Completed during 2021 and January 2022 -A trail of artwork along Railway Avenue in Ringwood East for the Trader’s Association with thanks to their Maroondah City Council Arts grant. Australian animals and eucalypt branches & leaves appear on a number of shop fronts and walls, along with a historical painting. It was great fun to see the locals enjoyment of witnessing the artworks come to life and has helped brighten up the shopping strip.
THANK YOU to
and to all the friendly traders and locals who got behind this project and made it an enjoyable experience for me to undertake.
Koala with fashion bag, painted at Mon Tay fashion boutique
Watch out for the ducks on their way to the shops! Oliru Cafe / Bendigo Bank.
A sugar glider enjoying the local produce. Next to Double Knots Hairroom and near The Skoop Train.
A kookaburra welcomes passerby’s at The Spiral Dragonfly wall. Stop by to read the inspiring quotes!
A tree with Eastern Yellow Robins, blossoms and bees, between Railway Ave Bread shop & 9 Star Thai Massage
Bookbook Owls at The Younger Brother Cafe
A fish causing a splash at Yang’s Place next to the Fish & Chip shop
A young echidna having a hair cut between the Barber shop & Hair Meleo salon
Gum leaves, blossoms, butterflies and a bee, adorn the wall between Mariola Hair and Think Cafe
Boxing kangaroo at Tone & Trim Zone gym
An echidna and wombat tea party at the door of Cafe Emjay
Look up to the right of the old Dry Cleaners… you’ll see a couple of galahs nesting in a letterbox
A teeny tiny ringtail possum juggling grapes at Fruit Land.
Platypus at Paul’s Pantry IGA
A colourful parrot (based on a Swift Parrot) and eucalypt branches and blossoms adorn 3 poles in front of the Ringwood East Physio and Op Shop.
Look out for frogs on the brickwork between the Laundrette, Audio Clinic, The Coffee Apple, Leluhah Boutique and Let’s Get Glam.
A special request from G.E. Hewitt & Co... this painting represents the businesses that have been on/near this site in the past.
Gerard Hewitt, with a keen interest in local history explains:
The corner of Railway Ave & Dublin Rd was (from 1958) originally a petrol station, trading as Trident Service Station and initially served “Neptune” branded petrol, and later “Shell” branded petrol.
The petrol station operated from 1958 through to 1991.
The land was sold to a property developer who built shops and offices on the footprint of that land which formerly had the petrol station on it. There was a period where the land was dormant (as is commonplace when petrol stations close) before construction commenced.
Specifically at No. 8 Railway Ave (which is located on what was the north east corner area of the service station):
1994-1999: Richard Wood Solicitors
1999 to 2021: G.E. Hewitt & Co, Accountants, owned by Gerard Hewitt
2021 onwards: G.E. Hewitt & Co, Accountants, owned by Dan Merritt.
And what about the boys in the middle?
Behind Railway Avenue, there used to be a disused quarry, which for awhile wasn't completely filled. Despite fences and signs it seems it was an attractive place for boys to venture and search for water rats. Tragically at different times, 3 boys drowned:
Donald Mottrom aged 11, d. 1925
Laurence O’Connell aged 13, d. 1934
Robert Jones aged 12, d. 1958