Found. Disgruntled.

A simple request to a government department.

Found. Amsterdam.

This comes straight off a street in my old Amsterdam neighbourhood, now popular with trendy yummy mummies. Almost unrecognisable.

Found. Bucket In A Polaroid Picture.

A red bucket on a non-descript drive way is typical of a photograph taken by my aunty. She never composed an image; she can barely operate a camera. Lillian was too busy talking to someone or yelling at a dog to get out of the way than to compose an image. I've held onto this polaroid for many years, but I've never interrogated it before. It's eerie, it's beautiful — a lazy word, I know — and it reminds me of my childhood. In it I can see my own direction, and I've never seen that until today. Uncanny world we live in.

Found. Uncle Peter.

Our family photos are kept in a plastic bag by my aunty. Like all hordes, they're enthralling to sit and go through. Who was that, what are they doing and just why was my grandmother knitting as she strolled down the street. This is Uncle Peter as a young boy. I remember him as a smoking poker player and a man who moved from boarding house to boarding house.

Found. U R Fat.

I'm not sure if this crazed vampire means cool or overweight, or what the deal is with the sprouting hair? The look of a Newcastle hood?

Found. Yesteryear Glamour.

Finding something in a book or magazine always gives me a little excitement spike. It's as if you are connecting with someone you'll never meet or know, and you begin to wonder about what they may be like. Finding a picture, drawing or other object is similar to receiving an unexpected gift; it's the gesture that you love. I always get a kick out of this drawing. It's one of three I have, and they were found when I was learning to draw.

Found. Pretty Young Thing.

It's been so long since I found this drawing that I really can't say for sure where it came from. At a guess I would say Canberra, but it could well have been Sydney.

Found. Sense Of Humour.

I was flipping my way through hundreds of magazines earlier in the year as research for a major archive project I'm working on, which I hope to show in 2013.  I was tackling a stash of 1960s and 1970s magazines and was on the lookout for human interaction, for example doodles, when I stumbled on this self-explanatory coupon.

Found. New Friend Eliza.

You'd think for such a pedestrian unfriendly city, Canberra may not be such a good source for found drawings on the street. As this introduction to new girl Eliza shows, Canberra can be surprising.

Found. Fist.

I found this soggy drawing at a lookout somewhere between Napier and Taupo. The view was breathtaking, but on the ground strewn garbage got me thinking about why some people are incapable of using a bin. New Zealand is stunning, and I like how this drawing has an air of Kiwi authenticity about it.

Found. Hard as Iron.

It was 2008, many homes across California were boarded up and on the streets of San Francisco, and there seemed to be an explosion in the number of homeless people living on the streets. As I stepped off a tram on Market Street, Chocolate Cisko's calling card was the first thing I noticed. With eyes and mouth covered, the monkey hints at how many homeless people must feel invisible to many passersby.

Found. Miracle Birth.

I found this note on a walk in one of Canberra's nature parks where it seemed oddly out of place. The now detached attachment, hinted at by the rusted paperclip mark, surely would have offered a clue to understanding this baffling statement. Being miles inland, there certainly weren't any seahorses giving birth nearby.

Found. Not Yet Met.

Quaint little villages like Morpeth provide fun day trips as well as opportunities to shop. Known as the town that launched the Arnott's Biscuits Brand, Morpeth has another treasure lurking in the back streets: a peculiar Curiosity Sale. The sale tables are littered with cheap gems complete with historical tales about the objects, or who owned them. Written by the crew of old ladies and men who work there, this curiosity sale has charm in spades. I'm told the first Sunday of the month is the time to go.

Found. Lizzie.

There must be lots of kids in Canberra, it's where I found lots of drawings. Despite an annoying brother, Lizzie here is enjoying a normal life with nice friends.

Found. What Long Legs You Have.

It's not everyday you find a beautiful drawing of a young girl with extraordinarily long legs. And it may surprise that such a find came from Canberra several years ago.

Found. Bullwinkle Sketched.

Board games are an essential part of Midweek Social, and one of the more fun parts of bringing the event together is scouting for games and prizes. Sometimes surprises await in the games, like this drawing on the flip side of the Bullwinkle game board.

Found. Tag.

Over the years Sydney has provided many finds, from playing cards to chairs, shopping lists to bongs and well beyond. There's a suggestion of chocolate with this tag...

Found. Cake Eating Saints.

Everyone loves cake, even saints. Today's Found comes from a photo album picked up at Marrickville's  Bower Shop. The album contained many photos of brothers eating and sitting.

Found. Shenzhen.

Coming down the steps of one of the most hectic shopping malls ever, I stumbled on a drawing as I attempted to jump over a group of lunching people congregated on the semi-spiral stairs.

Found. Killer Kangaroo.

This crafty kangaroo was found somewhere in Canberra. In Canberra kangaroos are often found on the sides of roads, run down by motorists in the darkness. In some quarters they see kangaroos as pests. I've always found that to be an absurd argument and consider humans to be much bigger, and more damaging, pests. However, common tales persist that kangaroos can not only drown dogs, but sneak up and attack people...