New look for Ultimo, Sydney

Recently, I visited Ultimo, an inner city suburb of Sydney, NSW. Ultimo is situated just next to Sydney's CBD and near Chinatown and used to be a fairly industrialised area. It wasn't the kind of place you'd take a leisurely stroll.

It's also the site of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), which seems to have developed an excitingly futuristic approach to the new architecture being created in this precinct.

Now people, including many UTS students and staff, can walk around newly created pedestrian ways where once would have been goods rail lines and factories. There are hole-in-the-wall cafes, sculptures and public spaces where people can relax and socialise.

UTS commissioned the architect, Frank Gehry, to design one of its buildings, the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building, which houses its Faculty of Business. This building is an amazing brick structure that looks like it's been crumpled up like a milk carton. It reminds me of Antoni Gaudi's free-form, curvy architecture and I think it's fascinating!

Here is a photo I took of it on my phone, also showing the old goods railway bridge in the foreground.

Image: Dr Chau Chak Wing Building designed by Frank Gehry, UTS Sydney.

Motels and hotels

We were staying at a small hotel in Sydney recently. Some of the guests seemed to have strange nocturnal habits. Lying in bed in the early hours of the morning, I was trying to figure out what on earth people could possibly be doing, by piecing together all the noises they were making. I worked out that a young couple staying there were in the habit of taking their pet goose for a drive every two hours throughout the night.

It was incredibly humid in Sydney, as is fairly typical of February. It's always interesting though. We checked out Kinokuniya Bookshop in the city. They have a huge range of art books and great air-conditioning. I bought a book full of Art Nouveau patterns.

Motels are on my mind again as an idea for creating images. I've just finished a repeat pattern painting of motels, inspired by kimono fabrics. The image below shows another of my motel paintings:

Image: The Citysider by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

PS. Check out this link to the Australian Bookplate Design Awards for 2015. My two entries are shown among many other fine bookplates. There were hundreds of entries for this popular competition. One of my entries shown on the site appears in an earlier blog post, and the other features a gentleman wearing a panama hat and trying to read amid cement mixers and barking dogs.

Russian Orthodox Church in Lidcombe, Sydney

Hello readers and also hello to my readers in Russia!

I recently visited Sydney and saw through my train window, once again, the Russian Old Orthodox Church of the Holy Annunciation - Assumption, in Vaughan Street, Lidcombe. 

This church really stands out as a beautiful piece of architecture, with its golden and coppery domes and white-washed walls. 

I few years ago, I did a painting of this Russian Orthodox Church in Lidcombe, to celebrate the fabulous shapes of its domes. The medium is gouache on paper:

Image: Russian Old Orthodox Church of the Holy Annunciation-Assumption, Lidcombe, Sydney. Medium: Gouache on paper.

Lidcombe is a very multicultural place, as is much of Sydney. I think this makes Sydney a very exciting and interesting city to visit. Sydney is also a culinary feast, with delicious foods from so many cultures available in restaurants, cafes and food stalls. 

One of my favourite places to eat in Sydney city Chinatown/Haymarket) is Eating World, an Asian food court featuring a dazzling choice of dishes from China, Vietnam, Malaysia (including Nyonya), Japan, Thailand and other cultures. It is busy and bustling at midday, as many workers enjoy eating their lunch there. One dainty lady nearby was steadily working her way through an entire fish!