Inner Sydney, The Rocks area

Day three in Sydney and still ensnared by the luxurious Shrangri-La hotel, downtown. It is monkey friendly here but Perks has remained in the hotel experiencing culture shock, jetlag and a slight allergic reaction to the bird bites that his Mrs has endured. He really missed a lot as the winterpoodles went to the Bridget Reilly exhibit in the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art. This comprised 35 paintings of hers from early 60s to present day. What a stunner. They should be promoting Optrex with the show. Here is an example of how colour is all to do with context; the pictures sizzled and rippled as you gawked. Her new work is less severly geometric with many more curves, it flows more and she is using slightly pastelled tropical colours. Matisse would be proud of her. It makes Mr Poodle want to go straight to his studio and throw out all those earth colours. Maybe burn the brushes. Just while contemplating such a thing the poodles spotted some books on aboriginal art and earth colours came back in again. Mr has fallen in love with a particular artists work and yet again he wants to visit the studio. Maybe Melbourne will present an opportunity.

The poodles crossed the harbour in the ferry to Manly, a tourist beach area, passing thÓpera House which appeared strangly small and ruined in their eyes by an unsightly brownish podium it sits on. The white sails/fronds though are hugely impressive and complicated. An icon and a genuine work of groundbreaking art.

more later.....