Across the Border: Central Sydney: Plant Life: Royal Botanic Garden

Now that awful winter has passed and the sun is out the best place to be is outdoors, so last week my friend Crystal Kaye and I headed to the city's backyard, the Royal Botanic Garden.

From Darlinghurst, it's just a short walk down William Street . . .

. . .  and across The Domain, looking back to see the neat rows of antique terraces and modern apartments of Potts Point, the new and old faces of our city.

Soon after arriving at the garden, close to the Macquarie Wall, we were hit with a boom of colour: pink, red and creamy white tulips, heads the size of apples, necks craned to the sun.

I had visited the garden the previous week so I knew what to expect from the annual Spring Walk, but Crystal was overwhelmed with the colour. 

It's so striking and intense, because you emerge from the usual paths of green foliage into a mardi gras of floral freakishness. 

There are those endless tulips, dainty primula, cute pansies, fragrant wisteria (above left), blue mist flowers (above right), blossoming ornamental pear trees and loads of other bee magnets.

There are also plenty of other plants that I couldn't identify, such as these two pinky flowering things (above).

Fortunately, there are plaques on some of the flora so I was able to identify the unusual Japanese spiketail (above), which is one of those plants that you need to stop and look at closely to appreciate the beautiful, intricate buds that form its jewel-like strands. 

I also admired these blue towers of mini flowers (above), which I don't know the name of. 

According to a flier I picked up at the garden, the Spring Walk began in 1856 when shade-loving plants, such as azaleas and rhododendrons (below) were planted along the southern side of the Macquarie Wall. 

Since then, the Spring Walk has become "a much-loved and visited horticultural feature in the garden" and there were loads of people dawdling along the path with us.

The short walk begins at the Botanic Garden Creek and the start is marked by a sculpture of a woman, Spring, which was donated in 1957.

The walk then runs along the Macquarie Wall up to the 1878-built Lion Gate Lodge, possibly one of the best sandstone party venues in Sydney.

Crystal and I mooched on a bench, admiring the lodge's neat lawn and flowering garden, while dreaming of the party we would host in its grounds: live music, real Champagne, canapes.

But then reality kicked in and we knew we would never be able to afford the $3000, or whatever, fee to rent the place and so instead we rambled down to a sunny spot near the main duck pond and polished off a bottle of wine (or two). 

POSTSCRIPT:

Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of clivia (above) across Darlinghurst and the inner city over the past month?

There are clumps of them everywhere, even in my own street, and I don't remember seeing so many in previous years. 

Is the spread of the waxy orange flower a result of the high rainfall we had over winter?

Or has someone seed-bombed the area?

Darlinghurst Blog: Street Art: Nimrod Street

You may remember that in January I posted on my Facebook page this great photograph, which shows an amazing and inspirational piece of street art on the side of the Stables Theatre's administration building on Nimrod Street. I had always thought it was a perfect white wall, ripe for some street artists's magic, so I was really happy when crystal k pasted up this poetic line. 

"I am the cave through which the river runs and I am myself the river. crystal k.''

No idea what it means, but I still like its rhythm.

Anyway, when I was going past the other day, six months after it was pasted up, I noticed how much it had deteriorated, so I hope crystal k returns with another line to fill its space sometime soon:

Meanwhile, other street artists have also been taking advantage of the wonderful white backdrop and interesting crevices this wall provides. Can you spot the Will Coles in the picture below?

It's actually been there for a month at least, but I never remember to photograph it:

In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't been nicked like the other pieces Coles left down on Ten Buck Alley. It could be because it is so well camouflaged.

Coles isn't the first street artist to use this little white brick alter to display his work. 

Back in December last year, a red and gold nativity scene appeared one night:

It was really sweet, with a little baby Jesus in a manger and a buxom Mary in a red, low-cut dress:

But it wasn't glued down so it was gone within about three days. 

