design • art • photography • fashion • travel • music • craft • home • life

ISSUE 83
MAY/JUN 2018
AUS: $10.95 INC GST
NZ: $12.95 INC GST
UK: £7.99

ISSN 14497794
9 771449 779000

02
 INTRODUCING

Grab some needles, play some tunes, join a knitting

group, sit down with Nanna and get creating!

Available in soft and textured Strawberry Fields Mohair,

super chunky Born to be Wool, quick to knit Wool to be Wild
and our chunky organic Kung Fu Cotton.

S H A R E YO U R C R E AT I V I T Y
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Shop now at spotlightstores.com

 K N I T T I N G YA R N
FOR YOUNG
AND ALL

ONLY AT
 issue 83 talented contributors
photographic
rachel burke, bénédicte desrus, andy donohoe, sia duff, claudia fernandes, bri hammond,
courtney jackson, gina nero, berta pfirsich, phoebe powell, veronica sagredo, carine
thevenau, esther tsai, hilary walker, lukasz wierzbowski, stephanie rose wood
editorial
caro cooper, deirdre fidge, rowena grant-frost, leta keens, pip lincolne, daniel moore,
giselle au-nhien nguyen, sam prendergast, eleanor robertson, cate rooney, luke ryan,
editor stephanie van schilt, rebecca varcoe, jo walker
sophie kalagas illustration
sophie@frankiepress.com.au amelia arnold, anjana jain, tara o’brien, ashley ronning, cass urquhart
assistant editor & online editor
mia timpano cover artist
mia@frankiepress.com.au abbey lossing

senior designer
aimee carruthers
aimee@frankiepress.com.au
designer & studio manager
anjana jain advertise in frankie
anjana@frankiepress.com.au national advertising manager
general manager victoria yelland riddell
gaye murray victoria@frankiepress.com.au • 0410 300 849
gaye@frankiepress.com.au account manager – victoria
editor-in-chief isabella ubaldi
jo walker isabella@frankiepress.com.au • 0424 218 955
jo@frankiepress.com.au advertising sales executive – directories
digital director emma white
suzi taylor emma@frankiepress.com.au • 0416 146 658
suzi@frankiepress.com.au advertising production
marketing manager bree higgerson
anastasia michael bree@frankiepress.com.au
anastasia@frankiepress.com.au
marketing coordinator
ben eastwood
ben@frankiepress.com.au
operations manager
contact us
bree higgerson
bree@frankiepress.com.au general enquiries
hello@frankiepress.com.au
production manager
di josipovic subscriptions
di@frankiepress.com.au frankie@subscribenow.com.au
frankie.com.au/subscribe
production & office assistant
ph +61 2 8296 5447
lizzie dynon
lizzie@frankiepress.com.au retail orders
retail@frankiepress.com.au
retail sales & circulation manager
alissa relf can’t find frankie?
alissa@frankiepress.com.au visit frankie.com.au/find
business analyst aust & n.z. distributor
sid smith gordon & gotch
assistant accountant international distribution enquiries
ryan trac export.ops@seymour.co.uk
it manager
josh croft
proofreader
rachel morgenbesser
submissions: frankie accepts freelance art, photo and story submissions, however we cannot reply
personally to unsuccessful pitches. for submission guidelines please see frankie.com.au/submissions
email addresses are published for
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professional communications only
frankie magazine is proudly published 6 times a year by frankie press. frankie press is
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 first thought

if we know one
thing for sure,
it’s this: there’s
a little creativity
inside all of us.

Sometimes it sits out in the open – as with artists and

crafters and do-it-yourself types – and sometimes it’s
hidden a little deeper: a poem jotted down while on hold
to the bank; a ditty hummed as you scrub the shower;
or a colourful shirt worn while crunching numbers.
In this issue you’ll meet the winners of the 2018
frankie Good Stuff awards – a batch of creatively
inclined and clever folks who wowed us (and our
equally clever judges) with their exciting ideas. There’s
an illustrator inspired by Expo ’88; a textile designer
who digs bold prints; a bench-making uni student; and
a trio of ladies teaching girls to rock. You’ll also find
a musical mental health advocate; a cancer-fighting
scarf designer; a photographer moved by aliens
and gardening grannies; and a weaving star with
mismatched socks. Not to mention, a lass spreading
her love of words to the world; and a jack of all trades
dabbling in stop-motion videos. Hoo, boy!
While there’s no doubt we reckon they’re all tip-top,
each and every Good Stuff entrant truly blew us away.
From full-time makers to hobbyists, big projects and
small, their creations made us think, chuckle and gasp
with glee – and proved to us that creativity comes from
all kinds of unexpected places.
xx Sophie and the frankie team

008
We’re for
the everyday
changemakers
Be part of the change

keepcup.com
 contents

32

50

112
100
74

62

no news is good the friend zone:

what’s inside news: PAGE 28 PAGE 58

Sometimes you We ponder the ins

need to switch off and outs of being
from the world a good pal

we are the to market, to

champions: PAGE 32 market: PAGE 70
Say hello to the 2018 Handy tips for running
good stuff winners a top-notch market stall

it’s a date: PAGE 54 bunny racket:

Six common PAGE 100

courting scenarios A rock ‘n’ roll primer

tried on for size for tiny tots

010
 contents

14

86

104

012 your say 072 remember me

014 frank bits 074 some inappropriate parties

024 kim deal 076 a little bit sketchy

028 no news is good news 082 everybody has a story

030 chomping at the bit 086 crafty

032 we are the champions 088 whoopi goldberg fan club

044 fancypants pies 092 retired sex workers

046 family feud 098 skinny books

048 ooh, egg cups 100 bunny racket

050 a trip to zimbabwe 104 floral keepsakes

054 road test 112 the history of toilet paper

056 i love my shop 120 tara o’brien

058 writers’ piece 124 a grown-up palate

062 fashion for the books 126 tilda cobham-hervey

070 to market, to market 128 back in the habit

011
 your say

Photo Esther Tsai

dear frankie
WHAT DO WE WANT? YOUR LETTERS!
WHEN DO WE WANT THEM? NOW!
LETTERS@FRANKIE.COM.AU

Dear frankie, Sophie Kalagas's interviews for “The Educators” how they are pronounced. Maybe I am the last person to finish
made my little teacher-in-training heart sing. I've wanted to reading one issue in Australia, because first I read once without a
teach for as long as I can remember, but have often worried dictionary; then read it again underlining the words I can’t guess
I may not be taken seriously with my tattoos and coloured hair. the meaning of; and finally complete the story looking up the
Brooke Summers eased my concern by showing me you can be mysterious words. Thank you, frankie – you are the best English
a bad-arse tattooed female while being a respected professional textbook for me. xx Chinatsu
in the often-PC world of teaching. Thanks for boosting my
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
confidence. Love, Jess x
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My dearest frankie, My hair has always been a tool of rebellion.
As a young girl, I'd dye it any number of colours – blue, purple,
Dear frankie, Holy wow, did “Right of Refusal” hit me right in the green with pink and blue streaks through it – and before that my
feels. I related to this article so much that I’m motivated to do locks endured a tonne of daily hairspray to keep my all-important
something about my inability to say no to people. Thank you for 'emo fringe' in place. It’s now been in a short pixie cut for four
somehow knowing exactly what I need to hear issue after issue years, and I've been debating whether to grow it to come across as
– it’s like you’re my personal self-help book that just keeps on more 'feminine', but after reading Mia Timpano’s piece “Hair Today,
giving. I wonder what I will learn about myself next? Lara xx Gone Tomorrow” and all the femme bad-arsery that was associated
with short hair, and natural hair, and hair in general, I've decided
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
to keep my pixie permanently. Thanks for reminding me that the
Dearest frankie, Never in my life have I seen anything as beautiful way I look is up to me, and it can mean whatever I choose it to
as Katherine Sabbath’s pom pom cake in issue 82. I couldn’t resist mean. All my love, Izzy xx
trying to bake it myself. However, I overestimated my baking skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(considering I can hardly cook toast without burning it), and it
turned out a complete mess – a pile of colourful blobs covered in THE LETTER OF THE ISSUE WINS A PAIR OF KEEP-OH MAGNETIC
coconut. Nevertheless, ‘twas delicious, and I’d like to thank you FRAMES, RRP $82, FROM KEEPOHAUSTRALIA.ETSY.COM
for providing me with the false identity of being a ‘baker’ for an
Dear frankie, I was so happy to have you arrive in my
afternoon. Lots of love, Ellen xo
new letterbox in a new city last night. I’ve been back
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in Australia a few months now after years away,
and the friends thing hasn’t happened yet. But,
Dear frankie, Since my boyfriend gave me a 12-month as I walked my dog this morning, I noticed your
subscription for Christmas, I've been reading your magazines powder blue cover peeking out of a neighbour's
with a dictionary by my side. Why? Well, I am not a native letterbox. It was a reminder that kindred spirits
English speaker. I'm Japanese. frankie is full of beautiful are everywhere, if only we take the time to look.
words that I didn't learn in school. They make me wonder The friends thing will happen – just give it time.
where they came from; how they got their meaning; and even Love Caitlan xx

012
Books with purpose
Whether it’s creative escapism, the pursuit of knowledge and
inspirationWZÅVLQVOhumour in some of life’s tough situations,
there’s always a book out there for you.

March May
April

Shout Out to the Girls Neverland 4MIPWV\PM7ЄJMI\

Inspiring the next generation
of Australian women.
Featuring well-known
women from the arts and
entertainment to scientists and
LWK\WZ[NZWUPQ[\WZQKITÅO]ZM[
to sportswomen and inventors
and everything in between,
Shout Out to the Girls is for
girls of all ages.
Margot McGovern
Edgy, dark, subversive,
and full of grit.
After doing herself near-fatal
harm, Kit has returned to her
island home. But it’s a place
she hardly recognises: the
witch and the mermaids are
hiding and the pirates have
sailed to more bountiful shores.
In their place is Neverland
and its inhabitants – damaged
teens too sick to be in regular
school, watched over by her
psychiatrist uncle.
And now Kit is one of them.
Becky Albertalli
The highly anticipated sequel
to Love Simon.
Leah is keeping a secret. And
even though her mom knows she
is bi-sexual, she hasn’t mustered
the courage to tell her friends
– not even her openly gay BFF,
Simon. With fractures starting to
show within her tight-knit group
of friends, prom and college
on the horizon, tensions are
running high. It’s hard for Leah
to strike the right note while
\PMXMWXTM[PMTW^M[IZMÅOP\QVO
– especially when she realizes
she might love one of them more
than she ever intended.

Join the conversation @PenguinTeenAustralia @PenguinTeenAus @PenguinTeenAus


kowtow activewear
Swanning about in activewear gets a bad rap sometimes, but we wouldn’t
blame you for flaunting your workout gear if it looked as gosh-darn spiffy as
this. Made from a breathable cotton-jersey knit mix, the crop top and leggings
come from Kiwi label Kowtow, and could be yours for $39 and $89 respectively.
au.kowtowclothing.com
tantri
mustika
ceramics
Melbourne-based Tantri
Mustika is inspired
by terrazzo flooring
and crafting affordable
sculptures that give
us a little taste of the
Italian style. So far,
her ceramic collection
includes vases, plates,
keyrings and jugs, all of
which can be found at
tantrimustikaceramics.
com. We also have two
vases (worth $50 each)
to give away – pop by
frankie.com.au/win to
enter the draw.
frank bits
(don’t)
(don t) curb your
enthusiasm
Folks love to be all snooty
and pretend not to care
about things like ‘art’ and
‘pop culture’, but there ain’t
nothing wrong with being
excited – or letting everyone
know about it, either. This
embroidered cashmere jumper
from Of a Kind is designed to
do just that. At around $464, it
will cost you a pretty penny,
but all moolah raised from its
sales goes to Her Justice, an
organisation providing free
legal help to ladies living in
poverty in NYC. Three cheers
for that! ofakind.com
can i borrow
a feeling?
For the times when you
dr. martens comes to oz
know you want to say Given how many decades we’ve spent
something, but you’re stomping around in classic, yellow-stitched
not entirely sure what Dr. Martens boots, it’s hard to believe
that something is, you they’ve never had a store in Australia –
can always rely on until now. A brand new Dr. Martens-only
Stay Home Club and shop has opened its doors in Pitt Street
their Cards Are Hard Mall, Sydney (inside the Westfield Shopping
card. Because, as it Centre, to be precise), and they haven’t
turns out, sometimes forgotten the rest of the country, either
you say the most by – an Australian store can also be found
saying not very much online. Woohoo! Here’s to many more
at all. Around $4.50, years of dressing like Daria or the fifth
stayhomeclub.com member of The Clash. drmartens.com.au
014
 frank bits

strathcona
We’d probably have
been more enthusiastic
about the ‘no hat, no
play’ rule at primary
school if a head-topper
like this one was part of
the equation. Designed
by Vancouver-based
label Strathcona – and
more specifically, artist
Ryley O’Byrne – it’s a
silky watercolour dream,
going for around $98 at
strathconastockings.com
ahead of
the game
Let’s be very clear:
in no way do we
getting to know alex lynn, aka
endorse the mounting alex the astronaut
of animal heads on
Describe your sound in five words. Honest, fun, story-like,
the wall. Unless, of
positive, and sometimes silly. Where did the name come from?
course, those furry
I studied physics at university, so I was really obsessed with
friends are woollen
and made by New
space, and being a fake astronaut really appealed to me. What
kind of surrounding makes you feel creative? When I meet
York lady Jocelyn
lots of people, I write more songs. I’m really interested in the
Gayle Krodman, aka
details of normal life stories, and want to share what people
Petit Felts. She crafts
have been through. What’s your favourite memory of living
each of her critters
in New York? I loved Christmas in the city. It always reminded
by hand, dying the
me of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and I loved visiting the
wool and sculpting it
toy shops and seeing all the lights. It felt so magical. Outside
with a barbed needle
of music, do you have any other passions? I’ve played soccer
(a process you might
all my life, but since I moved home to Sydney, I’ve started AFL.
know as needle-
I like having something that gets me outside and working in
felting). Discover her
a team environment. Tell us an interesting fact about space.
zoo-full of wall art at
I find it freaky-deaky that the ordinary matter we understand
petitfelts.etsy.com
only makes up 4 per cent of the universe. About three-quarters
– they’ll set you back
of the universe is dark energy, and just under one-quarter
around 70 bucks each.
is dark matter, which has never been observed. What are
you known for in your friendship group? I’ve been a serial
possession-loser from a very young age, including jumpers,
backpacks and books. These days, it’s mostly my wallet. Why
is it important to be transparent about your life in your lyrics?
I think it helps other people. I definitely feel a bit vulnerable,
and it’s hard for people I’ve had relationships with to hear our
private experiences in songs, but being honest helps you make
important music. What world record would you break if you
ever could? The most kilometres driven when the petrol gauge
says it’s at zero. I really like living on the edge. Do you believe
in aliens? Of course, I’d be crazy not to.

queen
n of
gotha
am city
If Harley QQuinn dabbled in
rockabillyy culture when she
wasn’t sm mooching the Joker
or fightingg with Batgirl, she’d
blobfish out of water probably d don this Queen
It’s about time someone recognised the of Gotham m City dress from
awesomeness of the blobfish and immortalised Newcastle maker Sarsparilly.
its gelatinous form in less-icky wool felt. It has hidden pockets for
Great job, Soa De La Vega – friend to the sea lipstick, keys and possibly
creatures! It may look like a glob of snot, even a wo ooden mallet, and can
but the Californian maker saw the cuteness be made to order to fit your
within the often-mocked fish. And now, for frame just so. Check it out
around $11, you can attach one to your mobile (along witth more vintage- and
phone or the door of your fridge. Just head to pop culture-inspired duds) at
saozenplush.etsy.com sarsparilly.com

015
 frank bits

put a sock in it
Our general experience
status of parking lots involves
silently cursing folks
anxiety who slip into a spot
a little chinwag with cover artist Dear bag users, and
those who know bag
before us, and throwing
abbey lossing users (which we giant wobblies when we
assume covers most can’t track down our
Tell us a bit about yourself, please. I’m an illustrator based
in Brooklyn, New York. I worked as a staff illustrator at both
of you quite nicely). We car. Apparently things
have two of the new happen differently for
BuzzFeed and Vice News, before taking the plunge into full-
Cult bags from Status
time freelance last year. How do you describe your style of Ringo Yu, though. The
Anxiety to be claimed
art? My style is influenced by my background in screenprinting Taiwanese lady is so
by lucky readers –
and my love for textile design. I love drawing people, and try
made from oh-so soft inspired by carparks
to integrate patterns and shapes whenever possible. What
black pebble leather, and their bold colours
kinds of materials do you use? Occasionally I create limited
and ready to hold all of and shapes that she
edition screenprints, but other than that, my work is completely
life’s detritus. Should
digital. Talk us through your creative process. I start with a created this pair of jazzy
you like to get your
rough sketch in Photoshop, then build it up to a more finalised socks in their likeness.
hands on one (worth
drawing using layers. Next, I choose the colour palette. My work
is fairly simple, so finding a successful colour combination is
$159.95), head to We’re surprised, but not
frankie.com.au/win, complaining. Stop by
really important. Working digitally gives me the ability to quickly
enter your details
change and adjust colours until I find something that works. It’s yusquare.etsy.com
and cross your fingers
a lot of trial and error. Who are the lady and dog in this image? with around $13 if
nice and tight.
Most people I draw are completely made up. I drew the lady
statusanxiety.com.au you like them.
first, and it seemed like she was missing something. I decided
she needed a dog companion, and since she was dressed in a
winter outfit, a husky seemed like a good fit. What do you listen
to or watch while you’re drawing? Mostly podcasts and music.
The US political situation is... interesting at the moment, so I
mostly listen to political podcasts. For music, I’ve been digging
Father John Misty and Leon Bridges. Punch Brothers are an
old-time favourite, as well.

take note
tea (towel) and biscuits
Cool things about these Mini Bold notepads from
Wouldn’t it be nice to be nice in Nice? Mochi Things: 1) they’re on the teeny side, so you
Why yes, it would be very nice indeed. can pop them in your bag easy-peasy; 2) there
Especially with this Nice to be Nice are six spunky layouts to choose from; 3) they’ll
make you feel like a storybook reporter (just
cotton tea towel from Hazel Nicholls, add a pen behind the ear). They’re also around
at the very nice price of $17.80. How $5 each, which is rather lovely. Find them at
sweet! thecalmgallery.com mochithings.com

016
 frank bits

totally
cactus
S is for succulent.
A is for arid. H is for
‘holy hell, these pins
are cool’. The prickly
letters are designed
by typographer
Kim Vu out of San
Francisco, but if you
fancy a piece of the
enamel action Down
Under, they’re yours
for around $15 each
from jvstyourtype.
etsy.com
a rad-ish pot
Well, what do we have
here? Just a little
clay pot painted with
radishes, inspired by
old-timey children’s
book illustrations. It
comes with a hand-
stitched leather handle
for emergency fruit-
and veg-collecting
situations, and we
reckon it’s not just
rad-ish, but certifiably
marimekko: design icon
rad. Trot on over to Consider our knickers officially in a knot over the
awesomeness of Bendigo Art Gallery’s latest exhibition.
jeffjosephinedesigns. Running until June 11, Marimekko: Design Icon 1951 to 2018
bigcartel.com if you explores the history of the Finnish textile and fashion brand
feel the same way. – from bold 1960s prints donned by Jacqueline Kennedy to
the iconic Unikko poppy design. The full run-down can be
found at bendigoartgallery.com.au, but a little birdy told us
to expect original fabrics, homewares, sketches, and more
than 60 Marimekko outfits. Dreamy.

pretty useful co.

