Hosier Lane

Without a doubt Melbournes most known laneway for it’s street art and a great space to get started on painting in public spaces. When I first arrived in Melbourne (originally from QLD) Hosier Lane was destination number 1 to start getting my stuff up in a mellow laneway where I could take my time and have each and every piece get some eyes on it although back then there was a little more respect for the works. That’s the interesting thing about Hosier is the ever changing nature of the space, nothings safe whether it took you 8 seconds or 8 hours everything lives an uncertain lifespan.

Along with the painting itself I used to facilitate street art tours with Blender Studios & Hands On Street Art, this gave me another great excuse to remain active in the laneway as I would usually have a bit of time either side of this to put something up, I managed to let a lot of street art pieces slip in the past by not getting a photo quick enough but here’s a few where I was a little more lucky.

With a strange dynamic between the selfie frenzied tourism to the agitated homelessness each visit to this space is eventful to say the least. Hosier Lane a really unique space with each different side of the coin often having personal criticism’s but love it or hate it, it sure is it’s living and breathing beast.

AC/DC Lane / Duckboard Place

Duckboard place better known as part of AC/DC Lane is a perfect location for getting work up that will live a bit of a longer life span and gets a lot of foot traffic along the way with majority of street art tours and street art maps directing people through this space every single day it creates a great lively dynamic to put up work that speaks to a large demographic. Painting these works aren’t all about the eyes that are going to see them but you’d be kidding yourself to not appreciate the opportunity.

In this space I’ve been lucky enough to paint with good friends on fun collaborations which a few can be seen below, these artists where: Famous outback Lightning Ridge artist John Murray, the amazing botanical artist specialising in paste ups and paper cut outs Manda Lane, An incredible illustrator and master of many different crafts James Wilson and a friend now over in the States Lucas Geor.

Lovelands Lane

Right next to Melbournes well known Victoria Markets is “Lovelands Lane” A laneway that’s had a rich history with “Blender Studios” Being very close to it’s original location there are pieces up high dating back to the early days of street art in Melbourne from the original artists in the space. These days the laneway is a little under-utilised but offers the perfect canvas, with a smaller foot traffic you can really put some music on and enjoy the process of painting on large scale walls that stick around for longer than many other locations.

With being a Blender Artist previously this used to be a frequent spot for me with a trolley and a milk crate I could make my way in here to experiment with a new thing that came to mind or collaborate with other artists in the space, or just take a break from the studio and stretch the legs for a quick one. There where some great moments here over the years.

Flinders Court

It doesn’t get much more prime time location that Flinders Court and the sections to paint are amazing with square like flat walls, this space tends to be a little looked over. The space has it’s ups and downs with random squiggles going over works and the unpredictable people that frequent the space but sometimes you can get lucky and have pieces last years and majority of the time these strange interactions are just entertaining.

Each time I’ve been here it’s always been with a few friends taking out one wall each always inspired by different things whether it be painting a new Australian animal style, recreating Flinder Street Station in AC/DC cover art style or just playing around putting works together with friends this place is a perfect space.

Warburton Lane

Warburton Lane was one of those classic underutalised laneways in Melbourne’s CBD’s. When originally approaching this laneway there was plenty of space but not much of significatn other than some quick faded throwies from unknown names. Spots like this always offer a grey area for legality, if surrounding companies aren’t happy with you just starting to paint the surrounding walls you can find yourself in some unwanted situations. Although my friend John Murray and I went in and decided to just go for it. Now this laneway also includes work from: James Wilson, Manda Lane, Stampz, Alex Grils, John Murray and myself. It’s become a pretty nice collection of works that have so far luckily stood the test of time.

Other Laneways

Croft Alley, Presgrave place, Union Lane, Bendigo Bridge, Blender Lane, Maloney Lane, Cocker Alley, Degraves Street etc.

Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia