After a decade of teaching short courses around the world, Jess Wright and Lara Davies of Home-Work have founded their biggest creative event yet, in Lara’s hometown!

Art Camp is a two-night event of creative workshops, talks, and activities, happening next month in Queenscliff!

‘We wanted to turn our minds to a new challenge that brought together all the knowledge we have accumulated about how to run workshops, events and how to create opportunities for our students to connect with their own creativity,’ says Lara when describing the vision for Art Camp. ‘We can all remember the magic of school camps where bonds, jokes and memories are forged! There is something about being away from your own life and home that makes you open to new experiences and then it becomes the ideal environment to learn, be creative and push yourself.’

Included in the camp will be a collage-making workshop with designer-illustrator Beci Orpin, digital drawing with illustrator Alice Oehr, phone photography with multi-talented creative Kate Berry, yoga with Dunefolk, and a conversation with the team behind Kip&Co.

‘[These are] truly wonderful workshops that are delivered by people who have dedicated their careers to making and teaching. People can expect considered workshops that not only inform you, but push you, while simultaneously inspiring the hell out of you!’ Lara says.  

When not partaking in the planned activities, attendees will have the opportunity to socialise, connect with nature, walk along the beach at sunrise, sit around a campfire, and look up at the stars.   

All food at Art Camp is being catered by the very talented cook Rachel Savage, aka Sweet & Savage. Attendees will also leave with a gift bag filled with goodies from the hosts and sponsors such as Tsuno, Obus, Leif, Permaset Aqua, and Hardie Grant. 

Lara hopes this will be the first of many Art Camps, and says there’s potential for the next one to be held in New Zealand!

All information about Art Camp can be found here. Early bird tickets are available now! 

Art Camp by Home-Work
Friday October 18th – Sunday October 20th
Queenscliff, Victoria

The owners of this workers cottage provided a brief to Flack Studio to create a ‘haven in the heart of Fitzroy.’ It was to be designed for longevity, and to remain functional and appealing well into the homeowners’ retirement.

Now with adult children, the owners no longer needed space for backyard cricket, cubby house building or dress-up corners. This shift in use allowed Flack Studio to reconsider the four-bedroom house, and redesign the space with a master bedroom and guest room, creating a master quarter with ensuite, walk-in robe and powder-room. The renovation also introduced a scullery and bar for entertaining. Very grown-up indeed!

The aesthetic of the home respects the worker’s cottage history, and ‘feels classically eclectic, with a hint of Flack.’ When the studio talked to the clients about their favourite spaces in Melbourne, they cited the bar Marion as somewhere they would like to emulate in their own home. They love entertaining, and ‘wanted a space reminiscent of the neighbouring Fitzroy bars.’

David and his team responsed with trademark ‘Flack flair’, injecting lux stone finishes,  brass details, and an eclectic yet refined edit of colour, texture and pattern. One particular standout detail is the custom blue joinery in the walk-in robe, in contrast to the restraint of the master bathroom. An interiors twist around every corner!

The Flack team emphasise how much of a local project this renovation was. Not only was it inspired by a beloved Fitzroy bar, but the home is located right around the corner from Flack Studio HQ. They describe how this proximity made the ‘weekly site visit a walk in the park – literally!’ The result is a project close to the designer’s hearts, in more ways than one.

The first in her friendship group to have a baby, Kate Berry found herself facing feelings of loneliness and isolation. Her new book, Family Food & Feelings, was written for the scared new mum she once was, ‘To create a friend or an ‘I see you’ to others who might be struggling with the enormity of the feelings that being a mother brings,’ Kate explains. ‘It’s comforting to know there are others experiencing the same big feelings as you are.’

Written mostly over a few months (‘It was the classic, have a year to write and then write the whole book in the last three months’, she admits), Family, Food & Feelings charts the ebbs of flows of family life. The book is structured within the four school terms and is chock-a-block with totally achievable recipes that are seamlessly interwoven with musings on mum life. In term two, a recipe for a potato tortilla sits alongside a passage titled, ‘There’s no freaking bread,’ while Term four explores the pain and joy of parenting older kids by saying, ‘Teenagers are brutal, mean, loving and amazing’.

Kate doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. The process of writing this book prompted her to ‘check-in on how [she] could do things better’, and it’s her ability to cut through the performance of parenting and get to the real stuff that makes this book feel like a close companion. In a time where we are in complete sensory and information overload, Family, Food & Feelings is like sitting down for a cup of tea with your wisest friend who gets exactly what you’re going through.