Ah, the internet. Where would our
urge to accumulate weird-but-
oddly-useful doodads be without
sneaking about you? We stumbled across this felt
Whether shoes over a powerline denote gang earring keeper for around $76
activity; local drug dealers; or a rather clumsy online, and have fallen deeply in
shoe-carrying clod who doesn’t know their like with its ingenuity. According
own strength, we’re quite glad they’re so to its makers, Allie Mounce and
ubiquitous. Otherwise, we might never have Clare Freeman – aka Pretty
come across these shoe pots from Texas Useful Co. – it offers “20 extra
fellow Wyatt Little. Inspired by the familiar ears for all your earring-keeping
dangling sneakers and the weeds and mould needs”, and we simply can’t argue
that often grow within them, he set about with that. Instead, we offer three
designing a ceramic equivalent. They come in congratulatory cheers. Hip-hip,
four fun patterns, and at about 64 bucks a pop, hooray! Hip-hip, hooray! Hip-hip,
can be found at wyattlittle.com hooray! pretty-useful.co

017
 frank bits

the craft gang

Let your fellow bad-
five minutes with… pagan arse crafters know
you’re no stranger to
bassist dan bonnici the glue gun, bedazzler,
What exactly does ‘blackened rock ‘n’ roll’ mean? It’s a loom, knitting needles,
tongue-in-cheek reference to the way we incorporate black
metal influences into our take on rock ‘n’ roll. A light- or whatever your
hearted jab at how people need to give music funny labels weapon of choice, with
and place it into these weird, niche sub-categories. What this Craft Life patch
can we expect from a Pagan live show? A very intense from Mini House
and euphoric ritual of dancing; loud noise; wine; good
Studios – aka Toronto
hair; sweat; and wisecracks. Has your grandma listened
lass Sarah Zygowski.
to your music? My grandmother Camilla thinks I play in sew knit love
a cover band to make some extra pocket money, because It won’t take long for
that’s what my dad did in his bands. My other grandmother, Hobart makers Suki and
them to learn not to
Marcella, passed away many years ago, but I think she’d Sarah – aka Sew Knit Love
cross(stitch) on your – want to help you make
hate the noise. She’d be happy I still comb my hair before
leaving the house and take a jacket in case I get cold, territory. (Or maybe your dream dress. Even if
though. Biggest misconception about hardcore bands? they’ll join your crafty you’re a hack with a needle
Everyone seems to think we exclusively drink beer, which gang – which is a bit and thread, and can’t sew
is my only explanation for why we always end up with this a dart to save your life.
nicer, really.) Around They’ve whipped up this
Carlton Draught stuff and never get the bottles of Prosecco
$7, minihousestudios. simple boxy pattern that can
or Campari we ask for! What takes up your time aside from
music? I’m studying towards a Bachelor of Communication etsy.com be tweaked to meet your
and try to do a lot of reading and writing. I also work a greatest frock desires – and
fairly menial full-time desk job to pay for bills and wine. the good news is, we have
Who is your pop culture icon? When I was very young, five to give away. Worth $18
my twin aunts would dress me up as Madonna and make a pop, head to frankie.com.
me dance to the Immaculate Collection album for their au/win to get your mitts on
amusement. It’s still my favourite greatest hits album of all one. sewknitlove.co
time! What’s next for Pagan? Our first album, Black Wash,
will be out very soon, and it looks like we’ll be doing a lot
of touring in support of that. Best cure for a sore throat?
Pseudoephedrine; horseradish; black tea with lemon and
honey; and a neat glass of the most expensive scotch you
can get your hands on. Grazie, Nonna!

purr-fectly nice
Fact: cats would happily spend their
days dozing away in the cardboard
box from your washing machine.
You know, the one you meant to
fold down and take to the recycling
bin months ago. This canvas Purr
hammock – made in Seoul, South
Korea – is a little more compact and
easy on the eyes, though. It’s available
from nicepaws.com.au (and if your
moggie’s rather fussy, it also comes
in a spiffy-looking box).
stereo photo album
File this under clever ideas we wish we’d thought
of first: Stereo Photo Album is a wedding and event
photography service converting your special day into
nostalgic 3D slides. Sydney lass Samantha Chami
achieves this with a special ’50s-era camera – the
slides are then hand-cut and mounted onto reels to
be gazed at through an original retro View-Master.
Pretty cool, eh? The perfect excuse to bring back
family slide nights. stereophotoalbum.com

018
 frank bits

the baabuk
boot
Many moons ago,
Russian peasants
noticed how cosy local
sheep looked in the shellbound
depths of winter, and Given oysters do
had the bright idea of such a sterling job
great preservations turning their wool into of keeping precious
Here’s a rather delightful thing: a mailing card with gemstones safe and
felted boots to keep their sound, it makes
its very own specimen window! Made by Tokyo-based
own tootsies warm. sense that we would
illustrator Haruka Shinji, this missive allows you to
preserve a tiny memento from your travels (be it a sprig Back in the here and go to them with other
of flora, a public transport ticket or something else that now, the clever folks treasure-storing
charms you) and send it on to a loved one. Nab it for propositions. Thanks
at Baabuk are using
around $14 at shop.spoon-tamago.com to this nifty purse
that same technique from Spanish label
for their own cold- Don Fisher, you can
weather shoes, with now shove all your
excess change into
added leather support
their hard-wearing
and chunky soles ideal shells (although
for gallivanting on these particular
icy floors. Heading to oysters are made
a chillier clime? The from 100 per cent
cotton, so they’re a
unisex boots can be little bit less sturdy).
snapped up for around Around $40,
$360 at baabuk.com don-fisher.com

premme
Gabi Gregg and Nicolette Mason were fed up
with the fashion industry ignoring plus-size
women, so they went about creating some
snazzy apparel of their own. The result is
pixel of the bunch
Premme: a label touting cute-as-heck duds like Some believe video games are an inside activity; growing
this here glitter wrap skirt (around $83), all with flowers is an outside activity; and never the twain shall meet.
the aim of expressing your personality without But game developer Chelsea Saunders pooh-poohs that idea –
being limited by society’s fashion rules. Wanna she’s even gone so far as to design a set of pixel flower stickers
see more Premme goodness? Head on over to (around $4 each). Because who says digital blooms can’t be
premme.us beautiful, too? chelseasaunders.com

020
 C.

A.
D.

B.

F.

Inspiration
is calling. E.

Where will it take you?

A. J.Burrows Acrylic Paint 60mL $3.88ea. JA4ØØ956

B. Derwent Academy A4 Visual Art Diary $5.98 ACR31Ø7599
C. Derwent Academy 24 Pack Coloured Pencils $19.99 AC23Ø1938
D. J.Burrows 10 Well Slanted Palette $2.98 JBA15415
E. J.Burrows 8 x 8" Thin Edge Canvas $5.50 COJA4Ø198
F. Royal & Langnickel 12 Pack Firm Paintbrush Set $14.98 DARSET9319

S
LOW PRICEY
EVERY DA
Printed for 05/04/2018. Not all products are available in all stores but may be ordered. Colours may vary by store. Display accessories not included. Ø Where you see this symbol, it represents a zero. OWO3113_FM
 frank bits

positive
itiv
thinking
There are plenty
of reasons to be
down on the world:
my favourite things with…
homelessness; unfair
hayley manwaring from working conditions;
moaning lisa soggy chips. But no
Thing to cook for a dinner party: PASTA! There’s this matter how shit your ne-net ×
vegetarian pasta recipe we use over and over because it’s
so simple and delicious. It’s just baby tomatoes, heaps
day gets, there’s donna wilson
always another one
of capers, mint and garlic-infused oil. The sauce needs Sharing is caring
right around the reckons Japanese
to be dry, so you have to squeeze all the juice out of the
tomatoes and crush them in your hands, which feels corner, which is reason brand Ne-net, who has
really good. Compliment you’ve received: When we played enough to swing by teamed up with Scottish
Volumes at Oxford Art Factory in Sydney, a young girl came bestmadeco.com and dame Donna Wilson to
up to us afterwards and said she was in tears after hearing design this loose-fitted,
snap up this cheery
us play “Carrie (I Want A Girl)”. She’d recently come out forest-themed shirt. It
and was overwhelmed after seeing us play, as loud and cross-stitch kit. can be worn by men,
unabashedly gay as we are! This kind of thing happens a It serves as a solid women and littl’uns,
lot – it’s so much more profound than one-sided flattery. reminder to keep a too – just as long as
Piece of advice: “You could spend your whole life going smile on your dial, no they’re into super-soft
to music school, locking yourself away in a room trying cotton and have around
matter what. (It’s also $228 to spend. Fun
to perfect your instrument, your pitch and technique – or,
you could live your life and trust that your experience is quite lovely to look at, for the whole family!
going to be good enough to ride through the delivery and which helps.) donnawilson.com
performance of the music you write.” Basically, music
isn’t about perfection. Spot to chill in Canberra: Casa de
Versegi, aka our bandmate Charlie’s house. It’s our go-to
place for drinks, band meetings and movie nights. Just
simple and homey, you know? Daggy joke: Honestly, we
spend so much time together that our jokes don’t even
make sense to us anymore.

polly fern tiles

Polly Fern is clever with
her fingers, and her
ideas. The illustrator-
ceramist-canary keeper’s
painted tiles are a big nod
to local and childhood
stories from the area
she grew up in Norwich,
England. From chickens
dry herbs, dry
to gardeners and piles of Magnets are handy for things like showing us which way is
blooms, every ceramic north and writing vulgar messages on fridge doors. They
square is handmade, can also help us dry neat little bunches of freshly picked
finished and fired, and herbs, thanks to Austrian makers Less & More. This nifty
ready to make your digs contraption consists of a metal bar and two magnetic
look swish. Nostalgic wooden cubes (that can also be used to hold pens, shopping
and crafty – how sweet. lists and bitty kitchen utensils when dismantled). It’ll set you
pollyfernsergeant. back around $49 from lessandmore.etsy.com – and give
bigcartel.com your cooking a little extra something-something.

022
 frank bits
groovin the moo
Live music fans, festival-goers, lend us your ears!
Regional music fest Groovin the Moo is back – and this
time, it’s a little craftier. Running from April 27 to May 12
in Wayville, SA; Maitland, NSW; Canberra, ACT; Bendigo,
VIC; Annandale, QLD; and Bunbury, WA, the event
features musos from all over this crazy globe, including
Portugal. The Man, Royal Blood and Tkay Maidza. You’ll
also find new faces on the Fresh Produce lineup, and a
whole lot of hands-on activities to keep your mitts busy.
(Like a ‘Maker Station’ in every region, where you can
craft away under the watchful eye of local artists and DIY
pros.) Wanna find out more? Head to gtm.net.au
heinui
Heinui designer Claire
Pignot has done it again.
Her latest collection is not
only a lovely array of rich,
jewel-like hues – indigo-
dyed in small family-
owned mills in Japan, no
less – but it also includes
flattering wrap dresses,
intricate embroidery and
comfy jumpsuits. It’s like
she’s dived into our fantasy
wardrobe and brought it
to life with a needle and
thread. Which is cool, and
a little creepy. heinui.com
023
dial m for
murder
If you think about it,
our relationship with going
houseplants is pretty full circle
imbalanced: they
provide us with beauty; Regular old square
companionship; fresh tote bags getting you
oxygen; and a sense of down? Need a satchel to
responsibility – meanwhile,
all we have to do is stop
adequately transport
them from meeting an a bowling ball?
untimely demise. And we Melbourne lass Claire
can’t even do that properly. Ritchie wanted to try
Just ask the leafy fella on
something different in
Fuchsia MacAree’s print,
if you don’t believe us. the cotton bag realm,
We have three of the Irish and the result is the
illustrator’s cards to give Orb tote – a perfectly
away, worth around $24 a round carrier covered
pop. Just head to frankie.
com.au/win and enter your
in jazzy patterns.
details, then wish with all We likey very much.
your might. macaree.ie helloclaireritchie.com
a new book from frankie
Take a seat, grab a paper bag to hyperventilate into, because
we have some exciting news: we’ve gone and made a brand
new book! Called, somewhat fittingly, Look What We Made,
it’s an affectionate (and honest) tribute to the handmade way
of life. Inside, you’ll meet the new generation of Australian
makers: potters and jewellers, hatmakers and brewers, plus
textile artists, illustrators, musicians, weavers, cobblers and
a bunch of other creative types. It’s available right this very
moment (rrp $26.95), and if you want to know more – and have
a sneaky peek inside – you should pop past frankie.com.au/
lookwhatwemade
 music talks

the real deal

on stage, kim deal has cut loose with the
breeders and the pixies. off stage, her
life isn’t quite so rock ‘n’ roll.
WORDS JO WALKER ILLUSTRATION CASS URQUHART

She’s one of the most famous bass players in the world, but
she’d rather have a guitar in front of her. She’s carried two
iconic indie bands – The Breeders and the Pixies – and even her
lesser-known stuff has influenced generations of musos. She’s
done it all with a toothy smile on her face and a restless capacity
to create; to do good work; to find the place where rock ‘n’ roll
turns hard truth into a beat you can dance to. But back in the
’90s, in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio, nobody wanted to play
with Kim Deal – or at least, nobody with a dick in their pants.
The message she received from guys in the local music scene
was simple: “No bleeders.”
“The weird thing is, the guys in Dayton at the time, they had such
horrible bands. They thought they were rocking out so hard, and
they were all in spandex, and they all had the weakest, weakest
bands,” Kim remembers. “It was physically embarrassing for me
to watch them, and I would just cringe at what they were doing.
“It was so painful. I felt so alone. Some of these guys were on
skates, and they rolled around and whipped their hair, and they
were doing the head nod with their lips pursed and singing
Pat Benatar covers. None of them would play with me because
I was a girl. You don’t have girls in the band, and you certainly
wouldn’t have any gay people in the band. But that’s Dayton, Ohio.”
Thankfully, Kim found a friendlier reception in Boston, where she
answered an ad to play bass in what would become the Pixies
– darlings of the ‘alternative rock’ scene and famous crafters
of weird, fuzzy, singalong tunes. Then, during some downtime
between European tours, she formed The Breeders: identical twin
sister Kelley on lead guitar; Kim on rhythm and vocals;
plus – during the band’s most famous incarnation – bassist
Josephine Wiggs and drummer Jim Macpherson.
The band’s platinum-selling second album, Last Splash, boasted
this lineup, as does its newbie: All Nerve. You could say it’s been
a while, but Kim’s never stopped making music. She’s had solo
projects; different bands; other members taking their turn in
The Breeders; and a stint or two in the Pixies. Through it all,
her ciggie-sweet voice and penchant for surreal yet affecting
songwriting (not to mention a flair for stringed instruments) has
marked her as a true heroine of rock. Albeit one who seems too
damn cheerful for any kind of music industry cool. There’s no time
for posing or fakery. Just hard work and good tunes.
Rock ‘n’ roll, Kim says, can be about bravery. “There’s a bravery
in facing life that I feel can exist in country music, it can exist in
rock. And in pop there can be rock, too. When Celine Dion puts on
black leather, that’s not going to be the rock moment for me and
pop. Maybe the rock moment in pop is going to be when somebody
comes out and tries really hard, and it fails, but they’re there, and
they’re trying. They could be singing a pop song, and that can be
rock. And a lot of it has to do with bravery.”
She might not put it this way, but Kim has had to be brave, too.
While sister Kelley was busted for heroin possession in 1994, Kim
struggled with her own addictions – drink and drugs – throughout
the ’90s. She entered rehab in 2002 and has been sober ever since.
“I’ve gotten better,” she says. “I’ve gotten better coping skills. I don’t
reach for a beer if I get bored. If I get frustrated, I’m not lighting a
joint to make the moment go away. If I need to go to bed, I’m not
taking something to make myself go to bed.

025
 music talks
“Also, getting the alcohol and drugs out of the system, I think my
mind was able to breathe and be better. It took years, but my mind
was like, ‘OK, that’s how thought happens. OK, now I’m going to
have another thought.’ That sort of thing. There are lots of good
things about it. There really are.”
Funnily enough, getting clean led her back home to Dayton. “I went
straight from rehab and moved right to my mum and dad’s house,”
Kim laughs. “I swear to god, I did. Why not? What the fuck? I’d kind
of ruined my life. Now I’ll move into their house and ruin their life,
too!” The parental stay lasted well over a decade, till Kim shifted
last year to her own place nearby – complete with recording studio
and rehearsal space. In that time, caring roles have reversed: her
mum developed Alzheimer’s, and her dad has now declared himself
too old to go on their yearly holiday together. Against a backdrop of
music and touring, it’s an oddly domestic affair. Breeders bassist
Josephine stays in Kim’s attic when they’re rehearsing, and
drummer Jim cycles over when he has time off from his day job.
Kim’s earliest musical collaborator, Kelley, lives close by, too –
their first paying gigs were playing country covers at local truck
stops and biker bars. They were even in a high school band called
The Breeders, a laughing precursor to their adult music careers.
Twinned in genetics, geography, musical collaboration, addiction
– is their relationship competitive or supportive or both? “It’s
pretty much both,” Kim admits. “I don’t feel competitive with her,
but I probably am and just don’t want to look at that too hard…
Sometimes my sister tickles me so much in something she says;
I think it’s so funny, and she’s got such a great way of looking at
something. And then other times, I just want to take a knife and
026
i’d kind
of ruined
my life.
now i’ll
rruin their
ife, too!
gouge her eyes out, because she’s fucking on my last nerve, and
what she just said was so stupid,” Kim laughs. “So it’s right there
and anywhere in between.”
Kelley is also famously into knitting – something Kim never
quite got the hang of. Instead, Kim occasionally channels her
non-musical creative energy into obsessively tiny embroidery.
“I’m so OCD. I have to watch it, because I can get so obsessed with
it that I start doing that and not playing guitar, and my stitches are
crazy. They’re really small. It’s weird, and I get too weird with it.
So I haven’t picked it up in a while.”
Staying in her hometown; dabbling in embroidery; caring for
elderly parents – there’s a lot about Kim Deal that doesn’t fit a
strict definition of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. She’s gotten through
decades in the public eye with messy hair, banged-up jeans and
comfy kicks. No make-up, unless you count the occasional nod
to glamour with “some weird glitter or something dumb”. Kim
says she’s rarely felt pressure to conform, though remembers a
moment early in the Pixies’ career when a bandmate’s mum and
wife tried to convince her to chuck on some “big, chunky silver
earrings and a jewel-encrusted bustier… whatever Madonna
was wearing at the time”. The wife was especially scathing,
Kim recalls, complaining: “She’s not even trying.”
But she was. And she is. Not trying, especially, to look pretty. But to
sound good and to do good work. To find her moments of rock and
treat her loved ones well. And – just quietly – to not give a fuck what
other people think of her. “I just have to put my head down and
work,” she says, “and keep doing what I’m doing. I’ve got to keep
working. I’m going to keep working.”
Come and say hello on your next visit to Tokyo
We’ll have the coffee waiting
3-7-2 Hirano Koto-ku, Tokyo, 135-0023, Japan
 something to say
no news is good news
MIA TIMPANO PREFERS TO KEEP
CURRENT AFFAIRS AT ARM’S LENGTH.
I was talking to a fellow music radio broadcaster the other day.
She said she’d been planning to do an all-African show, but had
to reconsider because of “the whole Sudanese gangs thing”.
“What’s the Sudanese gangs thing?” I asked. Upon uttering
my words, I realised it was clearly a big deal (‘gangs’ generally
are), so rushed to explain, “I don’t watch the news.” This was an
understatement. In fact, I avoid the news for months at a time. It’s
easy when you don’t watch TV or install social media apps. I find
out about ‘the news’ in conversations like this, where the other
person is forced to explain the situation to me.
From what I gathered, the “Sudanese gangs thing” involved some
kids – who happened to be Sudanese – doing some bad stuff.
Certain people in the media then painted the entire Sudanese
community as ‘bad’. “So, some kids did some bad stuff,” I said, “and
now the media are using it as an excuse to be racist?” My new friend
confirmed that was basically the situation. ‘The news’, in this case,
was something the media had created: racism, hatred, fear.
I always feel like I run the risk of seeming ‘uninformed’ by avoiding
the news – but what am I really avoiding? The vast majority of the
time: bullshit. In order to access the facts, one has to wade through
monstrous opinions, sickening bias and, sometimes, fully invented
028
Photo Lukasz Wierzbowski
crap. If my knowledge of logical fallacies serves, then the Sudanese
situation is an obvious case of dicto simpliciter. Here’s how that
works: I’m half Italian; I drink six shots of coffee a day; therefore
all half-Italian people drink six shots of coffee a day. Is that true?
Obviously not. ‘Dicto simpliciter’ is basically a fancy term for
sweeping generalisation.
So, if I’m able to dissect ‘the news’ in this way, then why not read it
with a forensic attitude in mind and attempt to extract the facts? Well,
I would, only ‘the news’ is almost always depressing. I remember
flicking through a paper at a café one morning while waiting to see
the doctor. I pointed at every news story and reduced it to one word.
The words were: death, war, abuse, illness, destruction, corruption,
crime, etc. If horror is the norm, then aren’t acts of human
compassion ‘news’? Sometimes they are. But those stories don’t
occupy the main space of the news. In mainstream media, those
stories seem to function as buffers for the ‘real stories’.
On a date with a former journalist for a national news broadcaster,
I learnt that at one point, some director there had wanted them to
tell more positive stories. “We need to tell the bad stories, so we
can bring them into the open and do something about them!” my
date yelled. His view seems sound, even if his choice of hats wasn’t.
It would be great if we all heard about the “bad stories” and were
stirred to make the world a better place – for you and for me and
the entire human race. But when I only hear about things, real or
imagined, that are intended to enrage or terrify me, I will just switch
off. I can’t be enraged and terrified all the time.
This is not apathy on my part – it’s self-preservation. I only have
so much energy to give the world. I can’t afford to drain it. No
doubt, I will return to consuming more ‘news’ at some point, but at
present, I’ll continue to receive it through individuals. That doesn’t
mean it will be any more real or even relevant to me, but at least I’ll
be able to (hopefully) have a conversation about it, as opposed to
having hundreds of headlines accompanied by the commentary of
hundreds of anonymous vitriol-spewers dumped on me like garbage
at a tip. (Tom Piotrowski is quite charming, however.)
 rant
chomping at the bit
CARO COOPER CAN’T WAIT TO SWAP
HER BELOW-PAR TEETH FOR A SET
OF DENTURES.
My mum says I took her teeth and she wants them back. Preferably
the teeth she had before breastfeeding me drained her of calcium.
I argue that I never asked to be breastfed, but Mum swears my
only word during those years was ‘booby’. Admittedly, I do like
boobs. But since hitting my 30s, I, a child-free woman, have started
experiencing the same dental issues that plagued my mother. It’s
a Pyrrhic victory. I can now tell Mum I officially owe her nothing –
how’s that for gratitude – but I also have to deal with what turned
out to be genetic dental weaknesses.
All the money my parents spent on my orthodontic work has been
lost through time, chronic grinding and my teeth’s desire to be
true to themselves. Go teeth, be true to you – even if that means
migrating halfway across my skull. Add my coffee and dark chocolate
addictions into the mix and I now have a mouth full of darkening,
crumbling, shifting stumps. See-through can be sexy when it’s a
dress or lingerie. Not so much when it’s teeth. And I’ve got that,
too. My enamel went the way of my natural collagen and just bailed.
They’re probably sipping fluoridated mai tais on a tropical beach,
perving on 20-something babes with big white smiles.
If you’ve never had a medical professional tell you your ailment is
“part of getting older”, you haven’t lived. I’ve lived, as my dentist likes
to remind me. Why are my teeth so shit now? It’s part of getting older.
Why are my teeth so weak? It’s part of getting older. You know what
else is part of getting older? Finding solutions that work for you,
030
despite what the haters say. For example, I worked out if I go to the
beach dressed head to toe in Morticia Addams-style black gowns,
I don’t get burnt. If I feel anxious but want coffee, I order decaf – or
even better, a half-caffeinated, half-decaf coffee. Try doing that in
an urban artisanal roastery in your 20s. Not gonna happen.
My dentist’s solution for my teeth involves multiple expensive and
invasive procedures. All finished off with their favourite topping:
tooth whitening. I’m not convinced. By any of it. I’ve found a better
solution: rip ‘em out and get dentures.
No longer would I wake to aches and pains from grinding my teeth
during dreams about thieving herds of hippopotamuses making off
with my work laptop. I wouldn’t have to brush and floss; I could drink
a carafe of black coffee and red wine any time. I could live again.
My nan had dentures and she lived the dream. She would sit in
bed eating Columbine sweets and reading romance novels all
night, her chompers marinating in a glass of sterilising fluid
beside her. She didn’t have to get up to brush her teeth. When
I stayed with her, I didn’t either, which is how I ended up with
decay between my front teeth by first grade.
I hear talk about the downsides of dentures, but never the upsides.
People say they pop out; they’re uncomfortable; everything sags
when you take them out, which just sounds a lot like a push-up bra
to me. The upsides of dentures are limitless: perfect teeth I can
swap out for even-more-perfect teeth whenever I feel like it. A gold
pair for special events; a pointy pair for Halloween; a serrated pair
for sourdough crusts.
I’ve mentioned my plan to three dentists and none of them are
on board, but that’s because I’m their primary source of income.
There’ll come a time when I decide I no longer want to pay for my
dentist’s renovations and I’ll free myself from his shackles. I’m
happy to forge the way forward in this field for those who’ll follow
behind me, tired of the nagging aches and pains of ageing teeth.
You laugh now with your lovely strong smile, but like decay and
plaque, you’ll come around. You’ll all come around.
 If you could see
yourself in the future,
who would you become?
Work in fashion marketing, photography or animation or become a
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YOUR FUTURE AWAITS YOU...

