Sweet Fern, a fragrance boutique in Ballarat, has decorated their shop with a large mural of a blue-eyed girl on the side of their building, and is now calling on Ballarat’s residents to name her.
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Store owner, Kate Robinson, collaborated on the piece with local Ballarat graffiti artist Cax One.
“It was something I’ve always wanted to have done since we opened in 2014, and Ballarat is a great place for artwork and we’ve always been about supporting local artists,” she said.
Mrs Robinson hopes to see similar artwork spread through Ballarat’s city, which already has a large art scene.
“I think it would be great to spread. I think it's a great time to live and be in Ballarat... there’s so many different things that are going on here that spread the love”, she said.
Cax spent 14 straight hours creating the all spray paint piece, and found inspiration for the piece through experimenting with light and colour.
“I’ve got an interest in doing character based work... I’m a real nerd when it comes to the design details or the illustration details,” he aid.
“The process is the inspiration.”
The collaborators, who met through Instagram, have received nothing but positive feedback, both online and from the public, for the mural located on Armstrong Street South.
A staff member from a neighbouring business was quoted saying, “I love it! Very emotional.”
While others have requested for more businesses and other parts of the street to be painted with similar graffiti art.
Because of its positive response, Mrs Robinson and Cax, feel it is only right for Ballarat’s resident to be able to name the girl in the mural.
A competition will be run through the Instragram accounts of Cax and the Sweet Fern store, where commenters can suggest names which will then be voted on for a winner. The winner will receive a $200 Sweet Fern voucher, and the “glory of naming rights”, say Mrs Robinson.
Mrs Robinson would love to see people being creative when naming the girl, or linking it to Ballarat, and Cax agrees.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing an Indigenous name… i think that would be cool, challenge people”, he said.
Competition details can be found at the Instagrams of Sweet Fern @sweetfern_ballarat, and Cax @cax_one.