‘One of the things I would really love people to take away from this book is that it’s so easy to get lost in being a parent, and when you come home with that fresh-smelling baby, that’s all you need to be’, she says. ‘But when your kid starts to grow, it’s okay for you to do the same. To reclaim the person you once were, and to share that with your kids. It’s important.’

Family, Food + Feelings by Kate Berry is published by Pan Macmillan and is available now from all good bookstores! 

The Denison Rivulet project is a series of cabins, located at a bend in the river just north of Bicheno on the East Coast of Tasmania. The three structures are a testing ground for a future large-scale accommodation development, and have provided the architects Taylor + Hinds with an opportunity to trial materials in the landscape. 

Mat Hinds describes how the cabins are informed by the pragmatic history of Tasmanian shacks. In designing the Denison River project, the architecture delivers everything needed, and nothing more. Mat explains that Tasmanian shacks are traditionally ‘spatially compact, but highly purposeful’ and ‘serve to provide a shelter of bare-necessity in the remoteness of the Tasmanian landscape.’ 

From the outside, an aesthetic of ‘bare-necessity’ may ring true, but inside it is clear that a minimal approach can still allow for luxurious materials and an intimate interior warmth. The glow of the brass bathroom offers an unexpected surprise! 

Unlike many projects that are located in sprawling natural landscapes, Mat explains that these cabins are informed by the idea of ‘room making’, rather than a preoccupation with the view. Instead of gazing outwards and viewing the environment as a backdrop, the architects have designed these spaces to expand the sense of the interior. The cabins enhance the visitor’s experience of being IN the landscape, where the architecture captures the quality of the place and provides a memorable experience in its own right. 

The design is partly inspired by the Night Beacon’ series by Tasmanian painter Philip Wolfhagen, who captures ‘a fleck of vermillion firelight in the broad blue expanse of the Tasmanian dusk’. The cabins capture that cosy intimacy. like hearing the rain on a tin roof, the three buildings offer a space to be in the landscape, nestled within a practical and beautiful shelter. 

The Denison Rivulet cabins are operating as accommodation, and can be booked here.

Primula Floral Styling

Eliza Rogers, aka Primula Floral Styling was always drawn to flowers as a teenager. But it was discovering the incredible floral artworks in the New York events scene that really excited her. This exciting ‘new era of floristry’, of large scale sculpture and installation, was what inspired Eliza to explore floristry as a career.

Eliza is passionate about creating a more sustainable future for the floristry industry, and since moving to Hobart is excited about being directly connected to the local growers. She explains ‘there’s no flower market in Tassie, so instead I have a network of local growers who I source my flowers from.’

Beyond hoping for a floristry future that is ‘a little more wild and weedy’, Eliza also shares her botanical expertise through ‘The Hosting Masterclass’ series, where she shows students how to ‘go beyond the traditional “flower arranging” realm.’

Pomp and Splendour

Petra Cremming of Pomp and Splendour found floristry while sleeping on the couch of a friend, whose housemate was a florist. After shadowing her for a few weeks, Petra was ‘completely enchanted!’ Her dramatic designs draw on her training in theatre, and she loves to work on large-scale projects that capture a specific mood.

She sees the future of floristry as moving towards ‘more sustainable floristry etiquette, with education around where our flowers are sourced and better farming practices.’

Sophia Kaplan

Sophia Kaplan has always been fascinated by nature, and in 2012 started her own blog for garden, flowers and design. Within a year, she had quit her job and moved to Paris to work for famed florist Guillon Fleurs, and after a stint back in Sydney with Jardine Botanic, launched her own business.

Sophia’s work is underpinned by a commitment to make the industry more sustainable, especially in considering the air miles that flowers have travelled, and the plastic packaging involved. Her work responds to the changing seasons, which means ‘you never have time to get sick of anything before it is replaced with another interesting specimen.’ It goes to show that sustainable practice delivers the best aesthetic results!

Georgie Boy

Gina Lasker, the founder of Georgie Boy, was introduced to experimental flower design by Saskia Havekes of Grandiflora in Sydney. Now based in Melbourne, her vibrant installations are part of a move in the industry from ‘the more traditional bouquet to something that resembles an art practice.’