ILLUSTRATION BY: KEVIN ISRAEL

(RAFFLES STUDENT)

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 Well, another year of the frankie Good Stuff awards
is done and dusted, and we’ve once again been blown
away by the incredible calibre of entries.

A huge old high-five to everyone involved –

the judges, the sponsors, and our lovely readers
(that’s you!). Now, without further ado, we present
our wonderful lineup of winners.

INTERVIEWS SOPHIE KALAGAS

 What do you do? I’m an illustrator with
PRESENTED BY
SQUARESPACE CASSANDRA a love of kitsch, colour and nostalgia.

URQUHART When did you start? I had a pretty

imaginative and crafty childhood
growing up in rural New Zealand. My
family lived on a farm with a rainforest,
bubbling streams and volcanic crevices.
The older kids in the area used to take
off on adventures outside all day, but
because I was too young, my mum
would set me up with a lot of drawing,
sewing and craft activities. What’s one
thing we should know about you? I also
love to tap dance! I have a long-held
secret dream to start an all-female
tap troupe. Greatest achievement so
far? I was really happy when I started
my online store a couple of years
ago, and got my first sale! I couldn’t
believe someone actually wanted to buy
something I’d made. And the biggest
challenges? All the aspects of learning
how to start a business from scratch,
from finding suppliers to negotiating
fees and learning how to use accounting
software. I’m not naturally good at this
stuff, so it was a big learning curve in
the beginning. Who do you look up to?
At five-foot-two (and a half!), I look up
to almost everyone. What did your high
school counsellor suggest you should
do? At the end of year 12 we all had
to take a career aptitude quiz with the
counsellor, and my result came back
as funeral director… So I guess that
could be my back-up plan? Best piece
of advice you’ve received? To always be
yourself and not worry too much about
what other people might think of your
work. If you were to make a piece that
everyone in the world liked, it would
have to be the most boring piece of art
in the world. What’s your next goal?
I’m planning on taking some classes in
textile design and ceramics this year.
I’m excited to try out some new ways
of working! What does winning a Good
Stuff award mean to you? It really
means a lot to have someone like
Jeremy appreciate my work. It gives
me that extra bit of confidence to keep
pursuing creative dreams. What do
your parents think of what you do?
A few years ago when I was feeling a
bit discouraged, Mum told me it was
nice to see me taking after my dad’s
mum Ethel, who was an artist and
jeweller. She reminded me that my
grandmother was born in a time when
there weren’t as many opportunities for
women, and that I should try to focus
more of my energy on what I love doing.
Where can we see your work? Online at
cassurquhart.com.

Art + illustration judge Jeremy

Photo Bri Hammond

Wortsman says: Cassandra’s

reimagining of Expo ’88 feels personal
on many levels – not only because
of the photos that inspired it, but the
sweetness and sense of nostalgia she’s
managed to imbue in the works to make
it feel familiar, and also a bit weird.

033
 What do you do? I’m a Sydney-based
PRESENTED BY
SHILLINGTON
JORDAN creative with a great love for design and

FLEMING making. I focus primarily on furniture,

but often branch out into creating
other visuals and objects. Why did you
choose that path? I love working with
DESIGN my hands. I spend a lot of time thinking
about the shapes of my surroundings
and how objects are constructed. It was
a natural progression to develop a love for
furniture-making. What’s one thing we
should know about you? I’m ridiculously
clumsy. Literally every day I break, spill,
or run into something… it’s getting out
of hand! Greatest achievement so
far? Probably making my first piece,
the Miss Dottie side table. I was very
ambitious and had no idea what I was
doing, and it turned out beautifully. Who
has been your best support? Friends
and family are my greatest support.
My dad has taught me the majority of my
skills, and introduced me to the world of
building things. And my close mates have
kept me sane when life is getting crazy!
What do you stand for? Honest materials
and honest work. It’s important to see
and feel the hours of work and passion
that have gone into a finished product.
I also try to build without nails or screws,
which is often challenging. Which tool
could you not do without? My Japanese
pull saw, it is my favourite object.
Seriously – everyone needs one! Do you
have a day job? I work casually in the
film and television industry for the art
department, and slowly potter away at
my uni design degree in between. What
keeps you going through the hard times?
My 17-year-old border collie Pinky, who
passed away recently, at a pivotal point
during the creation of this bench. I owed
it to her to finish it. Every time I run away
from finishing a piece or think I can’t do
it, I think of her. She keeps me rolling!
Biggest lesson so far? Measure twice,
cut once. Oh, and go slowly! What does
winning a Good Stuff award mean to
you? Winning this has given me a nice
big kick up the bum. It’s very motivating!
What are you working on right now?
A couple of commissions, a quirky
little pot stand, and a curvy bookshelf.
It’s really exciting designing and building
furniture for people, as it allows me
to fuse my personal style with their
specific needs. What’s your next
goal? To expand my knowledge of
materials and incorporate them into
my next designs. I’d love to learn more
about glass, metal, woodturning and
ceramics. Where can we see your work?
jordanisabella.com or on my Instagram
at @jordan.isabella.fleming.

Design judge Beci Orpin says: I’ve been

Photo Carine Thevenau

searching for the perfect bench for a

while, and now I think I’ve found it! I’d
have this in my house or garden any
day. The design is a perfect balance
between functional and playful, and
the materiality of wood and colourful
powder-coated metal is great, too.

034
 What do you do? My primary practice is
PRESENTED BY
RAFFLES AMANDA hand-generated print design with a focus

FARNCOMB on bold colour and scale – always with an

end product in mind. I like the practicality
in textile design; that you’re designing
for an end purpose. When did you start?
I graduated from Textile Design at RMIT
last year, but I’ve been working in the
fashion industry across various disciplines
– from designing to buying and product
development – since 2007. What’s one thing
we should know about you? My designs
skirt the fine line of fun and functional.
Every range starts with a colour palette that
is primarily trend-driven, then scaled back
to more enduring colour combinations. My
process of garment conception is similar,
with the hope that all items can be worn
for years to come. Which one tool could
you not do without? Tracing paper. I have a
habit of working and reworking my motifs
and their composition, and will quite
often hand-trace each colour separation
to encourage organic overlapping and
spacing. Greatest achievement so far?
Producing my first screenprinted collection
last year. The process from sketch to
fabric was a rollercoaster and incredibly
labour-intensive! But that feeling of seeing
my designs come to life with each screen
separation was magic. What are you
working on right now? I’m about halfway
through building my business plan for
my label Farn, while also designing and
producing my AW18 range, scheduled to
launch in May/June. What do you stand
for? I think it’s important to always ask
questions, and it’s our responsibility as
consumers to do the research and know
where and how our products are made.
I value a connection between the maker
and wearer that has been lost over time,
so is even more special today. Who has
been your best support? My partner,
Khalid. He flew to Melbourne from Sydney
every other week for an entire year before
I finally convinced him to move here!
He’s always the first to celebrate my
achievements (usually with a fat bunch of
flowers) and makes me laugh every single
day. Biggest lesson so far? That I can’t do
everything. I love being a part of every step
in the design and production process, but
as I’m looking to scale up, I had to realise
that doing everything isn’t sustainable.
What does winning a Good Stuff award
mean to you? That someone as talented
and accomplished as Jenny Kee would
judge my work as the top of the fashion
category has completely overcome any
hesitation I had and given me the drive
to make my ideas a commercial reality.
Where can we see your work?
On Instagram at @farntextiles.

Fashion judge Jenny Kee says: This

was the most cohesive collection and
Photo Bri Hammond

the presentation is excellent. It shows

Amanda’s talents across a range of
fashion media, and good, detailed
craftsmanship. The prints are simple and
understated, and she has subtle use of
colours that all work well together.
PRESENTED BY What do you do? We run Girls Rock!
ALLPRESS GIRLS RO
OC Melbourne, an organisation that aims to

MELBOUR RN empower young female, trans and gender-

diverse people aged 10-17, using music as
the medium. We run camps, workshops
and events to address the gender disparity
COMMUNITY within the music industry, create social
change and encourage self-acceptance. Why
did you choose that path? l y Ba n
( ft): I wanted to encourage more female-
(le
identifying and diverse musicians and voices
to join the local music scene, as I was fed
up with my band being the only women
playing on lineups, and the sexist attitudes
we continually encountered. Shannon
Driscoll (middle): Dealing with sexism and
feeling like an outsider isn’t something
anyone should be battling when they’re just
trying to be creative and have fun playing
music! What do you stand for? Ruby Watson
(right): Equality. Animal rights. Human
rights. Kindness. Vulnerability. Greatest
achievement so far? SB: Helping to bring the
Girls Rock! camps to Melbourne and seeing
how much of a positive impact it has on the
self-belief of the participants. Also, building
the Girls Rock! volunteer community, which
is full of inspiring, talented and all-round
lovely people. And the biggest challenges?
SD: Besides finding secure funding for
our non-profit, having to learn on our feet
throughout this whole process. Which one
tool could you not do without? SD: Dropbox
Business! It’s invaluable for the type of work
we do, given we work from home and have
an enormous number of documents and
spreadsheets we need access to regularly.
Who do you look up to? SD: All the women,
trans, and non-binary people who have
started and run flourishing businesses;
who have beaten the odds to achieve
success; and who share their knowledge
generously to empower others. What are
you working on right now? SB: We’re in
the process of expanding our program to
include skills like live mixing, recording and
sound engineering, as well as facilitating
some of the camper bands to perform at
various fundraising gigs. We’re also actively
networking with other camps around
Australia and New Zealand to help people
in other states set up their own programs.
Biggest lesson so far? RW: R Learning to
accept myself for who I am. I can’t encourage
self-acceptance at camp if I don’t practise
it myself! That, as someone for whom
speaking up is easy, I need to be quiet and
give others the chance to talk. Why did you
enter the Good Stuff awards? RW: frankie
supports local artists and creatives, which
lines up with our DIY ethos. It seemed like a
perfect fit! Where can we see your work? At
girlsrockmelbourne.com or on Instagram at
@girlsrockmelb.

Community judge Grace McQuilten says:

pp ate that
at Gir s Rock!! Mellb e is
Photo Bri Hammond

aggrrassro
rassro
sr ot ininitiatiive
e wor
working g ely with
h
diverse young people in pra acti
ctical, tangible
ways brate he
cre y of oung people le and open
oppo tunities for h se o ave
ve o
i ba gr nd d or experience
e e b or .
 What do you do? I weave a lot of stuff
PRESENTED BY
SPOTLIGHT DAISY that people seem to like on my huge

WATT old loom. I started weaving in my first

year of uni – it changed my life. Why
did you choose that path? I kind of fell
into it. Creating something entirely
CRAFT from nothing is so satisfying for my
brain, even if it’s something as simple
as turning silly threads into their own
form. What do you stand for? Listening.
Gosh, it’s so important to be an active
listener; to engage with what’s being
said, helping to create space for certain
dialogue. Who do you look up to? The
incredible art community – particularly
in Melbourne – that I’m so fortunate
to be able to call my friends. Those
incredible humans are the most
supportive, warm and honest people
I’ve ever been privileged enough to be
around. Do you have a day job? I do
a bit of freelance textile design, and
sometimes I pop down to my old uni
to make sure all their looms are good
to go for the students. What do your
parents think of what you do? I think
they think I’m a little silly sometimes
for choosing to do what I do (because,
you know, weaving fabric from scratch
is probably one of the most complicated
and time-consuming processes with
minimal financial prospects). But I also
think they appreciate my commitment
to my craft. Greatest achievement
so far? A little over a year ago I set
up an all-female, communal studio
space called Toast Workroom. I was
so stubborn that I wanted to do all the
fit-out myself, so it was just me and
a couple of great mates painting late
and drilling into stuff. Little did I know,
those four walls would create space for
such an incredible community and so
many neat humans. I’m so lucky. And
what has been your biggest lesson?
That things only ever happen if you
put in the work and do it yourself. One
thing we should know about you?
My socks rarely match. What are you
working on right now? I’m finishing
up a new collection of works, which is
pretty exciting. I’ve been making lots of
rope recently that I’ve incorporated into
some weaving to create these funny bag
things. What does winning a Good Stuff
award mean to you? I was honestly so
surprised that I made the finalist list, so
hearing I won was almost unbelievable.
It’s just a really nice pat on the back –
thanks, guys. Where can we see your
work? Online at daisywatt.com, or on
Instagram at @daisy_watt.

Craft judge Pip Lincolne says: Not

only is Daisy’s work ridiculously clever
and beautiful, it delves deeper into
Photo Bri Hammond

good stuff like cosy times, self-love,

sense of place and the comforts of
home. Daisy embodies the best things
about craft – patience, persistence,
tradition and creativity – and her focus
on connecting people is just what the
world needs right now.

037
 What do you do? I perform, write and
PRESENTED BY
REID CYCLES GRETA ROSE play music. When did you start? I always

STANLEY enjoyed singing, for as far back as I can

remember. I began writing when I was
about 12, and playing guitar around the
same time, but I was bad for a while.
MUSIC It wasn’t until I turned 19 that I decided
I wanted this to be more than just a
bedroom hobby. Why did you enter the
Good Stuff awards? Aside from the
dream of potentially being featured in
my favourite mag, I finally felt like I had
something worth entering. And heck,
what did I have to lose? I’m still pinching
myself that I took out my category;
madness! What do your parents
think of what you do? They think it’s
good, but they don’t say an awful lot.
Dad sold the most EPs just by taking
them to his work and saying, “It’s my
daughter, you have to buy it.” Worked a
charm. Do you have a day job? I work in
hospitality in Cairns, with beach views
and free salad! It’s great, I talk to new
people every day and learn a lot. What
inspires you? Everything; anything;
nothing in particular. I think everything
that provokes a thought is inspiring
and something to draw creatively from.
Tiny passing moments have ripple-on
effects. What are you working on right
now? I just shot a music video for one
of the singles off my album. Aside from
that, I’m working on getting some shows
down south; figuring out how the heck to
use pedals properly with my new electric
guitar; and writing! Which tool could you
not do without? I sometimes consider
depression and anxiety tools, because
without them I wouldn’t think the way
I do. I wouldn’t overanalyse, stress, build
up all these crazy stories, and sink down
into a different world. They help me
write and create, and ruin a lot of things,
too, but it’s how I’m made up, and
managing it is most important. Greatest
achievement so far? Releasing an
album, and playing Groovin The Moo with
a full band. And the biggest challenge?
To continue creating, playing and going
out of my comfort zone when things are at
a standstill. A lot of creative people suffer
with the waves of their own minds, and
when you get low, it can be pretty hard to
get out of that and put yourself in front of
people. You just have to remind yourself
the waves pass, change, and soon it will
return to smooth sailing again. What’s
your next goal? The start of another
album; collaborations; more festivals;
and overseas shows. Where can we see
your work? Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp,
and on Instagram at @gretastanley.

