Michael Cain is an artist based in Melbourne. His quirky, abstracted characters are created with loose, fluid brushstrokes and a vivid colour palette that immerses you in their world and makes you smile.

SPONSOR

The Sketchbook Project collects thousands of artists’ sketchbooks from across the globe and exhibits them in cities all over the world. The crew just posted a sneak peek at some of the finished sketchbooks that have just arrived at Project HQ in Brooklyn.

Melbourne band Left Feels Right play a smooth blend of post-rock soundscapes with a hint of dance thrown into the mix. Their second EP, which is a split release with post punk band The Analyte, can be downloaded for free at their Bandcamp.

Wunderkammer is the commercial pusher for those who are afflicted with Morbid Curiosity. Which, I also believe, is a misnomer for being fascinated by history. If you like blogs such as Curious Expiditions, then you will stumble through the door in a stupor to empty your wallet at Wunderkammer.

The ‘boys’ of Melbourne become ‘gentlemen’ with a guiding kick in the right direction by Kings of Carnaby. After their acclaim at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, these nifty designers stay true to the city’s monotone culture but add a new touch of polished mod sophistication.

SPONSOR

We’re seeing a retaliation from young artists who find the environment and politics of galleries to be a juxtaposition to the meaning and target audience of their work. Creative agency, Buzz Products, has helped bring contemporary art into the everyday through a collaboration with emerging street artist Brad Morrison, aka Drab. The exterior of their Melbourne headquarters provided the perfect canvas for Australia’s largest paste-up.

This sweet little project going on in Melbourne involves sleepovers. Cara Fox writes short stories about them and Douglas E Pope photographs them. The resulting collection will be exhibited later this year.

Enter into Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio near Melbourne and you’re entering into ‘a place where you can always expect the unexpected’. Or so say owners Ian Burch and Darren Purchese. And from the looks of things, they’re not lying. Here, science is fused with sweetness to create a multi-sensory experience where tastes and textures are explored and contemporary technologies meet baking traditions.

At any given time, edible bubbles, exaggerated raspberries, or rich smoked chocolate could be on offer. So too are cakes, pastries, tarts, jams, spreads, and curds, like their half chocolate hazelnut spread, half spicy pineapple jam. Or how about their Coconut Ginger Passionfruit Mint concoction made of — among other tasty ingredients — coconut mouse, passionfruit curd, coconut caviar, ginger macarons, and white chocolate spray. How’s that for the unexpected?

There is one shop in Melbourne that gives me butterflies as I am entering because I love it so much. That shop is St Lukes Colourmen Art Shop, which is situated in Fitzroy and offers you a wide range of beautiful, high quality art supplies. The store is owned and run by artists who are only to happy to answer your every question.

SPONSOR

Johnny Two Tone Club is a collaborative project between some folks in Perth and Melbourne who like to do hand-pulled screen prints. International Walkman Day is the second installment in their ongoing Public Holiday Project series, which seeks to celebrate the anniversary of significant cultural events that don’t get the attention they deserve.

Check out the awesome work of Australian artist Matthew Quick. His latest series, Introduced species, is very cool stuff indeed.

The detail involved in Miso’s work really needs to be seen to be believed. I saw some of her latest work which involves hand-cut and pin pricked images of animals and cityscapes, and literally sat in awe at the beauty and was totally perplexed at the time and patience it would have taken to create these pieces. Often using white on white, or black on white, it re-iterated to me that sometimes in a world full of colour, there is a still a place for just white.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to hang out in an old-school speakeasy, now you’ve got the chance to find out. Enter Bar Americano. Located in an alleyway off an alleyway in Melbourne, this tiny new space mashes up European culture with American prohibition era bars. Here, Italian aperitivo-inspired drinks meet American vintage cocktails all churned out by a solid team of imaginative barmen, artists, patissers, and chefs.

Bar Americano is the creation of Matt Rees and artist Matt Bax, the already established duo behind the hugely successful Der Raum, where some say the best cocktails in Oz are mixed. To this pair, add dessert wizards Ian Burch and Darren Purchese and rock star chef Ben Shewry. The result is a laneway bar that boasts custom sweets, Italian-style small eats, and some of the coolest cocktails in town.

