The garden has been planted out with a small variety of great shade trees. Pin Oaks, Ficus and Gledistia adorn the space providing a stunning contrast of green foliage against the grey walls of the tall surrounding city. The under planting of lush green lawn provides a special place to parks one’s bum, or a place to view the city flat on one’s back. The different turf species of Kikuyu, Tall Fescue & Rye grass all provide a lush lawn coverage all year round.

The garden beds are planted out with an array of different plant species. From Clivea that bear beautiful burnt orange flowers, to Liriope with its small purple flower spikes, not to mention the beautiful Melianthus ‘major’ that bear brilliant arching red blooms attracting bird life. The garden beds and the plants within them not only provide a green haven for you and I to look at and enjoy, but are also a sanctuary to many small birds including the odd honeyeater.

The Wisteria that wrap themselves over the pergola structures and bloom in early spring dripping in purple are a real eye catcher…

Next time you walk on by, I encourage you to pop you head in, park your bum or lay on the grass and admire our beautiful garden at the NGV.

In traditional China, the lunar New Year is celebrated after harvesting when food is plentiful. Before the New Year, all debts are paid. The house is cleaned and cleared of evil spirits and bad influences. On New Year’s eve the family gathers to enjoy a feast of auspicious foods such as the fish which has the same pronunciation as plenty. On New Year’s day, people visit friends and children are given presents of money in red envelopes. Lion dance is performed to reach for money hung in front of shops in the midst of fire crackers. Puppet shows are performed.

The Chinese New Year is also celebrated with flowers and fruits. Flowers are bought in a flower fair on New Year’s eve. The narcissus, a symbol of good fortune and prosperity is grown specially to celebrate New Year. In November or December bulbs are set in a flower pot filled with pebbles, and great care is taken to ensure that the narcissus is in full bloom on the first day of the lunar New Year, thus ensuring a happy and prosperous year.

In Flowers and eccentric rock, by Ren Xun (1835– 1893), auspicious flowers, fruit and scholarly objects convey New Year greetings. Depicted are scholar’s rock, auspicious flowers and fruits: narcissus, citron (Buddha’s hand), peony, `king of flowers’, fungus (lingzhi 灵芝), red dragon vase, and elephant vase, which symbolize good fortune, wealth, longevity, peace and prosperity.

Can you tell us briefly about your background?

I’m a Kiwi who crossed the Tasman more than twenty years ago to study graphic design in Melbourne. My love of books cultivated an interest in book design, and that has been my primary focus over the last ten years.

How did your design inspiration for the gift book series come about?

The fact that the books were intended to be gifts immediately sparked the idea of precious objects, wrapped up in beautiful gift paper. On a subliminal level, I heard the dreamy tones of Sarah Vaughan singing ‘My Favourite Things’: brown paper packages tied up with string. It all seemed to reinforce the concept of the book design looking like a gift, complete with a gift tag (printed on the cover to contain the title) and wrapping paper folded cleverly to form the book jacket.

Can you tell us about the process of designing the jacket (which impressively folds out to become gift-wrapping paper)? 

Determining the folds of the jacket took a long time. It was imperative that the artist’s work was cropped perfectly when folded and that the subtitle was positioned centrally on the cover. I created many mini mock-ups in working this out. I find that nothing beats a physical mock-up to determine how to layout the artwork; in this case, the challenge was to ensure the jacket folded up correctly!

Was there anything unique about designing with reproductions of art?

There were definitely unique boundaries to work within. It was paramount that the design respected the work of art. My initial idea was to create a pattern for the gift-paper-jacket by rotating and repeating the works of art – perhaps a natural inclination for a designer, but not so respectful of the works. Placing a work upside down was completely out of the question. In the end, the design was resolved by making sure that each work of art appeared in its entirety on the unfolded jacket.

I know you’re not meant to say so, but do you have a favourite between Curious Cats, Dashing Dogs and Flourishing Flowers?

It’s like children. Of course, if I was to have a favourite it would be Curious Cats. What can I say? I’m a cat person!

Curious Cats, Dashing Dogs and Flourishing Flowers are all available in the NGV Shop for $19.95 each.

While Miso’s practice has its origins in the streets and laneways of Melbourne her work has, more recently, been appearing in more traditional gallery settings. She was represented in the National Gallery of Australia’s ground-breaking exhibition Space Invaders in 2010 and was a contributor to the Everfresh mural that helped launch NGV Studio in 2011.

Over the next few weeks Miso will be in residence at the Crossbar Café on Level 3 at NGV Australia where she will be undertaking a major site specific mural that promises to completely transform the look and feel of the café. Make sure you drop by to witness one of our most significant young street artists at work. The Crossbar Café  has great coffee, a range of delicious snacks and meals and a stunning view of the Yarra River so why not stay for a while and enjoy the hospitality!

There are so many fantastic things to look forward to at NGV this summer and beyond.

Having been part of the team who launched The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, I’m pleased to be back to celebrate its anniversary as part of Federation Square’s 10th birthday this month. During this time, visitors to NGV Australia can see Negotiating this world: Contemporary Australian Art which brings together a selection of more than 100 examples of contemporary art from the NGV Collection acquired through the Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists.

Visitors to the NGV can also experience the breathtaking work of Signac and Seurat in Australia’s first comprehensive exhibition of Neo-Impressionism as well as the work of two major stars of global contemporary photography, Jeff Wall and Thomas Demand, who will feature in separate survey exhibitions.

We have recently announced a new series of exciting, large scale exhibitions and projects, NGV Summer.

NGV Summer will focus on modern or contemporary art and design and will be as ambitious in reach and relevance as its winter counterpart.

As part of NGV Summer at NGV Australia next year, we will be presenting a new exhibition called ‘Melbourne Now’, which will celebrate the very best of Melbourne artists and designers, including not only visual art but also fashion, architecture, design, music and film.

I look forward to showcasing the very best of Melbourne’s cultural landscape, bringing exclusive international blockbusters to Melbourne, and continuing to present Australia’s finest art collection for all to enjoy.

Stay tuned for further details of a range of exciting things to see and do at your gallery. I look forward to sharing more with you soon.