Music judge Myf Warhurst says Greta’ as

Photo Veronica Sagredo

track “When January Comes” sta st

in such a gentle, unassuming way, b but
packs a punch towards the end, building
into something so swirling and d evocativve
that I couldn’t switch i ff.ff Th
T e mu ic
cleverly reflects the title, ca ring
perfectly how summers can feel. I ca can’t
n
wait to hear what Greta does next.
 PRESENTED BY What do you do? I run Bravery Co., an
MOO EMILY online shop selling headscarves to people

SOMERS who hate cancer – whether they have it

or not. I source headscarves from around
the world, and we’ll soon launch our first
collection exclusive to Bravery Co. Ten
SMALL BUSINESS
, per cent of profits go towards finding
+ PEOPLE S CHOICE a cure and ending this stupid disease.
Why did you choose that path? In a way
it chose me. I got sick and found a niche
in the market. But I also got to combine
my design skills; a passion for being my
own boss; and my background in health
and wellbeing. Do you have a day job?
When I’m not running Bravery, I’m a
freelance art director/designer. I work in
agencies in Melbourne and London and
also have clients I work for privately. And
occasionally I work at a medical centre. So
a bit of a mixed bag! What are you working
on right now? Designing my own scarves
and figuring out the world of textile
printing. Getting better at public speaking.
And getting my head around working
between Melbourne and London. Greatest
creative achievement so far? I won an
award for creative writing when I was
about seven. The competition was in the
local paper. I won a giant garden gnome
named David – he sits in my parents’
garden to this day. And your biggest
challenges? Going back into the cancer
world the second time. That shattered
me. What did your high school counsellor
suggest you should do? I was told since
I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do,
I should do arts at uni, because it was so
broad. I did it for a year and hated it. I still
can’t decide on one direction, but turns
out that’s not a bad thing. Running Bravery
means I’m a business owner, designer,
buyer, project manager, writer, social
media wiz, photographer, accountant
(which is terrifying) and occasional
headscarf model. What’s your next goal?
To turn headscarves and turbans into
a fashion trend so no woman feels like
a cancer patient when she wears one.
And to give every cancer-kicker at Peter
Mac Cancer Centre a Bravery headscarf,
by teaming up with other businesses.
Best lesson so far? That you need to be
adaptable. Everything can change in a
second. Think fast and find that silver
lining. What does winning two Good Stuff
awards mean to you? It has confirmed
Bravery Co. has great potential, and made
it possible to print the first collection of
scarves exclusive to Bravery Co. It’s given
me motivation, inspiration, confidence and
support galore. I promise to do something
great with the prizes. Thank you! Where
can we see your work? braveryco.com.au

Small business judge Tess McCabe

says: Emily’s bringing considered design;
Photo Andy Donohoe

an eye for aesthetics; and an authentic

and relatable voice to a product that can
brighten the lives of cancer patients.
Her mission to offer an altruistic arm
to the business while exploring other
collaborations with likeminded minority
groups is also commendable.

039
 What do you do? I’m a photographer
PRESENTED BY
STOCKSY UNITED NICK who has recently moved into video.

MCKINLAY My style is about creating absurd

environments for the people I work
with to run through. How did you begin
on that path? I fell into it, as I imagine
PHOTOGRAPHY a lot of photographers/videographers
do. I started taking photos of bands
overseas, just to meet people! It went
from there. I love being able to make
something that helps someone feel like
they’re being represented in the world
in an interesting way. What inspires
you? Different light temperatures at
night. Nannas sweeping their gardens.
Wallpaper. Best piece of advice you’ve
received? To pretend you’re making art
for yourself. Obviously you aren’t, but
creating anything with the reception of
others in mind is really hard. Why did
you enter the Good Stuff awards? I love
frankie, and had a good bunch of friends
enter last year. In Australia, there aren’t
many awards that acknowledge such
a broad range of talents, so I thought
I’d give it a go! Which one tool could
you not do without? A big ol’ SD card.
Greatest achievement so far? I didn’t
study any of this, so just learning the
ins and outs of camera stuff has been
a big achievement for me. And the
biggest challenge? Being freelance and
the stresses that come with that. Not
knowing where your next job is coming
from is both terrifying and exciting.
What keeps you going through the
hard times? Fortunately, if something
isn’t going great, I can take solace in
another job that might be popping up
soon. I think that’s the best thing about
freelance – you’re able to work on so
many different project types. Who do you
look up to? A huge influence is Swedish
photographer Lars Tunbjörk. He’s really
cheeky and absurd. The colours are
beautiful and you’re not sure whether
his subjects are real people or staged
situations. What’s one thing we should
know about you? I grew up in the Blue
Mountains, so I’m still amazed by big
cities and the number of places I can get
a snack. What do you stand for? I think
I’m still figuring that out. Hopefully a
place where people can feel safe and
supported when expressing themselves.
What’s your next goal? I want to try
to create experiences around my
work. I think we’re a bit of a scrolling
generation (myself included), so I really
want to put people right in the piece.
Where can we see your work? The best
place is my Instagram, @nick_mckk, or
my website, nickmckinlayphotos.com.

Photography judge Luisa Brimble

says: Nick’s photo series, Alien, really
Photo Carine Thevenau

caught my attention. It felt uneasy

yet familiar and nostalgic. I love that
each image in his project was paired
with a very appropriate soundtrack,
which more than doubled the sensory
experience. I commend Nick for
evoking those ‘alien’ feelings.

040
 What do you do? I’m a lover of words.
PRESENTED BY
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE TAKU At the moment I’m experimenting with

AUSTRALIA MBUDZI them through writing, podcasting, stand-up

comedy and TV production. When did you
start? I started storytelling professionally
about 10 years ago in Perth. I published a
WRITING + PODCASTS kids’ book; spoke in schools; taught public
speaking to young people; and dabbled in
stand-up comedy. I recently moved from
Perth to Melbourne to produce my stories
for TV and film. Who do you look up to?
Creatively, I’ve always admired musician
Erykah Badu, comedian Ellen DeGeneres
and TV writer Shonda Rhimes. They’re all
imaginative wordsmiths whose colourful
and humorous ideas bring people together
in surprising ways. Why did you enter the
Good Stuff awards? I was on the frankie
website to check out some videos and
came across the competition page – the day
before the deadline! When I saw the writing
and podcasts category, I thought it was
the perfect opportunity to apply because
my podcast is about writing. What are you
working on right now? I’m finally setting up
my own production company and developing
three TV show ideas. My podcast Two Words
with Takuu is also keeping me busy, as that’s
where I share what I’m learning along
the way. Greatest achievement so far?
I’m finally at a point where I’m not asking
anyone for permission to tell my stories.
I’m not writing or creating to fit a mould
or quota. I’m simply sharing my words
in ways that bring my spirit joy. And the
biggest challenges? Things like loss of
family; not-quite-right relationships; toxic
friendships; and self-doubt really affected
my confidence a few years ago. I reset
my boundaries, made time to heal and
surrounded myself with loving family and
friends who’ve helped me so much. What’s
one thing we should know about you? I call
myself the Unapologetic Queen of Trying.
I spent too long wondering if I should and
could try some of my creative ideas, and
now I just choose to have a go and learn
from whatever happens. So far, it’s been
phenomenal! What’s your next goal? I’m
focusing on shooting pilot episodes for my
three shows. They’re quite different and
there’s plenty to research and prepare
for each. Best piece of advice you’ve
received? A person I admire said, “Focus
on going deep, not wide.” Today, there’s so
much focus on numbers – followers, likes,
views, etc. When you create true, honest
work from a deep place within yourself,
it may change how you share it and who
you connect with. Where can we see your
work? My podcast Two Words with Taku is
on iTunes and anywhere else you find your
favourite podcasts. You can also see my
world on Instagram at @takuspeaks.

Writingg + podcasts judge Benjamin

Law saays Taku has a gun instinct for
Photo Bri Hammond

storytelling, backed u
up with impressive,
professional sound design chops that
elevate her work to international broadcast
quality. As more African-Australian voices
begin to lead the way in our media, I so look
forward to Takuk be
eing front an
a d centre.
PRESENTED BY What do you do? I’m an artist, writer and
MADMAN SARAH creative entrepreneur. I make animations,

FIRTH comics, thinkpieces and essays, and have

run a small business for the past eight
years, offering animated explainer videos,
live graphic recording, facilitation, and
VIDEO strategic planning workshops around
the world. When did you start? I’ve been
exploring animation and film since I was a
teenager, when I found a Super-8 camera
at a garage sale. There’s something
accessible, immediate and magical about
turning inanimate objects or drawn lines
into moving works that continues to delight
and fascinate me. Biggest challenges so
far? Managing mental health struggles;
coping with stress; working to improve
my financial situation; chronic pain; and
nurturing my self-confidence. It’s a work
in progress developing the resilience
and tenacity you need to deal with the
rejections, ups and downs of being a
sensitive person living a creative life.
Who do you look up to? Interdisciplinary
makers with an eccentric sense of delight
and exploration in their work. People like
Lynda Barry, Oliver Sacks, David Shrigley,
Björk, Maira Kalman, Jan Švankmajer
and David Lynch. What are you working
on right now? My debut graphic novel
– an idiosyncratic portrait of thinking,
exploring personal narratives woven
together with philosophy, psychology,
science and theory. What do your parents
think of what you do? They are confused;
surprised; delighted; sometimes shocked;
and very proud. What inspires you? Ideas
and experiences. The big questions of life
and the small moments. I love discussing,
thinking, travelling, looking and learning,
and am insatiably curious about the
seemingly absurd experience of being alive
as a human. Best piece of advice you’ve
received? That none of us are getting
out of here alive. I know that sounds
quite bleak, but it helps me see things in
perspective and let go of small stuff. Who
has been your best support? Connecting
with a community of alternative comic
makers through the Comic Art Workshop
has had a profound impact on me and my
work. What does winning a Good Stuff
award mean to you? It means so much.
I felt really proud of my animation when
I made it, because it was an intuitive
experiment that didn’t fail. Finally seeing
it get recognition makes me feel so
delighted! What’s one thing we should
know about you? I’d love to become a
polymath; a Renaissance lady. Embracing
knowledge and experience to develop
as fully as I can. Where can we see your
work? sarahthefirth.com

Video judge Marc Fennell says: The

incredible attention to detail and
painstaking effort are reason enough for
Photo Bri Hammond

Sarah’s entry “Body Language” to win.

But that’s not why it leapt out at me.
There’s something tangibly human in this
animation. There’s a gentle, wry humour,
and a deft understanding of how we all
relate to our body.

042
 my project
the pie’s the limit
KARIN PFEIFF BOSCHEK’S INTRICATE PIE
CRUSTS ARE ALMOST TOO SWISH TO EAT.
How did your pie project begin? I come from a long line of home
bakers in Germany. I began baking classical German yeast pastries,
tortes and cakes for my sister, brother and myself when I was still
quite young. When my American husband made apple, cherry or
pumpkin pies, I thought they were very tasty, and a few years ago
I decided to try my own hand at pie-making. I quickly realised the
top crust would be an excellent medium for decoration.
Talk us through the tools you use to create your designs. They’re
so intricate! It’s probably obvious that the pie dough is of major
importance. I use a modified recipe from my husband’s mother
(who was also an award-winning pie baker, by the way). I commonly
use a scalpel – as well as numerous other kitchen utensils – to
carve and shape the crust, and I have a collection of more than 200
cookie cutters. I also have a few decorative embossed rolling pins to
044
create surface structure, and I’m fortunate to have a 90-centimetre
commercial oven that bakes very evenly – though I do occasionally
bake pies successfully in a normal home kitchen oven.
How long does it take to make one of your pies? It may take
anywhere from about four to eight hours, depending on the
intricacy of the decorations. That includes cooling between various
operations, but not baking time.
Does the flavour of the pie affect the design you choose? Generally,
I choose the filling that is most suitable to the design I’m planning to
make. Some designs need a very smooth, flat surface, so I’d generally
use a berry filling. If the pie is going to have an open top or a loose
latticework, I try to find a colourful filling and cut the fruit decoratively.
Is it tricky to maintain structural integrity with so many cut-outs
and layers? A simple old pie baker’s trick is usually adequate: keep it
cool! Or better yet, keep it cold! Also, one must think ahead, realising
the dough will soften, shrink and swell as it bakes. If you don’t take
this into account, the designs will not fare well in the oven. You have
to watch the baking process closely for the first 20 minutes, manually
manipulating any parts that begin to move or droop. Decorative
pieces are attached using an egg wash as an adhesive.
Who gets to eat the pies afterwards? They’re almost all given away
to charities, neighbours or friends, and I take some of them with
me to work at a local university, where the graduate students are
thankful to have something sweet to go with coffee.
When do you like to do your baking? Is there a certain time of day
that you settle into the kitchen? I generally don’t have the luxury
of being able to choose the time. Since I work from 7am until 5pm,
during the week I can only bake in the evening. Sometimes the pie
doesn’t come out of the oven until after midnight!
Is there any one thing we should know about you? I am a perfectionist
and do not accept compromise in my artistic endeavours.
Where can we see more of your yummy artwork? On Instagram at
@karinpfeiffboschek.
 THINKERS.
ADVENTURERS.
MAKERS. WRITERS.
INVENTORS.
+
STREET FISH.

the secret life of ken

READ ABOUT HIS SURPRISINGLY FLUID LIFE
IN SMITH JOURNAL’S LATEST ISSUE, OUT NOW

smithjournal.com.au
 learn something new
family feud
FORGET SCUFFLES OVER CHORES
AND THE LAST SLICE OF CAKE –
THESE FAMOUS SIBLING RIVALRIES
LED TO WARS, BROKEN BONES,
AND IN ONE CASE, DEATH.
Words Mia Timpano
ADOLF AND RUDOLF DASSLER
Once upon a time, in pre-World War II Germany, siblings Rudolf
and Adolf (or ‘Rudi’ and ‘Adi’, as they preferred to be known)
were partners in the Dassler Brothers Sports Shoe Company –
a business so small they operated out of their mum’s laundry.
But when African-American track champion Jesse Owens donned
a pair of their sneakers at the 1936 Olympics – and won four gold
medals while doing so – everyone suddenly wanted to get their
mitts on the Dasslers’ sneaks. Sadly, success coupled with family
tension drove the brothers apart; Rudi even suspected that Adi had
schemed to get him called up for Nazi military service. So, in 1948,
they split – Adi going off to set up sports shoe company Adidas
(a combination of his first and last names), while Rudi founded
the competing Puma. Both kept operations in their hometown
of Herzogenaurach, employing most of the local population on
opposite banks of the town’s river. It was forbidden to date or
marry someone from the rival company, and supposedly, people
looked at the shoes you were wearing before deciding whether
to talk to you. Such was the animosity that the brothers even
insisted on being buried at opposing ends of the same cemetery.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND AND JOAN FONTAINE
Only one woman can win the Academy Award for Best Actress in
any given year, and in 1942, a pair of sisters both happened to be
nominated: Olivia de Havilland for her role in Hold Back the Dawn,
and Joan Fontaine for Hitchcock’s Suspicion. Joan won. You’d think
that Olivia would be happy for her little sis – or at least, not pissed
off – but she didn’t even offer Joan a simple “congrats”. The truth
was, Olivia had always been jealous of her sibling – growing up,
they’d competed for their parents’ attention, acting jobs, boys
(as editor of her high school newspaper, Olivia published a fake
will, stating, “I bequeath to my sister the ability to win boys’ hearts,
which she does not have at present”), and she’d even broken Joan’s
collarbone, according to the tabloids. The bad blood lasted their
entire lifetimes. Olivia even withheld the news of their mother’s
death, telling Joan after the fact that she’d have been too busy
to attend the funeral, anyway – a burn if ever there was one.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CLEOPATRA AND PTOLEMY XIII
Little brothers can be pretty annoying, but rarely do you have
to co- rule an empire with them. Or marry them. Cleopatra was
required to do both. Following their father’s death, 18-year-old
Cleopatra and her 10-year-old bro Ptolemy XIII became joint
Egyptian monarchs (with a regent acting on Ptolemy’s behalf, given
he was so young his voice hadn’t even broken yet). But Cleopatra
never wanted to share power with her brother, and had his name
removed from all documents – a move that was super-rebellious at
the time, as females were supposed to be subordinate to their male
co-rulers. Unfortunately for Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIII got revenge by
banishing his big sister to Syria, which in turn triggered a civil war.
She retaliated by seducing Julius Caesar, forming a political alliance
and eventually having his child (the story goes that she snuck into
his palace inside a rug, sausage roll-style). Not long after, the
Romans won the Battle of the Nile, and Ptolemy XIII drowned while
trying to regain the throne. (Side note: Cleopatra later killed her
half-sister Arsinoe, and ordered the death of her even younger
brother, Ptolemy XIV, in order to reign as queen alongside her son.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
EPPIE LEDERER AND PAULINE PHILLIPS
Growing up, twins Esther ‘Eppie’ Friedman and Pauline ‘Popo’
Friedman were inseparable, wearing identical clothes, working
together on their school newspaper, and marrying their husbands
in a double wedding ceremony. Truly, theirs was a hunky-dory
sibling-ship – until 1956, when Eppie scored the role of the
Chicago Sun-Times’ “Dear Ann” advice columnist, following
the death of the original Ann (a big deal, given the column was
syndicated across America). Miffed, Popo launched her own
rival column, “Dear Abby”, for their hometown rag the Sioux
City Journal, on the proviso they didn’t publish “Dear Ann”. The
sisters didn’t speak for the next eight years, but had plenty to say
about each other in print. Popo penned a story for Life magazine
discussing Eppie’s nose job, while Eppie wrote of her twin, “She’s
just like a kid who beats a dog until somebody looks, and then
she starts petting it.” Though the pair has since passed away,
the feud lives on through their daughters, who have battled
over the right to publicly grieve for their estranged aunts.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DAVE AND RAY DAVIES
Anyone with ears and regular access to popular Western music
will know The Kinks’ 1963 hit single “You Really Got Me”. One of
the first songs to feature guitar distortion, the dance-inducing
number was instrumental in shaping the future sounds of the punk
and metal genres – so, pretty important in the musical world. But
North London brothers Dave and Ray Davies, the band’s driving
force, grew shitty with each other, arguing over who created
the song’s iconic sound. Ray claimed he’d been responsible for
generating the awesome fuzz by stabbing an amp with a knitting
needle, while Dave counterclaimed that he’d come up with the
sound by slashing his amp with a razor blade. The bitterness
. has lasted for decades, with each accusing the other of stealing
credit in order to gain royalties. Now and then the band toys
with the idea of a Kinks reunion, but Dave reckons it’s unlikely,
saying of his brother, “I just can’t stand to be with him. About an
hour with Ray’s my limit, so it would be a very short reunion.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HARRY HOUDINI AND THEODORE HARDEEN
Sometimes, just sometimes, sibling rivalry can be a good thing,
and not lead to viciousness or war or breaking each other’s
bones. Harry and Theodore Houdini are a prime example of this.
Performing together on Coney Island, the magicians were known
as ‘The Brothers Houdini’ – until Harry went solo. Theodore,
still keen to make it as an illusionist, changed his surname to
Hardeen and followed suit by going it alone. Throughout their
lifelong careers as magicians, the siblings would continuously try
to one-up each other – all in the spirit of brotherly competition,
of course. When Harry’s straightjacket escape routine garnered
. widespread attention, for example, Theodore made it a touch more
bad-arse by doing it in front of an audience, instead of behind a
screen. Then, Harry took it one step further, escaping from the
jacket while dangling precariously from a crane. Happily, the rivalry
remained professional; Harry wrote in his will that Theodore should
receive all his props, effects and the right to use his illusions,
while Theodore named one of his sons Harry in tribute.
046
Photo Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine,
from Pictorial Press Limited
 stuff

1 2

6 7
5 8

9
12
11

10

13

14 15 16

have a crack
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT EGGS AND SOLDIERS
FOR BREKKIE COULDN’T GET ANY CUTER.

1. Flamingo egg cup, around $39, notonthehighstreet.com/hannahturnerceramics. 2. Cute Kids’ bear egg cup, rrp $9.20,
buddyandbearshop.etsy.com. 3. Origo orange egg cup, rrp $14.95, iittala.com.au. 4. Squirrel egg cup, rrp $25, thirddrawerdown.com.
5. Bunny egg cup, around $39.50, tramaiceramics.etsy.com. 6. Origami Dinosaur egg cup in Turquoise Diplodocus, around $18,
theletteroom.com. 7. Donkey Products egg cup in Apollo, rrp $19.95, www.themagicpudding.com.au. 8. Beardy Man egg cup,
around $20.50, donnawilson.com. 9. Blue Tit egg cup, around $13, sarahboddyuk.etsy.com. 10. Orla Kiely flower egg cup, rrp $39
for set of two, au.amara.com. 11. Chicky Chick egg cup, around $37, fatherrabbit.com. 12. BENDO Luxe egg cup in copper, rrp $19.90,
thedesigngiftshop.com. 13. Lucie Kaas egg cup, rrp $29.95, wilkinsandkent.com. 14. Sheep egg cup, rrp $25, thirddrawerdown.com.
15. Oiva/Siirtolapuutarha egg cup, rrp $39 for set of two, marimekko.com. 16. Blue and White chicken egg cups, around $36 for set of
three, notonthehighstreet.com/thechickenandtheegg.