And if you’ve had too many prohibition era mixes at night, you can return to Bar Americano the next morning for a proper Italian ristretto made from their own espresso blend. Now this is a speakeasy worth speaking about.

SPONSOR

The Lost & Found hotel room is a bespoke, and most importantly, free space to stay in Melbourne for any one who is on their email list. The hotel room is now into its second year and has again been appointed with a range of all things Melbourne to house a unique studio apartment in the heart of Melbourne.
The room also employs a cultural concierge to meet the lucky guests, take them for a drink in a laneway haunt and deliver insider tips on the best things to see and do. A great way to share the best of the city with an all Melbourne experience. Oh, and did we mention it’s free?

An hour’s drive from the bustle of Melbourne, the Yarra Valley Dairy sits in the rolling hills of Victoria’s premier wine region. The dairy, a fully functional farm, sells its very own line of cheeses made from the milk of the cows that you can see grazing in the pasture outside.

Of the tasty varieties of cheese on offer, the chevre and dill is a knockout, as is the Persian Fetta — a delicious marinated goat cheese that would make a delicious (and instant) first course when paired with some warm pita. You can try all of the cheeses — from marinated to fresh to matured — in the dairy’s cheese shop, located inside a hundred-year-old milking shed right there on the farm. The dairy also offers kitchen supplies, jams and chutneys, as well as wines from a select number of independent local vineyards. Stop by to load up for a perfect Sunday picnic in the hills.

For many years a prolific writer and co-publisher of lo-fi Australian street magazine, Lucky, mattyb began putting music to his words in January 2010 under the name Water Music.

In a short time, his lonely yet optimistic songs of heartbreak, death, passion and the Universe took him across the United States, with a European tour set for June and July before he relocates permanently to New York. It’s a do-it-yourself philosophy, a hark back to those Good Ol’ Days where a man could jump a train with a guitar and find the meaning of life on a long and lonely track.

I found this young photographer from Melbourne on Flickr. Michelle Dylan Huynh is only 19 but takes amazing portraits. There is always a softness to them, but also a raw quality. She choses her models wisely: there are certain characteristics in the person’s face that are so intriguing and she captures them well.

SPONSOR

The Hatton hotel epitomises Melbourne cool. Those who value design, location, and luxury will find The Hatton the perfect Melbourne base.

A boutique hotel nestled between Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens and Fawkner Park, The Hatton has 20 rooms, each unique in character and style. Our room had a private courtyard and was styled with a combination of antique and modern furniture. The old and new are combined skillfully; you are reminded this is no ordinary hotel, but a place to savour being in.

Style pervades at The Hatton. The 1902 building is a grand old dame, having been restored with skill by the Hatton family in 2000.

Detail has not been forgotten here. A diverse and wonderfully eclectic arrangement of art hangs throughout the building. The corridor outside the room we stayed in is covered in stencil and graffiti art, while elsewhere ancient Chinese, deco, and Aboriginal works adorn the walls. The lobby has iPads for those keen for connection, and tram cards are on offer for the quick trip into the city.

Our stay was faultless. The breakfast was divine, and in-room amenities were quality L’Occitane. The roof-top terrace, from which we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink, offers views of this special city. The staff are relaxed and friendly; they know Melbourne and are keen to share insider’s tips.

To me a Melbourne visit is about creative inspiration and the joy of discovering beauty and texture in this vibrant city. A stay at The Hatton is the perfect complement to this.

We stayed at The Hatton courtesy of TravelCandy.com.au.

I dig the offbeat, creative feel of this promo video created by designer Kelly Boulton for Melbourne-based company, Buzz Products. Who would’ve thought Post-It notes could be put to such effective use?

Wanna hear of a really fun new idea in the world of food and dining? How about a social networking site that allows you to plan funky little food events, post them online and then invite other food-loving locals to join in. It’s like a creative space for fashioning your own pop-up shop, cooking class or supper club, except the possibilities are endless. This is the premise of Melbourne-based network Eat With Me and it has already enabled such fantastic functions as wonton-making workshops, bread workshops, curry recipe swaps, pot-luck dinners, brunches, restaurant outings, picnics and more.

All you have to do is become a member online, propose an event and see who else is keen to join in – and if you’re not up for hosting, just surf around for events to participate in. This genius little project is already gaining popularity across the globe and is sure to gain raucous support with foodies the world over.