Although located on the same road, Rose Street Market is completely separated from the larger, more diverse and more well-known Fitzroy market. I took a peek through the door-sized entrance and was two-minded about checking it out, but since I was already there and still had half a bag of bacon to finish, I thought, why not!
A few steps in, a few stalls checked ━ I was disheartened. It looked like “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” markets in Melbourne.
There are only so much of over-priced candles, homemade ointments and similarly styled earrings one can process on a regular basis ━ even if one is hipster-loving Melbournians.
I also saw a few art stalls; most of them are selling similar things, with one stall selling cut and paste of random collages for AUD80. I was about to turn back and leave Rose Street Market when I saw familiar sights of Japan from the stall on the corner.
A Must Visit in Rose Street Market
Vincent’s stall, in the inside corner of Rose Street Market, supports many colourful artworks of Japan. I went closer to check it out and was intrigued by a Mountain Fiji drawing decrypted in four seasons.
It got us talking.
Is he from Japan? No, but he has been there five times. I love Japan too! ━ I shared.
Of another painting ━ where was it supposed to be? Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum. Have I been? I told him no, not yet. It’s on my to-do list.
Eventually, after more I-miss-Japan-me-too conversations, I saw another of Vincent’s art.
Tokyo Evening
A snippet of a Tokyo evening—the painting is dominated by a river and bridge in the front and tall buildings in the background. A school kid wearing a cap curiously looks down at the river from the bridge.
It would make an excellent addition to the bedroom. And water fengshui aside, it also would law-of-attraction seeing similar views from my future apartment in Tokyo.
The encounter with Vincent and his art shifted my opinion of digital art.
Though most arts don’t speak to me, and many look the same in my basic-B eyes, some are remarkable. And I am grateful when I stumbled into them and more so when I have the means to add them to my daily life. In this case, I carried a rolled-up painting of Japan evening from Rose Street Market in Fitzroy.
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