Christmas is coming.

It is that time of year again.
The hydrangeas are out and looking lovely.

 We saw some much more ornate ones at the house we stayed at in Wangaratta last week.

And there is a Lego Christmas tree in Fed Square. I heard that it has half a million pieces in it.
It was very Australian with the surfing Santa, a cricket-playing elf and a kookaburra.

Ballet and Fashion exhibition

I just have to blog today with the date being 10/11/12.
A friend and I visited the Ballet and Fashion exhibition at the NGV a few days ago.  It was not very large but it was interesting to see the various costumes and the materials they had been made with.  They all had to be rather sturdy to stand up to the rigours of the dancing although there were some that would have been impossible to dance in, they must have just strutted around the stage.
The other thing that surprised me (it does every time I see an example of it) is how minimal the designers' ideas are, just a sketch.  The costume makers must be extremely talented to be able to translate some of those ideas into usable costumes.

We didn't spend much more time at the gallery as we agreed that it is best to see the exhibition you have come to see and them move on - too many exhibitions make you forget what you have seen.  But you can't walk around the gallery without see other things, they are just there!
Of course, we went into the great hall and enjoyed looking at the stained glass ceiling, especially as it was a lovely sunny day.  The tapestries on the walls in there were a must see also.
And the water wall was even more interesting than usual because it had artwork on it.  It is part of the Rally: contemporary Indonesian art exhibition.

From the outside

From the inside

Then we moved on to Federation Square to see the woven installation of Patrick Dougherty.
It great to see it on such a beautiful day, in such an interesting place.

So, despite our desire to limit our viewing to one specific exhibition, we managed to see lots more. Not only that, we were very taken with the shadows on the ground at Southbank, made by a verandah roof.

Elephant sculptures in the city

I have noticed elephant sculptures in the city a few times lately and have been wondering why they are around. Then I met a friend at Federation Square last week and we saw two of them.
I especially liked this one with the wrinkled, knitted skin.

They are around the city in various spots to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Zoo.  You can find a link to a map here.  They will be on display around the city till September 21st.  I will have to take my camera with me when I go to the city and try to see some others.