Behind the scenes
Early June
“‘I quickly sketched the picture that presented itself to me,’ she wrote. ‘Then it was like I woke up & had the sensation as if I were a bird that had sung its song. I didn’t tell anyone about this sensation, I am not a very talkative person anyway. But I kept the memory for myself.’”
As my relationship with various social platforms and the community spaces within them keeps changing, the reason for keeping Marginalia as a place that not only archives those behind the scenes moments but assembles them piece by piece strengthens. Here, amassed beneath the one nesting box lid today, new works launched at the Melbourne Art Book Fairs, this year and the previous, and a new joey named Bug who rounds out the group and makes it a fine-weighted quartet.
After being weighed, the entomologists, Harriet, Helena, and Ed, recently graduated to the excitement of the larger outdoor quarters. But before their first night back under the stars, on their journey towards a springtime release, and a giddy wild future, a Wildlife Victoria rescue in Preston (because: it was on the way home) saw the successful introduction of a fourth member to the snug. By stroke of luck, Bug, has joined the trio.
When we accepted the rescue case for Bug, we suspected she was a juvenile or adult ringtail, in need of a short stay before release. It turned out, she was exactly the same size as our existing trio, and too young to be returned on her own (unless a successful reunite with her Mum was possible).
As our trio had yet to explore their new outdoor space and make it their own, we thought we’d try to see if they’d let Bug join their group, and if Bug felt the same. A long shot, such planetary alignments, but lo! it worked. Helena, after giving Bug a lengthy sniff over, climbed into the pouch with her. We sat on the floor of the enclosure with the two of them snoozing in the pouch for several hours, to make sure all was sound. After milk, all four joined in a collective snooze.
On the off chance Bug’s Mum was passing, looking for her Bug, we attempted to reunite her later in the evening, but without success. Little Bug had presumably fallen from her Mum’s back the previous night, and had been unable to scale the high fence (owing to the surface material at the top) to get back to her Mum. She was thankfully spotted on the ground, nestled by a pot plant, in the back-garden of two kindly MoPs (Members of the Public), and is recovering well with her new found friends. Things so monumental are naturally a little overwhelming at first, but, so far, so good, and a quartet is (tentatively) afoot (left paw crossed).
We have since heard from the MoPs that they’ve sighted Bug’s Mum, with a second joey on her back. Hopefully the duo, also, thrive. Their urban home has a plentiful (by inner city standards) supply of established gums and browse to self-harvest.
Outside of the enclosure, and with the fair over, there has also been time to document our new artists’ books and zines, as well as the expansive and delicate Restoring Corridors, before everything is stored away or sent to new homes and collections (right paw crossed).
Once again, with huge thanks to Tim Gresham for his focus and mastery.
Thanks, also, to Possum Guardians, Felicity and Peter, for helping us with the successful soft-release of no less than five ringtails — Bill, Jean, Marble, Oti, and Toffee — and for pumping air in the rather flat tyres. And to Ken for providing winter lodgings for the trailer until it is needed for the entomological quartet’s spring awakening. The process of slowing down, quite literally, as we relocated our somewhat rattly (go easy over the bumps) soft-release enclosure from Batesford to Castlemaine, was much needed. Arriving some three-hours later, we had plenty of time to take in the scenery, as we pootled through the autumnal yellows of Daylesford, and along the smaller dirt roads.
Inspired by the landscapes unfurling on the big screen in the tale of Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinsky (dir. Marcus O. Rosenmüller, screening as part of the German Film Festival 2025), and The Salt Path (dir. Marianne Elliott) from Somerset to Dorset, driving home at dusk, after unhooking from the trailer, we maintained our slower speed. As kangaroos crossed, one spring by two, it was if we, too, were conjuring a landscape on board.
Thank-you, aswell, to Wildlife Victoria for featuring us as part of their Heroes Behind the Scenes during National Volunteer Week 2025:
Dedicated volunteers with Wildlife Victoria since 2021, Gracia (she/her) and Louise (she/her) are passionate about the rescue and care of wildlife in metropolitan Melbourne and surrounding suburbs. They are especially skilled in handling flying foxes and microbats.
Last year, Gracia and Louise responded to a call about a Gould's Wattled Bat that had given office workers quite a surprise when it fell from the ceiling and landed on the floor of an office building in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. Upon arrival, they assessed the microbat and found no injuries. They suspected the bat had been disturbed from torpor, likely due to recent renovations in the office space. The bat was monitored in care for a few days and then safely released outside the building where she had been found.
Important note: Only trained and vaccinated rescuers should handle bats. If you find an injured, orphaned, or compromised bat, do NOT touch it — call our 24/7 Emergency Response Service immediately on 03 8400 7300.
Gracia and Louise are also avid Ringtail possum lovers and generously rescue and care for many sick, injured, and orphaned individuals throughout the year.
Wildlife Victoria runs on the dedication and passion of volunteers like Gracia and Louise. We’re incredibly grateful for the work they do for our native wildlife — and you should be too!
— Wildlife Victoria, #NVW2025
(Pictured here, alongside details from the Natural History Ensembles attributed to Elias Verhulst, Gabriele Münter’s Portrait of Marianne von Werefkin (detail), 1909, Lenbachhaus Munich, donation of Gabriele Münter, 1957; Staffelsee (detail), signed and inscribed ‘Münter Staffelsee.’ (on the reverse), 1908; and Landschaft mit Wolken, inscribed ‘G. Münter 1908 Landschaft mit Wolken Studie’ (on the reverse), 1908.)
One of the things you might not know about us is that in addition to various design work and teaching at RMIT, wildlife care, artwork, dance writing, and on she goes, we are now also pet sitters and local dog walkers. Not unlike Bug, between the above and collecting possum browse (every second day), it’s proving the perfect meld.
If you’re looking for a pet sitter in the North Fitzroy and surrounding area, you’ll find our Pawshake profile here.
Image credit: Gabriele Münter (1877–1962), Staffelsee mit Nebelsonne, signed and dated 'Münter 1931' (lower left); with Nachlass stamp (on the reverse), oil on board, 33 x 40.5 cm, painted in 1931