Gina highlights the #nofloralfoam movement and emphasis on sourcing local product as a major shaping the future of the floral industry. Georgie Boy’s pieces combine environmental responsibility with a love of colour and a careful consideration of the site the arrangement is designed for.

Hattie Molloy

Hattie Molloy remembers the first time she felt like a ‘real florist’ was when she was given full creative freedom to design a runway installation for Melbourne Fashion Week. Hattie is excited about this ability to explore personal styles in the industry, as she explains ‘I think floristry can now be whatever you strive to make it.’

Based in Collingwood, her Ikebana-like sculptural work combines single stem flowers with non-traditional florist materials, and a deliberate lack of leafy foliage, to create innovative and unexpected results. For anyone hoping to get into the floristry industry, Hattie encourages ‘be confident in creating a style that is individual, personal and unique to what already exists.’

Cecilia Fox

Melanie Stapleton of Cecilia Fox needs little introduction. Perhaps it’s a little cheeky to put her on a list of ’emerging’ florists, as several of the other florists on this list mentioned her as a guiding influence in their own practice! She explains that her Melbourne-based business started small, ‘slowly doing weekly flowers for a few retail stores out the back of a van’, later on working from her garage.

Now with a small team, based in a warehouse in Brunswick, Mel is ‘hopeful that floristry will head back to its roots, celebrating the wild abundance of nature, and being an ambassador for the natural world.’

For aspiring florists, she offers this brilliant practical advice, ‘Learn how to drive a van, don’t look at Pinterest, cultivate bravery and resilience, lift some weights and practice using a broom.’

The Barn in Heathcote didn’t look like this when Jacob Stammers and his partner Brad laid eyes on it for the first time. Back in 2016, when they travelled from their East St Kilda rental to see the six-acre property with nothing but a barn on it, they weren’t even seriously shopping. The pair wanted to explore alternatives to buying in the city, having already ruled out moving to the outer ’burbs. ‘We were looking for a place with potential for rental income down the track, within a couple of hours of Melbourne,’ he explains. But then it happened . . . He grins, ‘We fell in love with the barn.’

It fitted the brief, except for the fact that it was little more than four walls and a roof on a massive patch of grass. ‘It was very much a shell. It had the mezzanine in place, but it was untouched. It needed a lot of work to make it what it is today,’ Jacob says. That’s an understatement. Pictures of the original property reveal exposed insulation and a dirt floor. It was unfit for human habitation. And the asking price was $220,000. Despite that, Jacob, now thirty-five and Brad, twenty-nine, saw the potential. They had some funds, but even if they somehow managed to get hold of the place, more money would be needed for a barnyard blitz. But buying something liveable in their Melbourne ‘hood was off the cards anyway. ‘The house next to our rental in East St Kilda went up for auction and went for just under $900,000. It needed hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on it,’ Jacob says. ‘That was the moment of our realisation that we wouldn’t be buying anywhere we wanted to live in a hurry.’ So, it was barn or bust.

Getting a loan was always going to be a challenge. Jacob owns Mr Tucker, a cafe in North Melbourne. Self-employment was a first strike on his application, even though his income was steady and Brad had a stable role as a designer in the fashion industry.

They consulted Jacob’s mum, who agreed to go guarantor. But they hit a roadblock four days out from settlement. Around that time, some banks were tightening their lending for suburbs identified as risky. Unsurprisingly, a block with an uninhabitable barn didn’t fill the folks at the bank with calm confidence. An approved loan would be limited to 70 percent of the property’s value, meaning Jacob and Brad needed a 30 percent deposit, even though their parents had offered to go guarantor. With the help of family they found the funds, but it came down to the wire. ‘It was a stressful four days, but we managed to pull it off,’ Jacob recalls. Victoria has generous incentives to buy regionally – a $20,000 first-homeowner’s grant if you’re buying something new. But this story is a reminder that not all regional properties are treated equally. Each lender has specific criteria. Jacob and Brad’s experience is a reminder to do your research into what banks think about your chosen area before you commit to it.

‘We went into it with a view that if we never rented it, we were happy if it was a recreational thing for us. Being a country property, it’s a pretty modest mortgage. It was manageable on our salaries,’ he says. In fact, Jacob and Brad found it relatively easy to manage a small mortgage and continue to rent where they wanted to live. It made them reassess their spending habits. ‘It just shows how much money you do waste.’

