5 Professions You Can’t Live without in Melbourne

The city of Melbourne encompasses over 4 million people, a huge diversity of lifestyle and countless professions. Having experts in all kinds of fields makes life easier when you come across a specific kind of problem, though it’s easy to feel like we could do without a lot of them. The following five, however, are absolutely indispensable!

Chefs

Good food makes life worth living, and the people who create and prepare our tasty delights play a big part in keeping us sane. Restaurants in Melbourne are a bragging point of the city – there are places to be romantic, to celebrate milestones with our families, to have business meetings and to unwind. Being the artist behind the food should be respected as one of the most important roles in our society.

Real Estate Agents

 Melbourne is tough city to navigate at the best of times, especially if you are trying to decide where to live. Don’t try and do it alone. Real estate agents in Melbourne know this city back to front, and they are your most important ally when looking for somewhere to rent or researching the property for sale. Melbourne is full of different districts, all with different characters, and if you want to know where to buy investment property or which is the right district to make your home, they know what’s what.

Surgeons

These professionals are sometimes the only thing between you and death. Living in a big city like Melbourne can be fraught with danger, from traffic accidents to sporting injuries, which makes this high-stress profession one of the most important in our city. So even if you are healthy and don’t think you’ll need a surgeon anytime soon, you’d have to agree it’s good to have them around.

Comedians

Though Melbourne is a fantastic place to live and work, like anywhere, sometimes life seems like not that much fun. That’s where this essential professional comes in, the comedian. A huge part of the entertainment scene in this city, comedians help us unwind, have a laugh and teach us not to take ourselves so seriously. They also offer us that slightly warped mirror of ourselves which enables us to try and stay human.

Musicians

No person can live without music. Whether it is the tunes on the radio as you head off to work in the morning, the CDs you put on to help relax at the end of the day, or the gig you hit up on a Friday night to get your groove on with your mates, music and musicians are essential to our survival. Though we can physically survive without it, music has been part of human expression forever and it plays a crucial role in providing us with a way to relax and not think too much. Melbourne is spoilt for choice, and some would argue that it is this great resource that is responsible for Melbourne being a more creative and open minded city as a whole.

These 5 professions are truly indispensable, so be sure to show your love for these great professions when you next get the chance.

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A Red Dragonfly

I'm amazed with the red patterns of each wing.

One wing was broken. Can you see it?

That day was a shiny one.  Like the shadow.

Captured in the next day. The same dragonfly dropped by again at our back yard.

I didn't want to bother the dragonfly as it could fly away before I took pictures. All pics made from a distance, though I really wanted to take macro shots.

Camera Critters

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Margaret Preston’s Flowers

A beautiful vase blooming with colour and life often takes centre place on assorted tables around the country. Throughout history still-life interpretations of flowers in a vase has catapulted artists into recognition and legend. Van Gough is an obvious one for his sunflowers and here in Australia, Margaret Preston became well known in the art world in the early 19^th century with her still life woodcuts. Taking a trip to the local florist or shopping for flowers online may remind you again of how a simple image can inspire artists into greatness. An avid supporter of indigenous Australian culture, Preston often painted Australian Native wildflowers and bush scenes, popularising our unique flora and landscape both here and overseas.  

Margaret Preston

Margaret Preston was Australia’s foremost female painter between the wars, a period when many of the best Australian artists were women. Talented and adventurous, she used still-life as a subject throughout her career and her greatest achievements in the area came in the years 1915 and 1930.

Margaret Preston’s Life Work

Preston took lessons in china-painting when she was young after her mother caught her painting over the china plates and later studied at the Melbourne National Gallery School under Fred McCubbin. After the death of her father in Adelaide she returned to Melbourne to study under Bernard Hall, director of the gallery and head of the art school. Here she progressed from charcoal studies to drawing nudes, winning a drawing prize in 1897.

In 1898 she returned to Adelaide where she studied at the Adelaide School of Design and attended another life drawing class and soon began teaching to support her mother and young sister. After the death of her mother Preston returned to Europe and studied in Paris. She started painting again while living in France and gained an understanding of Japanese art at the Musee Guimet in France. Colour, flat patterning and lines gave her work drama and boldness that became very popular.

Upon marrying William George Preston, Margaret no longer needed to worry about financially supporting herself and produced many theoretical journal articles and paintings. The woodcuts Preston produced in 1925, while living in Mosman, depicted Sydney scenes including Circular Quay, Sydney Heads, Sydney Foreshore and Mosman Bridge. These paintings were generally praised by art critiques of the time.

Margaret Preston on Australia

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in 1950 Margaret Preston said, “No one else seemed to be using Australian flowers but I think they are more interesting and decorative than those of other nations”. Late in the 1920’s her wildflower woodcuts featured on magazine covers and became extremely popular prints to hang in the home. Her wildflowers included Australian Gum Blossom, Hibiscus and Flannel Flowers.

Preston had a particular fondness for painting Banksia and the simplicity of form in these images of Banksia reflected the popular Art deco movement of the time. Her later works in the 1940s were inspired by Aboriginal art and she wrote magazine articles discussing this style.

Ultimately Margaret Preston was propelled to discover a national decorative art style that would signify Australia and the Australian cultural landscape. Her interest and respect of Indigenous culture and art is to be admired and provides insight into her passion for both art and Australia and why her work proved so popular.
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5 Reasons Why You Should Visit the UK

For most people in Australia, buying property is a big decision that seriously affects your finances. You may be torn between putting your savings towards the trip of a lifetime to Europe or spending it on an investment property in Sydney. It is a difficult choice, and it is always wise to seek property advice. Sydney is full of expert buyers’ agents who can help you. However, the favourable exchange rate for Australians in the UK means that there has possibly never been a better time to travel. If you’ve dreamed of exploring far-flung places, here are 5 reasons to visit the UK:

1.       Gateway to Europe

It might seem strange to suggest this is as the first reason for why you should visit the UK, but the fact is that the UK – and London particularly – is a great place to base yourself for more travel to the continent. Countless budget airlines fly to all the top locations in Europe daily, meaning that being in the UK is an opportunity to explore all of Europe.

2.       City Life or Country Town?

If you are from Sydney and you’re looking for cities to fit in with your fast-paced lifestyle, the UK has plenty of great places to explore. On the other hand, the UK has its fair share of quaint country towns and beautiful hillsides as well – you might even consider the highlands of Scotland.

  

3.       Sightseeing

The UK has an incredible and fascinating historical past, so if you are a history buff, London is a dream: Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London – and Stonehenge only a day trip away. If you love the idea of castles and ruins, then a flight to Scotland – and to Edinburgh in particular – will more than satisfy your curiosity.

4.       Visiting Friends and Relatives

This is quite a practical reason – the chances are that you know someone living the UK and this could be just the right opportunity to visit them. They will be able to show you around or help you find a place to stay when you first arrive. This always makes travel a lot less stressful, and your friend or relative will be delighted to have a visitor from Down Under.

5.       Why Not?

There really aren’t many reasons you shouldn’t consider visiting the UK: it’s both modern and old, busy and quiet, multicultural and a great location to continue your travels. If your home country is part of the Commonwealth and you are under 30 years of age, you are also eligible for a 2-year working visa. This presents you with a great way to finance a longer trip. You may even still be able to buy that property in Sydney when you return! If you are not eligible for a working visa, visitors’ visas are fairly easy to procure – just have a look on the government website to check the requirements.

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