One of the joys of wandering around Melbourne is finding the street art of Be Free. The work of David Edwards aka Be Free features this girl wearing A-frame dresses, striped tights and Doc Marten boots, and she’s often splashing paint on walls, hanging upside down, playing, dreaming, watering flowers. His work always makes me smile. Predominantly black and white with these vibrant splashes of colour. The whimsical, edgy and a little punk quality of the girl. Not long ago I found out David had cancer and he posted on IG that he didn’t know how much longer he had left (@befreeart). It was the first time he’d posted his face, as if he no longer needed to hide, facing the unknown. Like me, so many people have been touched by his art, and there was an outpouring of support, appreciation, love, concern and hope. I also learned that his art has been inspired by his two beautiful daughters, the loves of his life. David passed away a few days ago.

David was known to give this piece of sage advice on living: ‘Be kind to all and rock & roll through life’.