About Neighbourhood Draws
Art for the lovers of ordinary beauty — and the stories stitched into everyday streets.
Neighbourhood Draws began with a single building.
In 2022, I found myself outside Hard Rubbish Bar, drinking a pint at a plastic table, when I took a quick photo. Nothing fancy — just a moment caught between sips. But something about the place wouldn’t let me go. The peeling sign writing, the jumble of second-hand furniture spilling out onto the street — each piece carrying its own quiet history.
I thought about that building for months. Maybe longer.
Eventually, I drew it. I had no idea what I was doing — just a need to hold onto it somehow. That drawing is still unfinished, and I’m not sure I’ll ever finish it. Like the building itself, it’s perfect in its imperfection — a story caught mid-sentence.
That small obsession became the seed for Neighbourhood Draws.
I’ve moved around a lot. From Melbourne suburbia to Alice Springs, to the dense energy of Hong Kong and the quiet rhythms of Lamma Island. Each place couldn’t be more different from the next — from sprawling weatherboard houses to red dirt laneways to neon-lit shopfronts pressed tightly together, with jungle creeping in from the edges.
That constant shifting taught me something: place isn’t just a backdrop — it shapes who you are. Each street I’ve called home has left its mark, and with every move, I’ve felt the pull to document what might soon be left behind.
With a background in Fine Art photography (BFA + MFA), I’ve spent years framing places through a lens. Now, I turn those images into digital illustrations — part documentation, part love letter. My own photos are always the starting point, capturing fleeting moments before they’re paved over, painted out, or forgotten entirely.
What you’ll find at Neighbourhood Draws
Prints of Australian streetscapes (and other places, too) — from iconic shopfronts to overlooked treasures
Custom commissions for anyone wanting to preserve a personal place in time — your first home, your favourite café, the street your family has walked for generations
Collections that celebrate the poetry of the everyday
This is art for anyone who knows that ordinary places are never really ordinary.
For those who see beauty in rusted signs, weathered brick, and the stories a building quietly carries.
If that’s you — welcome.
Want me to draw your street?
Follow the journey: @Neighbourhooddraws
Jade Richards-Butler
Founder & Artist, Neighbourhood Draws