048
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New York • London • Manchester

Sydney • Melbourne • Brisbane
around the world

out of africa
MELBOURNE PHOTOGRAPHER
GINA NERO SPENT TIME IN THE
LANDLOCKED COUNTRY OF ZIMBABWE.

Growing up in Australia, our perspectives are shaped by the media,

which can often paint a negative picture of the African continent.
But there are many countries, and they’re all very different –
some safe, some not so safe. If you look a little deeper you’ll find
artists, dressmakers, furniture designers, beautiful animals, vast
landscapes and sustainable agriculture.
One of my first observations upon arriving in Zimbabwe was that
every single policeman or soldier had supermodel swag – the
men literally looked as though they were walking the runway at
New York Fashion Week, clasping their rifles like trekking sticks.
Most people I met accepted me into their lives without question.
In Western cultures, people have a tendency to be judgmental,
overly cautious, and to project distinct elements of grandiosity.
Zimbabwe was a stark contrast.
In the capital city of Harare, I’d often wake to the sounds of the
doorless commuter buses, with boys hanging off the sides screaming
their destinations. In the Bvumba Mountains, the silence was broken
by Samango monkeys climbing the avocado trees. Meanwhile, at
Victoria Falls, there was a constant hum of Mosi-oa-Tunya (‘The
Smoke which Thunders’) – the world’s largest sheet of falling water.
To my surprise, the landscape was very similar to dry, rural areas of
Victoria: gum trees, arid grasslands, field crops and Acacias. There
are only two seasons in Zimbabwe – wet and dry. Produce-wise,
I inhaled juicy mandarins, succulent tomatoes, spiky cucumbers
and seasoned sugar beans with muboora (pumpkin leaves chopped,
cooked and eaten with maize). The locals certainly know how to eat!
Zimbabwe has had a corrupt history under the iron grip of Robert
Mugabe, and I was very aware of the tension amidst the volatile
political situation. One night, I was sitting in a bar watching the
93-year-old president being gifted a massage chair on national
television. He stated that Zimbabwe was the second most productive
country in Africa after South Africa. I was almost deafened by
hysterical laughter – a good indication of the distance between the
people and their leader. I saw him televised a few more times during
my stay, always wearing matching outfits with his wife, Grace (often
with his own face multiplied and printed across a two-piece), and he
was more often than not falling asleep with the camera still rolling.
Looking back, I admire the Zimbabwean people’s will to survive,
and their resourcefulness – some invented their own jobs by filling
potholes in the roads, while others use their creativity to recycle
materials for clothing, furniture and accessories. (I now have an
extensive collection of bottle-top earrings, bags and papier-mâché
necklaces.) I also learnt to fear the unavoidable ageing process less.
The more I travel and observe how other cultures operate, the more
I realise Australia is an ageist country. In Zimbabwe, the elderly are
appreciated for their experience, knowledge and wisdom.
The locals told stories of evil mermaids pulling civilians into the
water, and warned of the mystical peaks of Mount Nyangani, where
a spiritual presence is responsible for the disappearances of many.
I was curious about the African Apostolic Church, and took photos
of believers cloaked in white from head to toe, practising religious
rituals by the side of the road.
I travelled to Zimbabwe with little knowledge of the country and an
open, untainted mind, seeing an opportunity to learn and experience
a reality far from my own – and I was certainly not disappointed.

051

take me out
MIA TIMPANO, DEIRDRE FIDGE
AND CARO COOPER TRY OUT SOME
CLASSIC DATE SCENARIOS.
Illustrations Anjana Jain
PICNIC
If you’re after a relaxed rendezvous that
allows for decent conversation, the classic
picnic might just be the answer. Bars and
restaurants can be noisy and expensive,
but with a picnic, you’ll never have to worry
about over-enthusiastic waiters interrupting
your chat, or uncomfortable bill-splitting
moments. Further pros are that it requires
little planning – simply shake out the
tartan rug that lives in the boot of your car;
check the weather forecast for upcoming
downpours; and swing by a decent deli.
Cons: hay fever sufferers may struggle with
springtime frolics, unless they lace their
crustless sandwiches with antihistamines.
Also, if you’re feeling nervous or get self-
conscious shovelling pesto into your face,
there may be room for awkward silences.
(Luckily, in this situation, neither applied.)
My picnic conversation topics somehow
included death, horoscopes and famous rap
beefs, so be ready to cover all the big topics.
And here’s a handy hint: line your pockets
with pastrami to attract nearby dogs, giving
you the opportunity to point out that animals
are an excellent judge of character. DF
road test
THE MOVIES
Do you want to be trapped with your date
in the dark watching two other people
fucking? Because that’s what happened on
my movie date. People warned me against
my choice of film, Call Me By Your Name,
but I wanted to see something I knew
was good in case the date was pointless
(all dates should have a value proposition
above and beyond potential mating). It was
a first date with someone I know well; we
were comfortable watching sex scenes
together. This fact tells me that a) even if
we’re not comfortable having sex (which we
didn’t), we can at least enjoy it as art; and
b) we can tolerate being quiet with each
other for two hours. On the car ride home,
we went deep, discussing the evolution of
media consumption habits over the course
of our lifetimes. (Side note: nostalgia
always makes for good date conversation,
especially when it includes copious
references to The Terminator.) No, we didn’t
kiss, but do all dates need to culminate
in wild, animalistic sex, dripping in peach
juice? Ideally, yes – but sometimes, you just
get a knee pat. Three stars. MT
054
BOATING
Of all date ideas that combine romance with
upper-body exertion, hiring a rowboat tops the
list, without a doubt. While propelling ourselves
merrily downstream, we encountered
sunshine, ducks, Simpsons references (that’s
a paddlin’) and plenty of laughter when I
accidentally steered our boat directly into the
riverbank. As a date scenario, rowing provides
helpful insight into how the two of you handle
compromise – aka, one set of oars. If they
instinctively kick back, relax and wait for you to
steer the ship… maybe reconsider a follow-up
date. Boating is a timeless activity for a reason:
it’s surprisingly fun; pretty darn cute; and
probably a unique experience for both parties –
unless you happen to be courting a fisherman.
(Plus, you’re contractually obliged to have
a steamy make-out session if you get stuck
in a sudden downpour à la The Notebook.)
Sometimes it pays to scrap any pretence of
being ‘cool’ and really embrace the fact dates
can be cheesy as heck, which is part of the fun.
This is the perfect choice if you aren’t afraid
to look a bit silly and share a laugh – after all,
it’s impossible to be elegant when boarding a
wobbly wooden boat. DF

COOKING TOGETHER
I suffered first-date-level anxiety choosing
a ‘romantic’ recipe for this date. The
internet suggested spaghetti marinara –
sexy in a fishy, Lady and the Tramp kind
of way. I don’t like being told what to do,
which makes following a recipe difficult.
So, I happily handed my date – aka my
boyfriend – control of the mess I’d created
and focused on the wine (consumption).
We both made an effort to wear clean
clothes rather than our regular eating
pants or sweaty gym gear. I even set the
table with linen and candles; decanted
wine; filled a vase with flowers; and put
on a record. I served the pasta as though
I’d cooked it myself, and we sat down to
use real, metal cutlery and real, long-
stemmed wine glasses. We relished
that there were no restaurant queues to
wait in; no staff hovering or noisy nearby
tables. No surge-priced Ubers. It was a
simple kind of joy to put in effort for a
dinner at home, and to try a little harder
for each other. I enjoyed doing something
for someone I love. And then he enjoyed
doing the dishes in the morning. CC
road test
BOWLING
Given that my butt is my greatest physical
asset (or assets, if you count both cheeks),
bowling is an ideal dating sport so far as
I’m concerned. Not only do I get to crouch
down low in front of my prospective mating
partner, sticking my rear in the air for their
gazing pleasure time and time again, but I
also get to humiliate them by consistently
knocking down more pins than them, and
turning to say, “I forgot how awesome
I am at this.” The game also gives you
something to talk about – ideal if you want
to avoid discussing your day-to-day life
and unpaid dental bills, which I did. Yes,
the night went well, if you call demanding
your date carry you down a flight of stairs
because you can’t be bothered walking
anymore ‘well’ – but not if you consider
the price of the evening. Think about
it: you’re forking out for bowling, food,
transportation, and enough alcohol to make
the other person look attractive. Sure, in a
perfect world you’d already find that person
attractive, but after I see someone burp
mid-burger, I need around a litre of vodka
to get back in ‘the moment’. MT
055
FUNFAIR
I expected this date to be as thrilling and
giddy as my teenage Timezone outings. It
wasn’t. I’m older and not a virgin, which
takes a lot of fun out of this kind of thing.
As an adult, funfairs lose their sheen.
You can see the shoddy facades; rides
become safety hazards; and queues seem
interminable. Just think of all the things
you could achieve in the time it takes to
board a ride that costs more than a coffee
and lasts half as long! I tried to push my
dull inner-adult aside. It didn’t help that
my date and I both ride motorbikes, which
made the ferris wheel feel like riding a
penny-farthing. The views were amazing,
but it turned out my date is terrified of
heights, so, while couples in neighbouring
cages made out, we mimicked birthing
breaths. It all felt a little ‘forced teen-
dream first date’ for me: fairy floss, stuffed
toys and haunted house rides. If you’re the
kind of person who likes an activity date
and you’re comfortable releasing your
inner-child, it could work for you. If you’re
more the dim lighting and martinis and
making out type, stick with that. CC
 mind your business
Photographs Sia Duff
i love my shop
REBECCA TREVITT SPREADS SOME
BLOOMING LOVELINESS IN ADELAIDE
WITH HER FLORIST, PONDER POSY.
Where is it? 26b The Strand, Colonel Light Gardens, Adelaide.
Describe Ponder Posy in a sentence. Gentle chaos, crooked stems
and broken leaves that let the sun shine through.
What goes on there? Mostly flower arranging, plus the creation of
dried botanical sculptures, including wreaths and wall features. You
can buy flowers from the store, attend workshops, and I also spin
wildness for special events. There’s lots of coffee-drinking, too.
How did it all begin? I started growing flowers at home because
vegetables seemed too hard! A local shop started selling my
posies and the business grew from there – one posy at a time.
I taught myself all the other floristry techniques from books and
kind florist friends.
What were you doing beforehand? I’ve had a few careers, including
advertising, but most recently I worked as a counsellor.
Describe the space for us. The building is nearly 100 years old.
The light is exquisite; it’s my favourite part, as my work just
glows because of it. The old bay windows and frames are equally
precious. The floorboards are original and seem to love the chaos
of all the floral litter and spilt buckets of water. It’s the kind of
space that has you feeling grateful just to be in charge of looking
after it. You can’t not be creative in it.
057
Where do your plants come from? I source Australian-grown
materials only. Each and every stem. Most importantly, I source
from South Australian growers who have an ethos around
sustainable farming methods. I also forage in my own yard, and
anyone else’s who will let me!
Are there any flowers you don’t like? Imported flowers. Really,
it’s overwhelming how many flowers are imported into Australia.
And which types make your heart flutter? Locally grown wild foliage
en masse. Tall, overgrown and ridiculously difficult to fit in a vase.
What is your approach when it comes to flower arrangement?
I work with layers of textures and shapes. I love the challenge
of mixing natives and softer, feminine flowers. I use a simple,
naturalistic colour palette, perhaps with one colour as a clash.
Do you have any tips for keeping flowers looking fresh for longer?
Source locally, for a start. Ask your florist where the flowers are
grown. If it’s far away, you have to ask how long ago they were
cut, then add on your vase life to that. Try natives or already dried
branches, twigs and pods, so you don’t even have to worry about
them lasting. You can collect dried botanicals over a few seasons and
redo your composition in a different room to your heart’s content.
How do you go about choosing the right plants for a specific event
or space? I think about what mood needs to be created and then
choose materials that fit with that. I like to think about what’s
eye-catching and be deliberate about placing materials together
that clash or contrast beautifully.
What do you love about what you do? I love that I’m constantly
learning. Learning how to be sustainable and respectful of the
environment. Making arrangements that are guided and restricted
by the seasons.
Are there any drawbacks? Rose thorns embedded deep into my
skin. They really hurt and can be a distraction for days!
How can we contact you? ponderposy.com.au
Photo Berta Pfirsich

YOU’VE GOT A
FRIEND IN ME
four writers ponder the ins and outs
of having and being a good pal.
By
Eleanor
Robertson
- personally make a mistake to learn
Around the third time my friend
started dating a married father
of small children, I came to what
should have been an obvious
conclusion: she was probably not
going to stop doing this. My rose-
tinted glasses weren’t of a strong
enough prescription for me to
believe her when she said it wasn’t
serious, and she had no feelings
for him. Especially given she told
me this while weeping openly in
public, because the married father
of small children had referred to
her as ‘mate’ rather than ‘sweetie’
in a text message.
My friend’s self-destructive
dating habits aside, I also realised
this is the real bread and butter
of friendship: watching someone
fuck up in exactly the same way
over and over again, like that bit
in The Simpsons where Sideshow
Bob repeatedly steps on upturned
rakes and smacks himself in the
face. It takes a lot of patience to
comfort and advise someone who is
suffering due to an unforced error
they have inflicted on themselves
for the fiftieth time, like a dog
who won’t stop eating kitchen
twine even though it’s suffered
three previous instances of bowel
torsion from doing it.
writers’ piece
According to some accounts, the
powerful collective ability humans
have to improve our behaviour by
learning from mistakes is part
of what differentiates us from
animals. We don’t even have to
from it. If my friend had really
wanted to inform herself before
deciding whether to use Tinder
to specifically search for men in
committed relationships, she could
have used the veritable library’s
worth of documentation from other
people throughout history that
suggests this is, on balance, a shit
idea. Books dating back centuries
have been written about the
question, “should I date a married
man?”. There’s probably an institute
dedicated to studying it.
I’m not judging my friend for doing
something so heinously stupid
over and over again – I do the same
thing. We all do the same thing.
At least her repetitive mistake was
only on the order of ‘personally
and socially catastrophic’, rather
than something really dumb
like habitual drink-driving,
or doing multiple expensive
graduate degrees because you
can’t face entering the workforce.
It seems acceptable these days
to terminate a friendship on the
grounds that supporting someone
who can’t stop doing something
bad is enabling them. But we all
need friends who will listen to
us run circles around ourselves,
justifying objectively terrible
059
choices, and repeat the same
advice knowing it will, yet again,
go in one ear and out the other.
Exercising this level of stoicism
when your friend announces
they’ve decided to put a fourth trip
to Europe on their third credit
card is no easy feat. The immediate
impulse is one of scorn: how are you
this stupid? Did you put a big metal
syringe in your ear and suck out
the part of your brain that stored
the memories from last time this
went wrong? Are you telling me
this to punish me? Do you need me
to put socks on your hands so you
don’t scratch up your own face like
a newborn baby?
The more humane and, eventually,
rewarding reaction is one based on
love. Giving people honest guidance
and support often feels utterly
futile at the time, especially when
they’re wrapped up in their own
personal psychodrama. But having
received this kindness from people
in the past, I know it can lead to one
of the more profound experiences
it’s possible to have: the feeling of
something finally sinking in. One
moment you’re merrily fucking
things up again. The next, your
head echoes with the sound of
your friend’s voice saying, on 30
different occasions: don’t do this.
You know better than this. Then,
and only then, in the full light
of your friend’s concern, are you
able to finally step away from the
upturned rakes.

By
Caro
Cooper
- tauter. It finally snapped when
I am not good at making friends.
I’m even worse at keeping them.
I’ve learnt the hard way that to live
with a friend is to lose a friend.
An old, established pal can be fine.
You know, the ones that are like
family – they laugh at your farts
and you’re comfortable navigating
each other’s moods. But living with
new friends? Honeymoon-phase
friends? Bad idea. Very bad idea.
One of my big friend break-ups
came from ignoring my own rule
of not living with new mates, and,
just like the time I ignored my
rule about not eating seafood in
developing nations, it was dramatic
and painful. My new friend was
great – the life of the party; an
awesome dancer; a real babe. We
had fun. The planets appeared to
align when I needed a home and her
flatmate decided to move out. The
planets were testing me. I failed.
Like any new relationship, things
were great at the start. We’d dance
in the living room; watch movies;
make ice-cream cakes and dance
some more. Then, it all fell apart.
I’m good at saying no. It took
time and effort, but I learnt how
to do it because I’d rather have
one awkward conversation than
commit to something I’ll likely
resent. This makes my life better,
but it doesn’t win me friends.
I’m sure there’s a word for that –
it’s probably ‘jerk’. Let’s go with
jerk. If I were a man, it would
be ‘assertive’ and ‘self-aware’.
My ability to say ‘no’ was the start
of my undoing and our break-
up. I said no when she asked me
to look after her cat for three
months. I’m allergic, anxious and
irresponsible, three solid reasons
not to trust me with a beloved pet.
Things became awkward at home.
writers’ piece
Boyfriends are a classic way to test
a friendship, so I threw one into
the mix. The thread of tension that
had wound its way through our
flat and our friendship over the
past few months grew tauter and
I told my friend I was moving
out to live with my boyfriend.
Our friendship crashed and
burned. There was no yelling or
fighting, just cold silence; the end
of invitations and the beginning of
avoidance. I’ve had a lot of friend
break-ups like this. They feel like
movie scenes, where a character
wakes to find their lover gone and
just a letter on the bench. Except
with friends, there’s no letter or
explanation. You just walk out to
find they’ve left, or vice versa. I
didn’t sleep with anyone’s partner
or maim their pets; I was just
myself, which turned out to be the
problem. I probably failed to read
her emotions and needs and went
along doing my thing. I moved
out and we didn’t speak again.
We certainly didn’t dance again.
There’s always the question in a
break-up about who gets to keep
the circle of friends. A break-up
can poison and threaten a group.
Rumours, bitching, exclusion –
they’re all ways to preserve it.
In my experience, people don’t like
having to navigate the tensions
around rivalries, and as much as
they may try to keep both friends in
the circle, the weak limb eventually
withers and dies. Lucky for
everyone, I’m always happy to be
that leprous limb that drops away.
I don’t mean to sound cavalier
and brave. I’m not. Like any non-
psychopathic person, I still find
break-ups just as traumatic as I did
back in the kindergarten playground
when my best friend ran off with
the new girl, leaving me to eat my
tear-soaked, crustless sandwich
alone in the cushion corner. The
difference is that now, I eat my
crusts and I’ve learnt to enjoy my
own company. I love my friends, but
I’m just as happy eating ice-cream
cakes and dancing by myself. Often
simultaneously. Plus, I’d never ask
060
myself to look after a cat. I know me
better than that.
By
Daniel
Moore
-
Good friends are important.
They’re the people we laugh with;
the people who pick us up when
we’re down; the ones who will do
anything for us, and in return we’ll
do anything for. Yep, friendship is
special... but it’s not always fair.
While writing this piece, I got to
thinking about what friendship
was like as a kid. And I realised
that while, for the most part, those
bonds were honest and pure, there
was the occasional hidden agenda.
When I was a littl’un, for example,
the house I lived in had an in-
ground swimming pool, which
meant I had A LOT of friends
between November and March.
I was particularly popular on
weekends and during heatwaves.
So you see, having chums can be
rewarding as a kid, but it can
also be based on manipulation.
Around the corner from my house
lived a boy named Matthew. I liked
Matthew. I would go to his house
and we would listen to music and
muck around in his backyard. I went
to my first-ever concert – INXS –
with Matthew and his dad. He was
kind and fun. But looking back,
something about our friendship
makes me feel a bit bad. I used to
come up with games that involved
Matthew maybe, perhaps doing
things for my own amusement.
I once managed to convince him
that I came from a family of boxing
athletes, and that, with my inside
knowledge, I could easily train
him up to be a world-class boxer.
Without any real interrogation,
he agreed. So, each afternoon after
school, I would ride around to his
house, pick him up and make him

