A colouful cartoonist

A colouful cartoonist

Yarra’s Edge local Michelle Commandeur says Docklands is “full of colourful characters”.

Living and working in Docklands, Michelle has plenty of time to observe what’s happening in the area.

A cartoonist who has recently returned to her craft, Michelle said she liked to point out some of the quirky things about life in her work.

“There are a lot of things around here that people who live or work in Docklands might relate to,” Michelle said.

Many of these she captures in her “Docklands Daze” cartoons, which are published in Docklands News.

Michelle said she had loved drawing since she was a child and had done some cartooning when she was younger before becoming distracted by everyday life.

Around a year and a half ago Michelle took some time off work while unwell and it was then that she rediscovered her love of cartooning and illustration.

“One of the lessons I learnt from being unwell was that life’s too short not to do what you really like doing, so I’ve been determined not to let it go again,” she said.

Having now returned to her ANZ job part-time, Michelle has devoted the rest of her time to pursuing cartooning and illustration.

Michelle and her husband live at Yarra’s Edge and both work in Docklands, making their commute almost non-existent.

“Our commute is around the marina and over the footbridge. You definitely don’t miss the commute and we now wonder how people deal with it,” Michelle said.

“We just don’t have it as a factor in our lives anymore.”

At the same time, the proximity to the city is another great part of living in Docklands.

“We’re city dwellers, we like apartment, city-living and being close to the action,” Michelle said.

Michelle said Yarra’s Edge was a great community. “You get to know the retailers and cafes and you get to know a lot of people around the place.”

“I really enjoy the dog-life. There’s a lot of apartment-dwelling dogs in Docklands so you get to see a lot of them out in the park.”

But for Michelle, the best part about living in Docklands is being close to the waterfront.

“I think it’s the water and having the view of the river and the boats,” She said.

“It’s great to have that proximity to the city but also have that really nice waterfront feel.”

“It feels like you’re on holidays all the time.”

Join Our Facebook Group