With that insight processed, they got their hands dirty. ‘It had water pumps, electricity and NBN, funnily enough,’ but that was about it. After overseeing the design of a couple of cafe interiors, Jacob had developed a strong eye, and Brad of course made a living surrounded by stylish design. A further plus: Jacob has a builder brother who was generous with his advice. ‘My brother had the tools and was available for phone support. He came out for a couple of days. It made it possible to do it ourselves.’

They spent a bit under $50,000 on the renovation. So, for a total of $270,000 they had a refitted barn that sleeps four on a beautiful property and it was ripe for rental. All that spending meant that a listing on Airbnb was a necessity – they hoped to recover at least some of their costs.

If you’re thinking about following in their regional footsteps, Jacob says ‘proceed with caution’. Turning their investment into a profitable venture took time. You need to be sure you can fund the mortgage repayments before it starts generating cashflow. Plus, it’s harder to get a loan for a regional block. ‘The banks have a different metric based on how long the properties sit on the market for,’ Jacob explains.

This is an edited extract from Smashed Avocado: How I Cracked The Property Market And You Can Too by Nicole Haddow, published by Black Inc Books. It’s now available to purchase at all good bookstores! 

Victoria McKenzie’s home tells many stories. The NZ-born set dresser moved to Australia in 2001 with ‘little more than her collection of handwoven baskets and shell necklaces.’ The exacting design eye that landed her the role of head of set dressing for The Lord of the Rings (!!!) is also on full display in this stunning mid-century home in Caulfield North. 

Prior to moving into this home (relocating from a rental just across the street – Victoria loves the area!) she had the lounge/dining and hallway wooden floors sanded and polished, and painted the vinyl wallpaper in the master bedroom with Dulux Integrity. A fresh set for Victoria to dress, with her incredible collection of objects and artworks from across the globe. 

The 1930s house initially didn’t appeal to Victoria, but after being convinced by a friend to take a peek in the windows, and when she discovered the late 1960s makeover within, was completely sold! She describes, ‘…and that was before I ran to the back of the house and discovered the garden, the porch and the sunroom extension with its wild tiles and built-in cupboards. I was completely beside myself and just had to move in!’ 

Victoria’s inventiveness, resourcefulness and artistry are on display in every corner of her home. Burnt orange drapes from the op shop are matched with 60’s orange carpet patches that Victoria paid her old landlord $100 to cut two large pieces out of the floor with a Stanley knife. Dulux Oolong and Beige Royal in the bungalow work with the colour of the lino, and the floating shelves in the sewing room offer a perfect display space for her Pacific Island doll collection. Victoria’s favourite piece in the house is her black vinyl four-seater couch with orange wool cushion seats, from Lost and Found Market in Collingwood.

Victoria explains ‘my home reflects the reverence I have for things handmade from natural materials. Nothing is new, everything is vintage, and I do love to see collections of objects en masse.’ She highlights that while the home is full, it doesn’t feel cluttered as the tonal groupings, plants and large windows provide an open and light feel. 

Victoria draws attention to the 50-year-old sunroom wallpaper print of ferns, calla lily, kentia palm, marguerite daisy, snowdrops, ivy, and fan palms, and she enthuses ‘I could not ask for a better backdrop to my flax basket collection and shell necklaces!’ With her collections of carved wood birds, hula skirts, straw paintings, tapa cloths, glass animals (just the tip of the iceberg of Victoria’s interests), this home is a true bowerbird’s delight, and a fitting residence for one exceptionally creative character!

Matt Purbrick grew up on a vineyard, and describes a childhood of ‘jumping on and off forklifts, knocking bungs into barrels, and checking ferments with Dad as a young kid.’ After several years of making natural wines with his partner Lentil to share with friends, the duo approached Matt’s dad, Alistair Purbrick, with an idea of taking their lively homebrews to the next level. Matt explains ‘his knowledge of everything wine-related and incredible winemaking skill brings a lot to the table.’

Together, the group have produced a trio of natural wines under their new label Minimum: a Sangiovese Syrah, Chardonnay and Rosato. For Lentil and Matt, this endeavour is a continuation of the work they started as ‘Grown and Gathered.’ Matt highlights ‘its the biggest sustainability project we’ve ever taken on, and everything seems to have led to this point.’