run alongside me while I furiously
pedalled my bike. He’d run as fast
as his legs could take him while
I glided gleefully along on my
six-speed cruiser. Occasionally,
I would yell things out that I
very much doubt boxing trainers
would actually yell, like, “Come
on, keep up! Do you want to be a
boxer or just another has-been?”
Why he never questioned when
we were going to do any actual
boxing, I’ll never know.
I told this story to my girlfriend,
thinking she’d be horrified at my
blatant friend-based exploitation.
Instead, she shared her own tale
of the time she convinced her good
friend – who cannot be named –
to be in an amateur recreation of
the video clip for Aqua’s number-
one hit, “Barbie Girl”. If you’re
unfamiliar with the clip, it starts
with a woman, Barbie, standing
outside a disturbingly pink
house, watering what looks to be
plastic plants. Then, an equally
disturbing pink convertible
pulls up with a bald bloke, Ken,
wearing a bright blue tuxedo.
Now, my girlfriend is a stickler
for detail, and though she and her
friend were both young schoolgirls,
someone had to play Ken. She
convinced her pal to do it by
telling her that everyone would
see her as the more accomplished
actor, because she had the more
challenging role. The best part of
this sneaky little shenanigan was
that my girlfriend made her long-
haired comrade wear a (too tight)
shower cap covered in foundation to
replicate Ken’s bald head. AND THE
OSCAR GOES TO?! *drum roll please*
So, there you go. Friendship
is great. It’s vital and it’s
almost always rewarding. But
sometimes… not equally.
At the time of writing this,
I actually tried looking Matthew
up online, to see if he and I could
reconnect. Why, you ask? Because
I have a new bike now, and we
never did complete his training
to become a world-class boxer.
writers’ piece
By
Sam
Prendergast
- “really deserves her wealth”. Two
Six months ago I moved to the other
side of the world, away from the
city of good coffee and sarcasm and
towards the land of low wages and
celebrity presidents. I was entirely
ready to embrace the US, but three
weeks in, I was sniffing the air for
hints of Australia and New Zealand.
When I heard someone use the word
“Maccas” on a train, I sat next
to them for no good reason, then
repressed the urge to yell “g’day!”
and talk about the cricket. I’m not
even a real Australian. I don’t like
cricket; I’ve never said ‘g’day’; and,
like half of Australia’s parliament,
I’m actually from New Zealand.
I don’t know what it is about moving
overseas, but for the first time in
my life I experienced a strong desire
to run into other Australians and
talk about Nicole Kidman’s career.
Is Russell Crowe a Kiwi? I’ve never
cared before, but if you want to eat
avocado toast and drink a long black,
I’m happy to meet and discuss. At
‘grad school’ – an infantilising term
for university – I made friends
with nice Americans who imagined
Melbourne as a small country town.
We had earnest conversations
about our work and drank sensible
numbers of slightly flat beers. All
sarcasm was met with puzzled
frowns and questions like, “Oh…
are you, um, joking?” It was highly
un-Australian. When I ran into
someone from home at a café with
actual espresso, we exchanged notes
and came to the same conclusion:
we both desperately needed to go
to a pub, get a bit drunk, and rant
sarcastically for four to six hours.
The desperation to find my people
and hear them whinge about America
led me down some strange paths.
In actual Australia – the one with
beaches, kangaroos, and the world’s
shittiest refugee policy – it’s
common practice to be picky about
friends. I’m not exactly screening
061
friendship candidates, but, like
most 20-somethings who spend
half their income on rent and baked
eggs, I tend to stay away from
anyone who thinks climate change
is a “scam” or that Gina Rinehart
months out of the country and any
Australian will do. No common
interests? Don’t really care. You
hate books and love investments
(whatever that means)? I can live
with that. On the recommendations
of well-meaning people back home,
my partner and I met endless
Australian friends-of-friends for
coffees and beers. There was always
a lot to discuss: why do people think
we’re from Britain? When did we
last eat Vegemite? Who designed
these toilets, the seats are so low!
Then the conversation would start
to move in unforeseen directions.
On one strange occasion, we found
ourselves sitting awkwardly
as we listened to a monologue
about the difficulty of finding a
good nanny – one who wouldn’t
complain if our new Australian
‘friend’ wanted them to do some
ironing. We’d hit new peaks in
unrelatable content. Some fellow
expats are very bad substitutes
for your normal friends.
There are some fundamental
problems with trying to befriend
people on the sole basis that they
share your nasal twang. It’s kind
of like making up for a lack of
sun by sitting under a lamp, or
giving up vegetables to live on
vitamin tablets. Beyond a shared
interest in locating Barbecue
Shapes and MILO (I’ll never again
take them for granted), we rarely
have anything in common. Even
so, I basically pee my pants with
excitement whenever I hear two
Australians navigating the train.
And because America is getting
to me, I’ve interrupted multiple
conversations to offer them advice.
The trick is to leave it there.
There’s something nice about hearing
familiar accents and meeting
people who know that Australia
is a modern nation and not a giant
wildlife park. But as it turns out, we
don’t always need to be friends.
 style

one for
the books
pair scientific discovery
with some spunky new threads.
STYLING AND PHOTOGRAPHY RACHEL BURKE MODEL SARAH MORRISON

062
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Wrangler Hi Birkin jean in Alexa
Blue, rrp $139.95, wrangler.com.au.
Sunday Social acrylic flower
statement earrings in white,
rrp $45, sundaysocialstore.com.
 style

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rrp $149, kuwaii.com.au. Hello Parry Annie hand-knitted cable wool blend cardigan in pink, rrp $195,
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064
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067
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January jumpsuit
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 RUN AWAY WITH CAMELBAK

ONLINE camelbak.com.au | INSTORE Lower Ground, QVB, Sydney City

Illustration Ashley Ronning
 try this at home
to market, to market
SOME RATHER HANDY TIPS FOR RUNNING
A TOP-NOTCH MARKET STALL.
Words Sophie Kalagas
STEP ONE: DO SOME SOUL-SEARCHING Before you can know your
customer, you must first know yourself. What is it you’re trying to
achieve with this market stall? Are you just looking to earn some
extra pocket money and scoff jam doughnuts with a pal, or is it a
platform to launch your brand into the world, like a fresh, glowing
debutante? Your answer will determine whether a low-key community
market is more your thing, or a bigger, slicker design fair. (Budget
will play a part in this, as well.) If in doubt, take a trip to your favourite
market hangouts with a trusty pen and paper, and just observe. You
should get a sense of where your wares will fit in – plus, you can take
notes on stalls that appeal to you, and ask yourself ‘why’ and ‘how’.
STEP TWO: SELL YOURSELF Once you’ve found the market that fits
just right, it’s time to sign up for their next event. You may have to
put down a holding deposit for a spot (though, if it means you’ll end
up near the bustling entrance instead of downwind from the manky
old loos, the financial outlay will be worth it). Some larger markets
ask for a formal application, which will require a bit of preparation
and careful thought. Include high-quality pictures of your products
and stall setup; show how they fit together to create a cohesive
‘brand’; and give a sense of who you are and why you do what you
do (without launching headfirst into your full life story). Remember:
this is a chance to stand out from the crowd, so focus on your own
unique charm, instead of mirroring what others are doing.
STEP THREE: MONEY TALKS With any luck, you’ll wind up raking
in the big bucks, but there are a few costs to bear in mind ahead of
market day. Things like cute carry bags and packaging may cause
you to dip into your kitty, as well as marketing tools like signage
and business cards, and of course, your stall display. (For cheapie
options, pop by your nearest two-dollar store – you’ll be surprised
how much is available.) When it comes to pricing your goodies, don’t
undervalue yourself – aside from materials, consider labour costs
and overheads, too. Having a range of products at different price
points is a nifty way of drawing in passersby. Consider making low-
cost ‘bread and butter’ items (as they’re known in the biz) that will
spin some extra revenue should your pricier items not sell.
STEP FOUR: PLAN, PLAN, PLAN In the lead-up to the market, adopt
the scout motto and always be prepared. Make a thorough checklist
and tick each item off one by one: ensure you have enough stock
ready on the day; figure out how customers will take their goodies
home; organise your cash-handling facilities and a well-stocked
change float; create a ‘just in case’ box with things like blu-tack,
double-sided tape, clamps and band-aids. Make sure you turn up
to the site nice and early (that means no crazy benders the night
before), and check what the market provides in terms of tables and
chairs. If it’s your first time setting up a stall or using a new display,
it’s worth having a practice run at home. There’s nothing worse than
arriving for a day of marketeering only to find you don’t know how to
assemble that newfangled shelf.
STEP FIVE: ADD SOME PIZZAZZ There are plenty of ways to pretty up
your space, like popping plants or flowers in empty nooks or draping
fairy lights across the front. Don’t feel pressure to splash your cash,
though – some op shop vases will do the trick with a few blooms
nicked from your front garden. As a rule, tablecloths should be nice
and long to hide extra stock stashed behind your stall, and tiered
displays tend to look best. The higher your products, the more likely
folks will spot them in a busy crowd, so create layers with nice stands,
071
simple boxes or vintage tins. If you’re selling clothes, use matching
wooden hangers. A doily or retro postcard makes a sweet (and
low-cost) price tag. Be sure to keep the area around your stall nice
and tidy, and don’t forget: you’re part of the display as well, so why not
wear the pieces you’re selling, or don colours that match your brand?
STEP SIX: MAN THE STAND So you’re all set up and ready to roll
– what comes next? Sit back and let the shoppers flock your way,
but also be prepared for long stints of nothingness. If you’re selling
something crafty, you could plonk yourself behind your table and
make some more goodies while you wait. It’ll break up the tedium
that comes from sitting on your arse all day, and give passersby a
reason to stop and have a peep. Whatever you do, don’t slouch and
stare at your phone – the universal sign for ‘do not approach’. Be
warm and friendly with customers and read their cues; some folks
are happy to quietly browse, while others welcome the chance to have
a bit of a chinwag. Remember that markets can be tough going, so
don’t be discouraged if your product isn’t flying out the door. Watch
what people are picking up the most. Be open to feedback from
customers and other stallholders (this is literal market research!),
then try tweaking things a little bit and giving it another go.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A FEW MORE TIPS:
• Study the site map before the big day. That way, you’ll know all the
important things when you arrive, like where your stall is; where
to park and unpack; and where to go for a wee.
• Don’t forget to pencil in a trip to the bank! Keep your prices in
mind when preparing change for the float – if you have a bunch
of items going for $8, for example, you’ll need to be stocked up
with $2 coins.
• Market days can be long and tiring, so bring comfortable shoes,
water and plenty of snacks. Drag a generous friend along for moral
support, and to help cover the stall during lunch and loo runs.
• Consider having a special market-only discount for some of your
goodies – it’ll make the customer feel special, and more inclined
to snap up a deal on the spot.
• Markets tend to run rain, hail or shine. If you’re setting up
outside, take precaution by packing a market umbrella or
waterproof tarp, and weights for your stands so they don’t blow
away in a gale. Try laminating your signs, and have one of those
el cheapo plastic ponchos handy.
• If your bits can also be found online, keep business cards or
flyers displayed prominently on your stall. Just because someone
doesn’t drop some dosh on the day, doesn’t mean they won’t sign
up for your mailing list, or seek you out down the line.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A big ol’ thanks to Sarah Thornton from The Finders Keepers for
helping us compile this nifty how-to. For more information on
achieving market greatness (and to find out about upcoming events
around Australia), head to thefinderskeepers.com.
 something to say
remember me
LIFE ISN’T FAIR, BUT CATE ROONEY
IS DOING ALL SHE CAN.
I have started keeping a tally of things my dad has remembered and
things he has forgotten.
Column 1 (Things he has remembered): A blue line on Google Maps
means traffic is good and a red line means traffic is bad. His phone
number. His hatred of the Liberal Party. How to use a brand new
microwave, fresh out of the box.
Column 2 (Things he has forgotten): My birthday. The word ‘barbeque’.
What happened this morning. The fact he has been diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease.
I accompany Dad to his medical appointments now, and when
I mention his diagnosis to each of his attentive doctors, Dad always
looks at me with a scrunched-up face.
“What does that mean?” he’ll ask me. “Cognitive ability? Dementia?
Am I losing my mind?”
“No,” I’ll reply, patting his leg. “No, it doesn’t mean that.” I don’t
know if I’m lying or not. I try not to think about it.
“When did this happen?” Dad will press. “I don’t remember.”
And I’ll tell him the story again: we sat together, me and him and
Mum, all huddled around a computer screen at his doctor’s office.
A scan of Dad’s wrinkly brain was floating on the screen, black and
white and walnutty, and completely untethered from the rest of his body.
“See this here?” the doctor said, pointing to a white line around the
brain. “This means shrinkage. And this here…” she moved her pen to
a squiggly bit in the middle of Dad’s brain, “This shows evidence of
072
Photo Getty Images
stroke.” She paused and gave her diagnosis: Alzheimer’s Dementia.
I usually stop telling the story at this point. I don’t really remember
what the doctor said next.
Dad has heard this story at least 20 times now, but with every telling
it hits him for the first time. He listens intently and then stares
despondently into the space directly in front of him with his hands
resting in his lap.
“But I don’t remember that,” he’ll say quietly, pleadingly.
If you don’t remember an event, did it even happen? Maybe I’ll
forget, too, and we can pretend nothing has changed.
What do you do when your parents get old? When, quite suddenly,
you have all the responsibility. You have to know better than them;
tell them what to do; remind them to take their medication; and plead
with them to please, please wear clean clothes and stop eating with
their hands, because they’ve quite suddenly forgotten what a fork is.
People call responsibility a ‘burden’, but I don’t think that’s fair. Life
isn’t fair. Neither is disease, or old age. To me, responsibility just feels
like a way of managing your own sadness – of transforming the pain in
your heart into something productive. I am doing something, you can
tell yourself when you’re mopping the toilet floor. Doing something is
good. If you didn’t, you might just crumple and crinkle and cry.
When I was little, I completely idolised my dad. He was smart!
He was the strongest! He had overcome all kinds of terrible
obstacles to become a big-time farmer! We’d go on long walks
in the dusky evenings and he’d talk to me about his day and
whatever else came to mind. The walking track was lined with
grain silos and we’d count how many we passed so we’d know
how far we’d walked. “It’s been a four-silo night!” Dad would say
enthusiastically when we got back to our front door.
Dad can’t go for walks much anymore. He doesn’t remember
the grain silos. He still remembers some things, though. He still
remembers me. And, even if all his memories run out, I still know,
in some way, we’ll still have each other.
 #C ELEBRATETH ESCAR F

NATIONAL WOOL MUSEUM

26 MOORABOOL ST GEELONG
03 5272 4701
NWM.VIC.GOV.AU
 something to say
you’re invıted
ELEANOR ROBERTSON HAS
SOME SLIGHTLY INAPPROPRIATE
PARTY IDEAS.
“Congratulations, you divorced that person none of us liked!”
Nothing calls for a booze-fuelled drama fest like a party to recognise
your friend has divorced the lying, cheating, flaky-scalped scoundrel
that nobody liked in the first place. It’s time for everyone to drink five
gin cocktails and scream about the time he turned up to a children’s
party wearing clown shoes and a jockstrap, or the time he told her
she was “sorta pretty”. Get up in your friend’s face and compound
her misery by asking if she’s considered freezing her eggs, then
watch as she falls off a bar stool trying to show her boobs to a
stranger. Happy days!
“So, you’re allergic to fruit.” Nobody likes fruit anyway, so this should
be a joyous occasion. Set up an automated slideshow of all the
disgusting fruits your pal no longer has to feel guilty about not eating
– apricots, yuck! Who ever really enjoyed a rockmelon? Say goodbye
to grapefruits, and hello to your new diet of salami, potatoes and
blue Gatorade. Hold a sing-along to Neil Diamond’s “Cherry Cherry”,
one of the worst songs ever recorded, and this is sure to be a rager.
Ask the guests to chip in and buy a five-litre bucket of vitamin C
supplements, so your fruit-free mate doesn’t get scurvy.
“You failed your bobcat licence exam – woohoo!” A bobcat may be a
tiny earthmover, but it can have a big impact on your self-esteem if
you’re deemed too reckless and incompetent to operate one. This is
less a party and more a funeral for your friend’s career in this nation’s
thriving building demolition industry, and it must be permeated by a
074
tone of dignified mourning. White floral arrangements and a large,
tastefully lit photograph of a bobcat would be appropriate, as would
a light-but-sombre piano arrangement.
“Happy fifth anniversary of the time you farted in a crowded lift.”
Some people may be confused by an invitation to a party celebrating
the time you crop-dusted an elevator full of innocent people just
going about their daily lives. But enormous farts are nothing to
sniff at – they indicate that your gut biome is well and robust, able
to transmute the stringiest stalks and beans into pure methane
gas. There are people in the world who would give their right leg
for intestinal flora as healthy as this. Try to fart on each guest
individually as they walk in the door, so they know their presence
is truly appreciated on this very special occasion.
“Well done on naming your kid Bonathan.” The aim of a party
celebrating a terrible child-naming decision is, ultimately, to
convince the parents to choose a different name. Try playing well-
known name-based love songs like Toto’s “Rosanna”, but record
yourself saying “Bonathan” in an unimpressed deadpan tone where
the song’s original name should be. Put up vintage black and white
posters of John F. Kennedy, but replace his name with ‘Bonathan’
and his face with little Bonathan’s face to illustrate how this name
is an impediment to success. Give out fortune cookies with other
name suggestions inside, and be ready for the parents’ reactions
to your generosity by wearing a fully bulletproof vest.
“Bring your favourite public servant to dinner.” No matter which
public servant you choose – the surly lady at the Medicare office
who tells you to claim online next time; one of the dorks from the
National Measurement Institute who checks all the rulers are
accurate; or a lollipop man who works for the local council – this
is sure to be a special occasion. Make sure all the food meets the
relevant national standards, and don’t even think about inviting
your libertarian friend who believes the state is an oppressive
thief of freedom. If you have an outstanding tax debt, be ready
to get dragged kicking and screaming into a police wagon at the
conclusion of the cheese course.
 (hurry! limited stock )
treat yourself here: frankie.com.au/shop
 creative folk

three artistic types let us peek inside

their personal sketchbooks.
INTERVIEWS SOPHIE KALAGAS

076
 creative folk

minna
na gill
gilligan
ligan
My artistic practice is concerned with creating wistful, psychedelic and atemporal spaces, in the form of large-scale
paintings, drawings and collages. I like to reference 1960s and ’70s aesthetics (from the perspective of someone who
didn’t actually live through that time). For me, sketchbooks serve as time capsules, and are a means of organising
the paper ephemera I tend to collect as I go. I put all sorts of imagery inside – things I may have cut out that didn’t
quite suit a collage, or something someone passed on to me. When I was younger, I definitely went through a
phase of scrawling down Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen song lyrics as mantras among the pages. I like to use
old books I find at Savers as my sketchbooks. To work with something already existing – to add to it and alter it and
leave my mark. This particular book was from the 1970s and about God, which meant lots of melancholy pictures
of the unenlightened, and blurry Vaseline landscapes to collage and draw over. I don’t usually enjoy people looking
through my sketchbooks – it feels like exposing a private thought process. They’re usually an in-studio activity, when
I’m in need of some completely no-pressure making time. Something that will relax me and allow me to collect my
thoughts and collate my visual stimuli. I think that’s what makes them what they are: there’s no self-consciousness
or end goal for me. It’s like my own language that only I can decipher. In high school art class, we were encouraged
to keep sketchbooks religiously, and it’s probably one of the only useful things to come out of what I learnt at school.
I’ve kept them since then, but in more casual ways. I might go through a phase of working with one intently and
finishing each page. Other times, they get abandoned and forgotten, which I don’t mind so much – people get too
precious about ‘finishing’ a sketchbook. Who says it needs to be finished?

