I find the hexagonal shapes of the gallery a calm and inviting space, if it's good enough for natures supreme architects, it's more than good enough for we mere humans :) Happy Wednesday, take care and stay safe..   

Summer Camp 2015..

There was a time when shadows cast by street trees on street art was a bit frustrating when trying to get a clear shot but now I think that nature's art and people art can often enhance each other. I took these shots back in August last year in Bunbury when the trees were still in winter mode, naked trees are so dramatic. I was drawn to the blues with touches of yellow, excellent combination, of the work above by Perth mural and installation artist Daek William. Sharing the wall with Martin E Wills on the left and 'adj' on the right and mother nature's touches all over :) Happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe..

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The Pickled Fairy...

'Those who don't believe in magic

will never find it' ✨

This was the reason for our trip to Fremantle on Saturday. The Pickled Fairy & Other Myths has been in this same spot in Freo for almost thirty years, confirming that while the lure of fairies, pixies and elves may fade as we get older, thankfully there will always be new generations of children with marvelous magical imaginations. Up to the age of still today six this was Aimee's favourite shop to visit when we were in Fremantle. We were there to find a fairy costume for my three year old great niece visiting from Canada, as soon we saw the May Gibbs 'bush fairy' costume we knew that was the one, a little bit of Australian folklore to take home to the other side of the world. The elf and fairy above were enchantingly delightful 💚 Hope you had/are still having a wonderful weekend, happy Monday, take care and stay safe.. 

Exotica..

'Photography is the art of observation. It has

little to do with the things you see

and everything to do with the way you see them'.. Elliot Erwitt.

In Fremantle yesterday to buy something special, show you tomorrow, we wandered through the Fremantle Markets, a market not only for fresh produce and tempting morsels but also home to many exotic home-wares. In the multi-exposure above there are beautiful fabrics, hessian bags of aromatic coffee beans, coloured class lampshades, painted stones and necklaces made of jeweled beads.. and to thread it all together there is even a working loom. Separately the shots were alright, together they are 'bazaarly' exotic :) Happy Sunday, take care and stay safe..

Disjointed chaos..

It seems a long time since I last posted a weekend reflection. On the Terrace earlier this week the reflections of the surrounding buildings caught in the fragmented glass above 108 St Georges Terrace called out to me :) The close up reflection above made me think of Frank Gehry, his style 'considered deconstructivist, a movement in postmodern architecture where elements of the design appear to be fragmented; they are often described as chaotic or disjointed'. On a much smaller scale to be sure :) Looks pretty cool up close don't you think. Hope you have a super weekend, take care and stay safe..

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More to come..

Regular readers of PDP will recognise the sight above.. the newly opened Ritz-Carlton and The Towers at Elizabeth Quay and  just visible behind above and here below the Double Tree by Hilton. The cranes that dominated the skyline here for the past two years have gone!

  

But no wait, what is this I see! The cranes have transferred just a stones throw away to the other side of the quay and are beavering away en masse. I'm guessing by the presence of pile drivers used for deep foundations below something big is happening here.. I'll have to do some digging of my own to find out more :) Watch this space!  Happy Friday, take care and stay safe..

Airborne.

I know right.. another beach post! There could be a few early morning/late afternoon beach shots while it's so hot, those Indian ocean breezes are so cool, hope you don't mind :) Was watching a group of kite surfers off Mullaloo Beach a few days ago, when the wind is up they fly across the water at amazing speeds and get pretty impressive height also. Look what I missed this year, what a sight that would be! Back to terra firma shots tomorrow, happy Thursday, take care and stay safe..

Better late than never..

I missed the link for 'favourite photo of the past year' for City Daily Photo bloggers while I was away but thought I would show you mine anyway :) I loved the shot above taken in winter for two reasons, one it's raining and secondly it's raining on St Georges Terrace, my favourite street in the city. Without a doubt our trip to the Blue Mountains was a highlight last year, it is heartbreaking that so many acres of this world heritage area have gone up in flames. The latest progress report here.. thankfully much needed rain is forecast for them later in the week..

Had to throw into the mix the two cuties below, engrossed in a game of cards on the train on the way to Katoomba. It was so cold when we were there, my favourite kind of weather :) Click here to see other favourite shots from around the world.. Happy Wednesday, take care and stay safe..

Yesterday, today.. and tomorrow.

... and well into next week! Not everyone likes to beach with the crowds, fortunately there are long stretches of white sand and blue ocean in-between. Yesterday we stopped half way between Scarborough Beach and City Beach where it was almost deserted. Two things.. hopefully the sunbathers here are covered in 50+ sunscreen and that they don't swim too far out with no-one around to rescue them.. gawd I'm getting old 😉 Happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe..

Blowing in the wind..

You miss a couple of weeks in the city and you never know what you might find! On Murray Street to take pics of the climate change protest on Friday evening I spotted a new mural by The Black Mountains Art aka Robert Jenkins. Those quirky little guys hanging about in all of the artist's work are just so darn cool. Watched this short video of the artist outlining the many leaves above.. slightly mesmerising it was :) Looking forward to getting back into the city this week to see what else has been happening over the last few weeks. Happy Monday, take care and stay safe..

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