For Matt and Lentil, the launch of Minimum also offers and opportunity to share their approaches to minimal living. Matt tells ‘it’s been such an incredible opportunity to show that conversion, for any size farm, is achievable.’ But minimal living doesn’t require land or a vineyard. For Lentil, a minimal intervention living is ‘all about having less, doing less, keeping life simple.’

Minimum’s wine bottles are clad in labels designed by Matt, which simply communicate the landscape where the wine was made, as well as the Italian hills in the region where they now spend much of the year.

To learn more about Minimum wines (or place an order!), hop over to their website, where the team delve deep on the process or organic certification, offer an ode to the humble cork, and share their manifesto of making ‘excellent organic wines made by doing only what is necessary.’ Chin chin!

To celebrate the launch of Minimum, Mercedes me is hosting one-night-only Friday night drinks. Sample the 2018 Sangiovese Syrah, 2018 Chardonnay, and the 2019 Sangiovese Rosato whilst enjoying some of Melbourne’s best musical talent presented by Mercedes Me.

Matt and his Dad, Alister, will be on-hand to discuss the Minimum story, all things organic farming and winemaking, and how they make wines with the minimum ecological footprint.

Find more details here!

UK-born, South African-raised and now Melbourne-based ceramicist Jan Vogelpoel initially studied graphic design and was drawn to clients in ‘exciting and dynamic industries’ like architecture, interior design and fashion. ‘I always had the desire to create something more tangible’, Jan tells of her graphic design career, enrolling in part-time ceramic classes with famed South African ceramicist Barbara Jackson and later teacher Karen Scott. And so started Jan’s love affair with ceramics – ‘once you get the clay bug, it’s really difficult to let it go’!

Working between her light-filled quiet home studio in Kew, and fellow ceramicist Tracy Muirhead’s lively and social pottery studio in Donvale, Jan draws on her experience in graphic design to create sculptural ceramic artworks celebrating line and form with architectural flair. She uses the coiling method to create the initial forms, then spends time refining and shaping each one-of-a-kind object. Her passion lies in the process of bringing an idea to life through manipulating and building sculptural pieces, transferring the energy of the maker, and the story of the material, into each piece.

‘I’ve found that different clays tell different stories’, Jan explains of her intuitive process. ‘They may have a similar organic form and share a strong connection but they look and feel very different.’ While a soft, white fine sculpture clay evokes a feeling of lightness and elegance, a black scarva clay feels solid and grounded in the past.

For Jan, the ultimate satisfaction is found in seeing the way her objects exist in the world ‘styled up in shoots and in beautiful homes’, and in the freedom of exercising her unbridled creativity. ‘For the first time I am creating for myself – no brief, no deadlines, no demanding clients. Just me and the clay!’

Jan is represented by Edwina Corlette Gallery in Brisbane, and work is available to purchase at Modern Times. She has been shortlisted for the Victorian Craft Awards exhibition in November this year!

All good design is a product of its environment, but this is especially the case in the Sandy Point House. Kennedy Nolan’s design responds directly to the project site, along with the client’s many memories from decades of holidaying in the area. It was their aspiration for the house to reflect and amplify this genuine connection.

One of the biggest practical considerations of the project was to provide shelter from the often harsh weather conditions. ‘The weather is often bucolic, but is famously windy and can be wretched. The owners find beauty and a deep connection to all conditions,’ say the architects at Kennedy Nolan.

In response, this house was imagined in the shape of a pinwheel, creating four separate zones around a protected inner courtyard. This courtyard is the heart of the property, as it’s both the main entry point, directly accessible from almost every room, and provides the only way to move between each zone. The impact of this layout allows alone time to be easily facilitated (as is so often craved during family holidays!), while also encouraging outdoor socialising. Moving throughout the zones also provides a sensual experience, ranging from a view of stars, to a burst of cold air, and the sounds of the nearby ocean waves crashing.

The home is designed for extended year-round holidaying. The exterior is mostly made up of timber suitable for the bushfire-prone setting, while simultaneously helping the home camouflage into the Indigenous planted setting. The owners also did not want a ‘flashy’ house, but one in keeping with the existing community of modest dwellings and dirt roads. The use of warm timber panelling, slate tiles, and sage green walls throughout the interiors adds texture and depth to the space.

The architects say, ‘This is a place deeply embedded in its landscape, derived from memories of family holidays past, and somewhere new memories can be nurtured.’