077
 creative folk

spencer h
harrison
i
I’m a visual artist primarily working in painting, but branching into sculpture, murals and other mediums. My work is
mainly abstract in nature, inspired by the ideas of early 20th-century modernists and Eastern philosophy. I use a basic,
cheap, blank composition book as a sketchbook, with a custom leather cover I made to give it a bit of protection when
I chuck it in my bag. It’s like a giant repository for my brain, where I capture ideas, research, sketches and general
musings on life. I’m not too precious about what I put into it, or concerned with it being neat and curated. Instead, my
style is very loose and haphazard, and I try not to overthink it too much. It’s a mixture of random doodles; sketches for
paintings; notes from books and quotes all jammed on the pages. I like to set challenges for myself sometimes to do
a large number of sketches, so I’ll cover a page with boxes and try to fill each one with a painting composition. Many
of the ideas make it into the real world, but they go through a process of refinement and exploration before becoming
tactile. I read a lot of books on art and philosophy, so lately I’ve copied out a lot of notes or passages to help me
remember. I also like to do sketches of favourite artworks when I’m in galleries, as it helps me break down what the
artist was doing and really absorb the piece of work. Generally, doodling in my sketchbook is a private exercise, but
I might show it to people I feel close to or other creatives. The general rule is: if I’d feel comfortable being naked around
you, I’d feel comfortable with you looking through it! About once a year, if I’m in a reflective mood, I’ll sit down with a
coffee and look through my whole collection of sketchbooks. It’s interesting to witness how my ideas and thoughts have
changed over time, and to connect the dots through the past. It can lead to a few cringeworthy moments, though!

078
 creative folk

annie hami
hamilton
For as long as I can remember, I’ve filled empty pages with drawings, notes, concert tickets, photos and other bits and
pieces. When I was about five, I got a beautiful fabric-bound sketchbook for Christmas, and was so enthralled – this was like
a REAL- LIFE book, but it was EMPTY, and I could FILL IT with anything I wanted. These days, as well as being a musician,
I run my own clothing label, which features silk and linen clothing printed with my illustrations. I find it impossible to sit down
with a clean, white piece of paper and just start working – it always begins with pages and pages of experiments. I can smash
through 20 ideas and see if any of them are worth pursuing. I have a few different books for different things I’m working on:
one for everyday scribbles and thoughts; one for music, where I write down guitar chords and lyrics; and one for my label,
where I collect swatches of fabric; soil rubbings; and sketch out designs (that’s the one pictured here). They have to be plain
Moleskine journals – no lines; no grids; no dots; thin paper; black cover. That’s all I’ve used for the past few years, and it feels
weird to use anything else. I never leave the house without one. They’re in my handbag for when I have a spare 10 minutes to
sketch, or find the perfect leaf or feather or postcard. It’s important to me to record as much as possible, because there are so
many random thoughts going through my head at any point in time that will just float away. It’s also practical – I’m not a very
neat or organised person, but if I’m discussing a new clothing design with my maker, it’s important to have all the sketches
and fabric swatches and reference pictures in one place. My sketchbooks are messy and chaotic and a bit all-over-the-shop,
with ripped-out pages and coffee stains and scribbles. But as soon as you get caught up trying to make your sketchbook look
‘good’, you lose the freedom to experiment without hesitation.

079
 SPOTLIGHT X FRANKIE

knitting it out
FOR MELBOURNE SONGSTRESS LAURA JEAN,
KNITTING IS MORE THAN JUST AN IDLE HOBBY.
IT’S AN ESSENTIAL PART OF MAKING MUSIC.
Words Luke Ryan Photo Stephanie Rose Wood

Over the course of four fiercely confessional and raw albums, Laura Jean has
developed a reputation for silky melodies and heart-wrenching songwriting.
But after the release of her most recent album, 2014’s self-titled Laura Jean,
she realised she needed something to get her back to her creative baseline.
The solution: a ball of yarn and a couple of knitting needles.
“Making Laura Jean was such a huge experience,” she says. “I just felt like
I needed to chill out before I could start thinking about what came next.”
Inspired by her grandma, a master knitter whose “ancestors were tailors”,
Laura had a friend teach her the basics and then set to. But even with dextrous
fingers honed by years of guitar playing, the early days were tough. “I really was
no good when I started,” she laughs. “But it wasn’t something I felt like I had
to immediately be a star at.” Over the course of weeks, then months, then
years, Laura refined her craft. “There are always a lot of missteps when you’re
learning to knit, but fortunately, when it comes to crafty things, I’m pretty patient.
I gradually added new skills, tried out different techniques – lacework, textured
work, shaping and turning. I just took it slow.”
But knitting was also helping Laura to find the intellectual and emotional space to
start writing her new album, Devotion. “Knitting is a wonderful thing to do if you
need to be creative,” she explains. “I always had my knitting bag under the desk
in my studio, and if I got sick of working on a song, I’d go and knit for 10 minutes,
then get back to it. It works because you can be occupied without being mentally
preoccupied. And that means your subconscious comes out of its hiding place
and starts to throw up these cool and strange ideas that your conscious mind isn’t
capable of.” (She’s onto something, too – research suggests people who take
time away from creative tasks come up with almost 50 per cent more ideas.)
Laura sees a lot of similarities between the music she makes and the things
she knits. “When you finish a song and you’re happy with it, it’s super-gratifying.
Knitting is like a minor version of that. You start with the kernel of an idea; you
keep making mistakes and having to go back to the start, and when it’s done
you get this beautiful feeling of satisfaction. I feel like I give my songs away,
and I always do the same with my knitting.”
Her studio isn’t the only place she brings out the yarn – it also makes an
appearance on public transport, at cafés, in parks. “It’s a bit embarrassing,”
she says, “but I’ve been going through a phase where I take my knitting
to see live music. I find it really hard to listen to music when I’m focusing
directly on it. The knitting helps distract me and lets the music come
through the side door of my brain.”
Asked what her greatest knitting achievement is, Laura answers without
hesitation: “A sock! It’s really hard to knit a sock. There are all these little
elements, and it’s really small, and you’ve got to be so onto it in regards
to counting stitches.” She smiles and turns philosophical. “It’s funny how
sometimes it’s not about the grandiosity of the thing, but just what you’ll
learn in the process of making it.”

Laura is knitting with the brand-new Abbey

Road yarn, available exclusively at Spotlight
stores around Australia. For this and more
crafty goodness, head to spotlightstores.com.
 pieces of me
everybody
has a story
vincent shin is australia’s first
in-house school lawyer.
AS TOLD TO LETA KEENS
My first memory of family violence was when I was five or six. I know
that because I remember every house we lived in – we moved 10 times
when I was a kid and I went to five different schools. I was playing
out the front of this unit with my sister, who’s three years older than
me, and I remember the front door being flung open and my mum
being thrown outside and rolling on the concrete. She ended up
landing in some bushes; we ran over and sat there with Mum crying,
and I picked out these long green prickles embedded in her skin.
Today, I’m Australia’s first school lawyer. I only represent the
kids, not the school, trying to help them with anything and
everything – including family violence, which was my normal
when I was a kid. Through WEstjustice, a community legal
centre, I work at a low socio-economic school in Melbourne.
We have kids from all across the globe – I love them, they’re
a funny bunch. They remind me of me sometimes.
I was born in Seoul, and we came to Australia when I was one.
Dad was an architect or engineer in Korea, but when we came
here, like many migrants, he had trouble finding a job. He was a
taxi driver, a chef – gosh, I can’t remember some of the other stuff.
He was also a very violent man, smashing windows and punching
holes through doors and beating us up – every day I lived in fear.
He was always remorseful afterwards, and then there was the
blame: “If you respected me, I wouldn’t have to do this.” Typical stuff.
All day every day, my sister and I would pressure Mum and say, “Let’s
leave, let’s leave, we don’t need him.” Now I feel quite guilty about
that; it’s not easy to leave. Once upon a time, Mum loved him.
The last time he was violent towards me, I was 17. I was
changing the TV channels and he told me to stop, then hit me
082
in the face. I think I grabbed him, got up in his face, and
was brave enough to stand up for myself and say, “Don’t
you ever touch me again.” He opened the door and threw
the VCR outside, and the TV smashed on the front step.
The neighbours were all watching, and he left. I remember
him standing at the door saying, “Don’t ever call me Dad,
I don’t have a son.” That was our last interaction.
As an adult, thinking about the harm in those words, that’s
when it really upsets me. I used to write rhymes or poems
or whatever you want to call them, thinking I was Eminem –
straight after that happened, I wrote something with the words
he used. I still have those rhymes, and every now and then I
read them. It takes me back to how I was feeling at the time.
At school, embarrassingly, I was quite violent myself. Angry,
rude and disrespectful; your typical terror of a student. I feel
sorry for my teachers, they would have hated me. Looking back,
it’s learnt behaviour. If something doesn’t go right, you break
something. If something doesn’t work out with someone, you
hurt them. My schoolwork got worse and worse, and in year 12,
I did nothing – home was not a great environment to be studying
in. I ultimately finished with a score of 24.5 out of a possible 99.
There are plenty of kids who have horrible stories, but do well
at school – I think they’re more mentally strong than me. I’ve
seen two psychologists – three, actually – it’s something I’m
often getting help for. There was so much hurt and pain for
many years, but that’s slowly wearing off, which is good.
After I left school, I was in a really dark place and doing
nothing, but it was kind of peaceful without Dad. Mum was
 pieces of me
Photo Phoebe Powell
a typical Asian mother, saying, “You need to study, you need to
do well, we’ve sacrificed so much, blah blah blah.” If I hadn’t
had her, things could have been very different. After a couple
of years, I went to Korea to teach English to kids. It was great
– I think being away from everything was good for my mental
health, and that was when I thought, “Let’s do something.”
Eventually, I got into legal practice at TAFE, and straightaway
loved it and did well. One thing that appealed to me was that
knowledge of the law is empowering. Early on, I decided
to be a lawyer and applied to law schools, but kept getting
rejected because of my high school score. I’m forever grateful
to Victoria University for giving me a second chance.
I knew I wanted to work with kids – even when I was studying, I worked
in residential care homes for the most traumatised kids in Victoria.
I understood quite intimately what trauma was and looked like, and
what abuse was and looked like. So, I felt pretty aware of what they
were going through. I’d tell some kids about my situation, and the
shock on their faces is something that sticks with me. I’d say I don’t
see my dad, either – at that stage I didn’t know he was in jail.
When I had the interview for my present job, I managed to bring up
that I ride a big, loud, fast motorbike and do boxing, which was my
ace of spades – they instantly build rapport with kids. I started boxing
in about 2006, and it’s really helped me calm myself. There’s a lot of
discipline, and it made me look at violence through a different lens.
Specifically, controlled violence with someone who’s agreeing to it.
Based on the legal stuff I’m involved with now, family violence
is clearly an issue at all schools. Kids want to take an order out
against Mum or Dad – generally Dad – so I attend court for them; help
083
them; engage them with counselling and other support services.
Crime is not a huge issue; most of our kids are pretty good, they
don’t get into really bad stuff. A lot of kids are working, which is
fantastic, but what’s not fantastic is that they’re being exploited –
employment law is a big area of interest. And fines. They forget to
touch on to public transport – forget their cards, as kids do – so
they get myki fines. I deal with that quite a lot. Then you get really
random consumer things, like dodgy stuff going on with telcos.
I also do a bit of mentoring. If I’ve got a client I think I can help in
some extra way, I take a holistic approach to the service and engage
them with the other wellbeing stuff we have at school. On top of
that, I teach kids about the law and their rights and responsibilities.
I might also respond to a situation: for instance, if there’s a fight or
some bullying, I can go into the classes and say this is what bullying
is; these are the laws; these are your rights and responsibilities;
and these are the implications of what can happen if you’re involved
in these behaviours. The school sees great benefit in that.
I wish there’d been a me when I was at school. I think life would have
been different if I’d known my rights. Even if I didn’t want to uphold
or enforce them, at least I’d be empowered with the knowledge that
family violence is not OK. In my dark days, I was all, “Why me, it’s not
fair,” but I look at my life now and I’m happy; I’m helping people; I see
change in kids; and I’m making a difference. Although it was horrible,
I don’t know if I’d change anything, because it’s formed me into the
person I am and shaped my worldview in a positive way. Because I’ve
gone through crap, I can deal with anything that comes my way.
 JOIN THE
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 crafty

Round 1: Chain 3, treble 12 times into the loop, and join with a slip
muffing it stitch to close the round.
Round 2: Chain 3, treble once into the base of that chain, then
CUTIFY YOUR HEADPHONES WITH treble twice into each stitch of the previous round, joining with
THESE COMFY, COSY CROCHETED a slip stitch to close.
EAR MUFFS. Round 3: Chain 3, treble once into the base of that chain, then treble
once into the next stitch in the previous round. Treble twice into the
Words and project Pip Lincolne next stitch, then treble once into the next stitch. Follow this one
treble-then-two treble pattern all the way around the circle. Join
with a slip stitch to close.
Round 4: Repeat round 3.
Round 5: At this point, try your circle on one of your headphones.
If it ALMOST fits over, then you can continue to the closing round.
If it needs to be a little bigger, treble ONCE into each stitch until it fits,
then move on to the closing round. (Headphones differ in size a bit, so
make your circle big enough to ALMOST fit over your headphones –
the closing round will cinch them in so everything fits snugly.)
MATERIALS Closing round: Chain 1. Follow this pattern around the circle to
‘decrease’ it and make it snug. Pop your hook through the front
ball of yarn in your chosen colour loop only of the next two stitches, yarn over, pull through the two
3mm crochet hook stitches, yarn over again, then pull through all stitches on the hook.
Repeat all the way around the circle, then close with a slip stitch.
scissors
Fasten off securely and weave in any loose yarn ends. After that,
a wool needle it’s time to repeat the process for your other headphone!
headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

HOW TO
If you’re totally new to the crochet game, perhaps jump on YouTube
or another online forum to get the basics on starting out, and the
most common types of stitch.
Once you’re ready to roll, chain 4 and slip stitch to form a loop.
Optional extras: Thread some yarn onto your needle and weave
in and out of stitches, pulling tight to make your crocheted
headphone muffs stay on more permanently. Weave in any loose
ends neatly afterwards.
You could also add a contrasting round of double crochet
stitches around the edge, or decorate with some pom poms
or cute yarn stitching!

086
theFindersKeepers
@finders_keepers
Illustration Cass Urquhart

whoopi goldberg
fan club
ROWENA GRANT-FROST LOOKS
BACK AT SOME OF THE ACTOR’S
BEST ON-SCREEN MOMENTS.
Whoopi Goldberg’s career has taken her from Broadway to the
big screen to 10 years on TV, chatting up a storm (and sometimes
sharing some not-very-good verging on quite bad opinions,
admittedly). While it’s difficult to do proper justice to a career
that spans all kinds of performance – from stand-up comedy and
theatre to film-acting and TV presenting – we’ve taken a look back
at some of Whoopi’s biggest film roles from the ’80s and ’90s, when
the movies were original; the stars were big; and people only paid
attention to one screen at a time.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
THE COLOR PURPLE (1985) Steven Spielberg probably wasn’t the
obvious choice to direct The Color Purple, the 1985 film adaptation
of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Before ‘85, Spielberg
was better known as a showman – a director of wild adventures,
tales from outer space, or shark movies. Likewise, Whoopi Goldberg
probably wasn’t the obvious choice to play the film’s central
character, Celie. Before ’85, Goldberg was best known for her
one- woman comedy show, where she shifted gears between comedy
and pathos, and left audiences cracking up and tearing up in equal
measure. But, as fate would have it, the two ‘Bergs were meant to be,
after Spielberg happened to catch Goldberg on stage. What Whoopi
had to achieve in her first major feature is pretty darn incredible: she
had to convey what it meant to be poor, black and a woman in the
rural American South, and how a meaningful and dignified life might
still be possible, despite the deep wounds of oppression. No pressure.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK (1998) The title of this film
poses some intriguing questions: who is Stella? Where did her groove
go? How did she get it back? Do I myself possess a groove? Do I still
have it? The answers, dear reader, go something like this: 1. Stella
(played by Angela Bassett) is a 40-something financial analyst who
decides to go on a luxury vacation to Jamaica with her long-time
friend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg). 2. Her groove is gone because
she is tired and divorced and beaten down by the pressures of work
and the routine of life. Being a human is hard. 3. She gets it back by
going on a glitzy, rich-person holiday where she meets the extremely
attractive and muscular Winston (Taye Diggs), who wants to pursue
consensual sexual activities with her. 4. No. 5. No. To be honest,
Whoopi is kind of peripheral to the whole thing, but I’ve still got to give
this a big thumbs up, mostly for the number of shirtless scenes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH (1986) Here’s the basic gist of Jumpin’
Jack Flash: the global balance of power and the fate of all human
adults, babies, and democracy-loving cats and dogs is in the
hands of a zany computer whiz named Terry Doolittle (aka Whoopi
Goldberg). In 1986, this scenario – one where an unlikely and
not-very-suitable person becomes responsible for safeguarding
the fate of free people everywhere – was a dippy, make-believe
silver screen
comedy. In 2018, this scenario is a terrible, real horror show
(yes, this is a Donald Trump joke, and yes, I know it’s not very
good, and yes, sorry, trigger warning: Donald Trump. Let’s
move on). In Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Terry is bored with her job in
international finance until she accidentally becomes embroiled
in some spicy spy adventuring, complete with secret codes, Diana
Ross costumes, truth serum and midnight meetings. While Terry
is new to the whole spycraft malarkey, she’s surprisingly good at
escaping from the KGB. SO IS TRUMP… allegedly.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GHOST (1990) Oh boy, what doesn’t Ghost have going for it? Gritty,
grimy, crime-y New York! Shirtless Patrick Swayze! An extremely
sexy pottery wheel scene! The Righteous Brothers! A man who
can’t bring himself to say “I love you”, yet we’re meant to think
he’s romantic and nice, and not an emotionally clogged human
drainpipe! And let’s not forget about the spooky ghooosts, which
is where Whoopi comes in. In Ghost, she plays Oda Mae Brown,
a grifter whose current scam involves faking psychic powers. When
the ghost of murdered Sam Wheat walks (floats?) into her psychic
parlour, hoping, somehow, that Oda Mae really can communicate
with the dead, she’s as surprised as anyone to find out that yes… yes
she can. After bridging the distance between the living and the dead,
Oda Mae helps Sam solve his murder; lead his sad girlfriend to find
peace; and close some bank accounts.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SISTER ACT (1992) Think of the number of movies where you
leave the deep, dark cinema and walk into the blinking sun
with a newfound determination to become a NUN. I can think of
approximately zero, except for Sister Act, a movie that convinced
my nine-year-old self that a monastic life of poverty, chastity and
. obedience would be extremely wonderful. My sudden enthusiasm
for the religious life all speaks to the lovely and sunbeam-y charm
of Sister Act, a movie about a community of nuns who find a sense
of purpose and togetherness through music. Of course, it’s not
just any old music – it’s a combination of R&B, pop and gospel
conducted by Deloris (Whoopi), a lounge singer who is forced to hide
in their convent after witnessing a mob murder. If this setup sounds
silly, have I got news for you: it is silly. Well spotted. But Sister Act
is also deeply loveable, so my advice is, just go with it.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CORRINA, CORRINA (1994) If you grew up in Australia any time
between 1998 and 2003, you have probably absorbed at least
21 per cent of Corrina, Corrina ’s plot through TELEVISION
OSMOSIS, a thing I just invented. Corrina, Corrina always seemed to
be on TV: day, night, every channel, all the time. I really can’t explain
why. The plot might sound familiar: in 1950s Los Angeles, a sad
. and recently widowed dad (Ray Liotta) and Molly, his daughter, have
their lives transformed by a wise and sympathetic housekeeper,
Corrina (Whoopi Goldberg), and a pet turtle. It’s well-known territory
for Whoopi, whose earthy funniness is frequently used to create
characters that are unconventional outsiders or fish out of water
(see also: Sister Act, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Ghost). What makes
Corrina, Corrina worth watching is its simple sweetness, especially
in scenes between Corrina and Molly, who is young and sad and
misses her mum. Niceness is an underrated quality in movies.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
THE LION KING (1994) I’m not sure how Disney pitched
The Lion King to Whoopi Goldberg, but I imagine it went something
like this: “Hello, Whoopi, it’s Walt Disney speaking.” [pause] “No,
I’m not dead.” [pause, pause] Muffled: “I just live in a very secret
and cold place and you can’t tell anyone about this phone call.”
. [silence] “Anyhow, I was wondering if you would please star in
my film where you will play a very bad hyena named Shenzi? It
will maybe take you a few days to record your dialogue, and there
will probably be many sequels, so you can make money for a long
time.” And look, while Whoopi only returned for one sequel, and
while **ALERT** this phone call didn’t actually happen, her role
in The Lion King has made her central to the entire Lion King
universe. It was Shenzi who failed to kill Simba. Whoopi made
sure the movie didn’t just end at the 20-minute mark.
089
 [ homewares directory ]
BAMBAMBU
We’re twin sisters in Brisbane making eco-friendly homewares,
including organic cotton cushion covers and hand-printed
tea towels. Our inspiration? Native Aussie birds and flora;
Mid- century design; and ’60s midday movies.
bambambu.com.au
BRIDGET FARMER
From etchings to greeting cards and hand-printed mobiles, I
make and sell a veritable aviary of bird-inspired printed goods.
I even wrote and illustrated a kids’ book about Aussie feathered
friends, with an accompanying card game.
bridgetfarmerprintmaker.com
LEKKEL & CO
From our dairy farm in Gippsland, Victoria, we design outdoor
products that are super-comfy and can handle all sorts of
locations and weather conditions. Think floor cushions and
loungebags – just the thing for festivals and picnics.
lekkelandco.com.au
090
LUSH FOR LIFE AUSTRALIA
It’s nice to have special ceramics on hand when family and
friends pop by. That’s why we make painted porcelain ceramic
tableware, as well as lamps, pendant lights and other lovely
items for decorating your abode.
lushforlife.com.au
BIOME
Specialising in zero-waste, toxin-free, ethical products, we offer
a huge variety of goodies to help you reduce single-use plastic
waste: homewares, gifts, water bottles, skincare, haircare, raw
DIY bodycare ingredients and more.
biome.com.au
TURNER + TURNER
We’re a family in Western Australia handcrafting timber and
leather products to last a lifetime. Our timber range includes
serving boards, spoons and stools, while our leather range
features hand-sewn purses and bags.
turnerandturner.com.au
 [ homewares directory ]
WE ARE WILD
Our shop is what happens when a pair of graphic designer
comrades drinks a little too much wine. We make recycled wine
bottle candles using hand-poured soy wax scented with natural
fragrances, like oakmoss and amber.
wearewild.com.au
EARTH BOTTLES
We’re a Byron Bay store selling stainless steel water bottles, re-
usable coffee cups and heaps more stuff that’s nice to our planet.
We also donate 25 per cent of our profits to charity and plant a
tree for every gift pack purchased.
earthbottles.com.au
POPCORN BLUE
Beautiful, whimsical art featuring charming critters in oh-so
many formats: prints, cushions, cards, books, and original
artworks. Our mission is to spark the imagination with an
ever-changing story that unfolds before your eyes.
popcornblue.com
091
MOOKAH
We’re a couple of sisters based on the Victorian coast, making
sweet homewares from our screen-printed fabrics, plus a ladies’
clothing range. Keep an eye out for our new fabric designs,
beanbags and ottomans.
mookah.com.au
NEXT OF KIN HANDMADE
Based in North Queensland and Sydney, we’re a mother-and-
daughter team making potted mugs with slow-moment-seekers
and morning-ritual-keepers in mind. We hope that drinking from
a Next of Kin mug envelopes you in warmth.
nextofkinhandmade.com
THE SHEET SOCIETY
We bring the best fabrics out of your wardrobe and into the
bedroom with our snuggly range of cotton sheets, velvet
pillowcases and quilt covers. Inject some style into the place
where you spend the most time of all: bed.
thesheetsociety.com.au
 real life

