Paula Xiberras
Well what is one of the most fantastic nostalgic holiday presents for Hobartians has finally arrived … ‘The day in Hobart’ colouring book!
The author Brady Michaels, who had been living in Melbourne for some time, was approached to produce a day in Melbourne colouring book. As a previous Hobart boy Brady requested he do a book on his home city too.
At a time when a plethora of these artistic, interactive, pastime paperbacks are proliferating, this one is a uniquely gorgeous gem.
Created by Tassie boy Brady Michael, who grew up in Queensland, after his Mum who was born in Geeveston travelled with her husband to a cane farm in MacKay.
Brady now resides in the Southern Midlands where he and his partner are renovating on a seemingly idyllic piece of land that includes ‘a church, cottage and schools’. Brady’s return to Tassie is after 17 years in Melbourne where he coincidentally happens to be while we speak.
To be more precise Brady is situated in a pop-up colouring stand presided over by large blown up pages of his other colouring book ‘A Day in Melbourne’. The Melbourne public are invited to approach, take up a pencil and preferably put down a whole lot of stress by collaborating in the colour in; they are encouraged to even add details and extra features if they like.
Brady did a similar event albeit on a smaller scale at Tasmania’s state library where participants were encouraged to colour in the Salamanca page of his Tassie colouring book. He wants people to be ‘instinctively creative and feel free to break the rules and follow their imagination’.
This book, says Brady is a little different from other colouring collections on the market as it doesn’t include repetitive mandalas but instead features the icons of the city. For Brady who lived on the Glebe and regularly walked by the railway fountain it has etched a poignant image into his mind. He suggests, that with its plentiful seating and indeed in many other icons illustrated in the book, artists should take the book out, sit in front of their preferred icon and do some ‘live’ colouring.
Brady tells me he had two interests at high school, art and creative writing. He did consider doing a Bachelor of Fine Arts but saw it as more academic than his type of art which was more veered to the commercial side of things. So Brady opted for journalism and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree instead.
Brady says people need a reason to leave their busy lives’ in front of a screen’ and colouring just happens to fit the bill or should that be ‘page’.
A day in Hobart is out now, published by New South Press.