Darlinghurst: Art and Culture: Gallery 9: The SNO Group

During our Spring-time Saturday adventures Crystal Kaye and I were drawn into this narrow, flower-enveloped Victorian doorway at 9 Darley Street. It was like jumping down a rabbit hole, so it was fortunate that the first thing we came across was a ladder, just in case we needed to climb back out:

The ladder is actually one of the works in the Sydney Non Objective (SNO) Group's latest show, which runs until this Saturday at Gallery 9. The SNO Group is made up of a dozen or more artists: Justin Andrews, Lynne Eastaway, Sophia Egarchos, Billy Gruner, Suzie Idiens, Kyle Jenkins, Andrew Leslie, Ruark Lewis, Adrian McDonald, Rachel Park, Giles Ryder, Ian Andrews, Masato Takasaka, Sydney Ball, Rolande Souliere and Mattys Gerber.

And it should not be confused with the Snowball Group, an Australian financial services company that is listed on the stock exchange as SNO.

No, the SNO Group trade in art and ideas only, and if you want to invest (works range from $350 to $15,200), visit their website.

The building that is home to Gallery 9, sold for $1.515 million in 2001 and is listed on the City of Sydney heritage register, but I could find out little about its past. The single storey terrace was built during the Victorian era and still has loads of large rooms with high-ceilings:

And a few walls that are perfect for hanging artworks on:

Auto-Change 2 (Black Version) 2009, by Ian Andrews

Vinyl record, sandpaper, CDRom 30 x 40cm

Andrews's work was our favourite in the entire show. When Crystal put on the headphones and gazed at the vinyl record with its black sandpaper heart she felt like she was meditating. When I put them on, I felt like I was on another planet. Which is a good way to feel sometimes.

When it came time to leave the rabbit hole, we couldn't help but linger on this wonderful, wide old veranda:

*

Gallery 9

9 Darley Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 9380 9909

www.gallery9.com.au

Darlinghurst: Street Art: Oxford Art Prize

Saturday was sunny and promising so I set out with my friend, Crystal Kaye, to explore the neighbourhood and it wasn't long before we made a discovery: dozens of colourful canvases strung along the fence poles of the Darlinghurst Court House.

The six-hour Oxford Art Prize exhibition, made up of 100-plus works, was part of the Oxford Arts Festival, which runs until October 30.

The inaugural 12-day festival was designed to promote the arts, artists, restaurants and retailers of Oxford Street and Darlinghurst, which is surprising seeing as I had never heard of it.

The festival's online home is this blog that has posted just two stories since April, and has only one follower - even less than My Darling Darlinghurst.

I love a festival, especially if it's local, but it's a shame when they fail on the publicity front and don't attract the punters.

There were even mimes and other performers, including this wonderful band, to entertain the potential crowd:

The outdoor exhibition also coincided with the Sydney Sustainable Markets, which are held every Saturday at Taylor Square, so apart from art, there was lots to look at:

Compact Vegie Garden On Show

Himalayan Orchids For Sale

I'll be writing a more comprehensive account of the markets on a later visit, because on this day Crystal and I were having a fine time judging the art. The Oxford Art Prize also allows the public to vote for their favourite work. We didn't plan on it, but Crystal and I ended up voting for the same painting:

Inside and Outside in Darlo, by David Wilson

Crystal thought Wilson was the most talented artist on show. I liked his absurd characterisations and the painting's sense of debauchery. Wilson's style also reminds me of the work of veteran newspaper cartoonist and illustrator Bruce Petty.

Meanwhile, the three real judges - Dean of COFA Ian Howard, the National Art School's Stephen Little and art dealer David Rex-Livingston - were busy scratching their chins as they tried to pick a winner:

Crystal and I asked the man manning the desk when they were going to announce the winner, because we had other adventures to carry-out. But he was a bit vague and only said it would be announced between now and 4pm. Which was about two hours away.

So we wandered off and came back an hour later, asked around and learnt that the winner of the People's Prize was this striking photograph on canvas:

Augenblick, by Mandy Schone

We never learnt who won the Oxford Art Prize and the festival blog so far hasn't announced the winner either.