the women of
casa xochiquetzal
french shutterbug bénédicte desrus has
been photographing retired sex workers
in mexico city for 10 years.
INTERVIEW MIA TIMPANO

093

Page 92, top: Marbella,
61, loves to write poetry.
Bottom: Gloria, 84, shows
an old picture with her
boyfriend, Mau.
Page 94, top: Carmelita
prepares lunch for the
group. Bottom: Marilu visits
her daughter in the city of
Pachuca.
Page 95: Main courtyard at
Casa Xochiquetzal.
095
Tell us about Casa Xochiquetzal. It’s a shelter run by the local
government for elderly sex workers. When it opened in 2006,
prostitution was illegal in Mexico. Now it’s legal in several states,
but there are still problems with the police and bribes. Many women
don’t have IDs when they arrive, because they were abandoned
or come from indigenous communities where they don’t do
certificates or papers, so they can’t get help from the government,
like medical services. The shelter gives them basic things: a roof,
food, an ID, and medical and psychological care. Some women are
schizophrenic, others are bipolar. They’ve had such harsh lives,
and it can be intense to have people with so many psychological
conditions in one place. It’s nice to see their evolution over time,
though. It’s more mellow now.
How did you discover the place? I was asked to take some photos
there for a story, and was like, “Wow”. It’s the only such shelter
existing in Latin America. Before I visited, when I thought about
prostitutes, I never thought about them when they were old. These
vulnerable women are often invisible to society. I went home, but
knew I wanted to go back there.
Run us through a typical day at Casa Xochiquetzal. The women
have breakfast, then, depending on the day, they’ll have activities
or workshops, making bread, chocolates or arts and crafts. Some
will go walking the neighbourhood to see friends; some will sell
cigarettes or sweets on the street. Each day, a different woman
will assist the cook at lunch and clean the kitchen. Then they’ll go
on the patio and talk. Some read in their rooms; one writes poetry.
Canela likes to eat sweets, even though she has diabetes – she’ll
hide and eat sweets and watch TV. At night they like to watch
melodramas. Then they go to sleep.
What challenges do the residents face? One thing that’s
really painful for them is not being in touch with their children.
It’s also a big challenge having them all together, because,
even if they’ve known each other for 20 or 30 years, some are
competitive, so they fight. When it’s Christmas, they fight more,
because it’s normally a time when you’re with family – that’s
when they remember they are really alone.
How did the ladies feel about having their portraits taken?
By the time I arrived, they’d already had some bad experiences
with photographers, who’d said, “We won’t publish your photo,”
then done it anyway. Some women were publicly exposed and
their families discovered they were sex workers. Two women were
pretty aggressive with me. For the first six months, it was really hard.
I’d knock on the door upon arriving at the shelter and one of them
would say, “Oh, it’s you,” then lock the door in my face. Now when
they do that, I make jokes.
Have you become friends with any of them over time? Definitely.
I heard when you’re a journalist, you have to set limits – you can’t
be friends with your subjects. But I disagree with that, because how
can you spend 10 years with people and not have a relationship?
I’m not friends with them in the sense that they come to my house,
but when it’s my birthday, I’ll bring a cake. When my son was
born, I took him there. They know my husband. They’re like my
grandmothers in Mexico.
What positive things have you witnessed at the shelter? If one of
the women dies, all of them will attend the funeral. That way, they
know that when they die, they won’t be alone. One of their big fears
is to die alone on the street and just be trash in a communal space.
They also do workshops in arts and crafts, and sell some of what
they create. Increasingly, I see them supporting each other. And
they’re very thankful to the shelter for having meals and medical
care. It gives them a lot of peace.
Page 96: Norma Angelica,
What have the women of Casa Xochiquetzal taught you? Tolerance.
54, twirls a hula hoop.
Don’t judge. Use your humour, but with respect. Sometimes you
can hurt someone with a joke. Understand their stories so you Page 97, top: Sonia,
can understand them and what they went through. They’re always 67, in her bedroom.
positive, and will be like, “This happened, but you know what? Bottom: Portrait of
I’m still here.” They really live in the present. Luchita at the shelter.

096
 read all about it
skinny books
PINT-SIZED LITERARY HITS WITH
GISELLE AU-NHIEN NGUYEN.
DYING: A MEMOIR BY CORY TAYLOR // This powerful little book
was written in a few short weeks as author Cory Taylor lay dying
of cancer. Sounds depressing, but Dying: A Memoir is reflective,
poignant, and at times even uplifting, in that rough-situations-bring-
out-our-inner-chutzpah kind of way. It’s truth-telling served neat,
as Cory chronicles her childhood and life with her husband, Shin,
as well as her own experiences with losing folks she loved. Full of
smart observations and incredibly sharp, accessible writing, Obama
chose this as one of his favourite books of 2017 for good reason –
take a deep breath and sink into it on a rainy afternoon.
FAHRENHEIT 451 BY RAY BRADBURY // Imagine a world without
books. (Fair enough if you don’t want to – neither, really.) That’s the
premise of sci-fi classic Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian novel set in a
world where tomes of any size, shape and subject are banned. Like
Nineteen Eighty-Four or The Handmaid’s Tale, this yarn is fictional,
but there are parts that ring terrifyingly true, and may well make
your page-turning fingers a bit clammy. Pick it up if you’re keen
to disappear into a dismal, totalitarian world for a little while (and
give your bookshelf a big hug when you’re done, because, thank
goodness, we’re not quite there yet).
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY BY DOUGLAS ADAMS //
If you’re after a lighthearted, silly romp through outer space, look
no further. Reading this pint-sized book feels like a long overdue
catch- up with your weird best friend from high school: it’s fun; it’s
wacky; it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense; but it’s got a lot of heart
098
(plus, you’ll finally understand the meaning of the universe). Pop it
in your bag to devour over a lunch break or two. If it hits the spot,
there’s good news: it’s the first in a series featuring five more tales
of interplanetary exploits.
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER AND OTHER STORIES BY CHARLOTTE
PERKINS GILMAN // Want to know how much – or how little – things
have changed for lady types in the past 100-odd years? Get your
mitts on this collection of short stories by feminist writer Charlotte
Perkins Gilman. The title story is her most famous: it follows a
woman’s descent into madness (and hallucinations) as she’s kept
in solitary confinement to treat her “slight hysterical tendency”.
It’s gripping stuff, and makes a great read for the commute to and
from work, when you can dip in and out and spend plenty of time
pondering our understanding of mental health.
THE LITTLE PRINCE BY ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY // This 1943
novella is one of the most translated books in the world, selling more
than two million copies a year. It tells the story of a pilot stranded
in the desert who meets a prince from another planet, and the
friendship that grows from the encounter – as well as the lessons
the pilot learns about our planet, loneliness and existence in general.
Far from being bleak, it’s a bit of a philosophical pick-me-up (with
cute-as-heck pictures by the author himself. Over-achiever). Share
it with the little people in your life, because this book resonates with
big’uns and littl’uns alike.
HEARTBURN BY NORA EPHRON // The space where memoir meets
fiction is occupied by Heartburn, the 1983 autobiographical novel by
the late, great Nora Ephron (i.e. the brains behind movies like You’ve
Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, and the film version of this book).
It’s inspired by the breakdown of Nora’s marriage to journalist Carl
Bernstein, and his infidelity – but don’t worry, it’ll make you chuckle
between tears, and there are even delicious recipes peppered
throughout its pages. A word of warning: you’ll probably fall deeply
in love with Nora and her blunt wisdom, and want to devour every
other creative project she’s turned to gold.
 my project
bunny racket
ROCKING OUT WITH TINY TOTS
IS WHAT ANDY WALKER DOES BEST.
Words Rebecca Varcoe
Andy Walker has, in his own words, “been living the rock ‘n’ roll
lifestyle for 20 years or so”. But when his friends began to have
children, and he eventually had a sprog of his own, things changed
a bit. “My band would go on tour, and a lot of other bands would
stay with us in this big, hippie rock ‘n’ roll house just outside of
Byron Bay. And along with them came their kids.” This sparked an
idea in the stonemason-cum-musician: a denim jacket-clad, rock
music-playing rabbit named King Bunny, specifically.
King Bunny is the frontman for Bunny Racket, a band on a mission
to inspire and educate kids with a little vitamin rock. Think AC/DC
meets The Cat in the Hat – or a hard-rock alternative to The
Wiggles. Pairing up with Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork, Andy set
about creating the Bunny Racket world, which includes an album,
Rock ‘n’ Roll Animals; a tour schedule; and an upcoming web series
(which sees King Bunny roaming the Californian desert in an old
van, seeking “adventure, inspiration and collaboration”). Andy says
Bunny Racket is about encouraging musical creativity and passing
the joy of rock ‘n’ roll onto the next generation: “My friends and
I have a lot of kids around us, and this whole thing came about from
wanting to involve them in what we do. Being inclusive and sharing
something really fun with them, you know?”
Andy is passionate about rock ‘n’ roll and the life he’s lived
because of it. He’s deeply in love with music – a love that’s
100
palpable whenever he speaks. “Rock ‘n’ roll is creation; freedom;
a DIY ethic; community and having a go – all the good things!”
he says. “It’s a real privilege to play a positive part in a kid’s
development; to fill their heads with something that’s done you
the world of good, and been a really fun thing.”
He certainly has had some fun since starting Bunny Racket.
The project has led him to work with musical heroes, including
Sam Cutler, former tour manager for The Rolling Stones and
Grateful Dead, and Robby Krieger, legendary guitarist for
The Doors. Andy can hardly believe it – he explains how his engineer
passed their music over to Krieger, who not only wanted to play on
the record, but offered the use of his recording studio in exchange
for Andy’s skills as a stonemason. “He asked, ‘How do you make
your living?’ and I said, ‘I play music and build stone walls. I’m a
stonemason.’ He said, ‘Well, I need some stonework done at my
house in Beverly Hills.’ So four of us went over and bunked at
Robby’s place and built a lot of stone walls, and he gave us the
keys to his studio, where we laid down tracks.”
Asked if other parents are keen on having their kids watch a
metalhead bunny run around a desert and rock out to hardcore
tunes, Andy says they’re actually pretty grateful for it. “We’re trying
to create a shared experience, so the parents are as much a part
of Bunny Racket as the kids. For the children, it’s this fresh, new,
exciting, fun thing that everyone’s having a good time with, and for
the older folks, it’s like a rock ‘n’ roll time-travelling nostalgia trip.
Our shows give parents something to do on the weekend with their
kids that they miss. ‘Oh, I miss going to see bands’ – well, come
see this band at midday!”
So, how else can rock-loving parents introduce their offspring
to musical genres like metal and punk? “The Ramones!” Andy says
with absolutely no hesitation. “They started playing before they
learnt their instruments, you know – it’s punk rock, rock ‘n’ roll
done for everyone’s sake. You don’t have to be really, really good
at something. It’s just rock ‘n’ roll!” And therein lies King Bunny’s
message. Rock on.
 UNIQLO X MARIMEKKO X FRANKIE

it’s a match
TWO BIG NAMES IN FASHION
JOIN FORCES TO CREATE SOME
BOLD AND COMFY DESIGNS.

Tell us about the brands involved in this collaboration.

Marimekko is a Finnish design house founded in 1951, and
celebrated for its original prints and colours ever since.
UNIQLO is a Japanese global apparel retailer, known
for its well-designed, affordable essential items.
How did the collaboration come about? UNIQLO and Marimekko
share a mission to bring joy to people’s everyday lives through
beautiful clothing and accessories. It was a perfect match –
marrying simplicity with creativity, and empowering people to
be happy as they can be. Together the brands decided to create
a special-edition collection for women, featuring a line of items
that would brighten lifestyles and allow for bold self-expression.
What kinds of pieces can we find in the collection? The range
includes t-shirts, blouses, pants and dresses, as well as
two different types of carry bags – a tote and a drawstring
gymsack – and some super-comfortable slip-on sneakers.
Which features are typical of UNIQLO or Marimekko? Across
the range, you can see UNIQLO’s timeless silhouettes; casual
street style; and soft, comfortable fabrics paired with
Marimekko’s bold and vibrant designs (created by Marimekko
print designer Maija Louekari). The prints are inspired by nature
and an urban lifestyle, and appear on UNIQLO’s LifeWear range
– high-quality clothing that is functional and reasonably priced.
What is the price point? It ranges from $19.90 for a graphic
t-shirt to $59.90 for a long, patterned dress. Nothing in the
collection is more than $60.
Where can we find UNIQLO x Marimekko duds? The collection
is available in UNIQLO’s Australian stores and via their online
boutique, uniqlo.com/marimekko/au, for a limited time.
 my project

floral keepsakes
jeweller rosaleen ryan makes memories
you can wear, with resin casting and
flowers from her mum’s garden.
WORDS LUKE RYAN PHOTOGRAPHS HILARY WALKER

105
my project

A word that keeps coming up when you’re talking to Rosaleen Ryan

is ‘sentimental’. It’s as if she’s trying to single-handedly reclaim the
word from the realm of mawkishness and Hallmark cards, asking
us to reconsider it as it once was: that singular feeling of drifting
away in a cloud of melancholy and nostalgia.
Rosaleen’s jewellery label Mamoru is her handmade shrine to
sentimentality; a collection of resin earrings and necklaces that
literally captures the essence of her own memories and experiences.
“My jewellery usually contains dried flora from my mother’s garden
or my own explorations,” she says, “but also hair or ashes or insects.
Basically anything that could spark a memory in someone – a feeling
of missing something or someone important.”
The Melbourne local describes her jewellery as memento mori – in Latin:
‘remember you must die’ – and her pieces are reminders of things lost,
but still held. “Hair is the only part of our body that lasts forever,” she
explains. “I once found a lock of hair in my grandmother’s things and it
turned out it belonged to a childhood friend of hers. She’d lost contact
with the friend years ago, but she had this lock of hair, which meant so
much to her, of someone she didn’t even know anymore. I wanted to try
and capture that feeling of both permanence and transience.”
Every Mamoru piece is different, a consequence of the resin that
Rosaleen uses, as well as the casts she hand-makes. “For each series,
I’ll start with a base shape that I mould from Sculpey or clay,” she
explains. “I then make a silicon mould of that, which I use to pour the
resin in. You can get resins that set in minutes, but I use a slow-set
resin that takes around 72 hours. This gives me time to work with each
set of earrings individually, rearranging the objects I’ve chosen and
popping bubbles. I’ll usually spend at least an hour or two on each
earring just popping bubbles.” She smiles. “It’s super-meditative.”
Once the resin is set, she pulls it out, sands it by hand – “Sanding does
my head in” – buffs it, drills it and glues everything together.
In all, it can take two weeks to complete a single pair of earrings;
having started Mamoru in early 2014, Rosaleen recently completed her
500th pair. “I know if I used a faster resin I could be popping out a bunch

107 >
 my project
of earrings each day. But, to me, that’s everything that’s wrong with fast
fashion. I love knowing that these pieces aren’t going to degrade. I want
them to be able to be worn during your and your children’s lifetimes.”
Not that Rosaleen ever set out to be a jewellery maker. While studying
contemporary photography at the Victorian College of the Arts, she took
a single semester course in sculpting and casting, during which she
“fell in love with the process of making an object, casting that object
and then making another object from it”. She began making earrings
for her friends, but the orders quickly piled up until she found herself
spending more time making jewellery than taking photographs. “It took
me a while to come around to the idea of doing this properly. I thought
jewellery-making was something bored housewives did,” she laughs.
“My grandma, who is a housewife, would make jewellery and give it
away to people, and I just never thought about the impact jewellery
could have on people’s lives.”
Rosaleen releases her work in batches, each tied to a particular location
or theme. “I recently came back from Tasmania’s Bay of Fires and it’s
just so stunning down there. The beaches have the tiniest shells I’ve
ever seen. I didn’t want to take too many, but I also wanted to share that
space with people and talk about how amazing Tasmania is. So I took a
handful and did five pairs from that one particular area.”
Her longest-running series is also her most personal – flowers from
her mother’s garden in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges. “I’ve been making
those for almost four years now. Recently, I completed a collaboration
with one of my best friends, Caitlin. They’re earrings with a mix of
flowers from her mother’s garden and flowers from my mother’s garden.
Both of our mothers live hours away, and we were feeling homesick and
nostalgic for that bliss that comes from just being at home in your family
garden with nothing to do. That sense of total ease.”
Rosaleen’s been working on Mamoru full-time for over a year now,
operating out of a shared studio space in Brunswick, in Melbourne’s
inner-north. But dedicating herself to the craft is not without its
challenges: “I think, as a creative, everything about the business bit is
hard.” A saving grace was the government’s New Enterprise Incentive
110
Scheme (NEIS), which gives people looking to start new businesses
free training in the nitty-gritty of tax, accountancy and their legal
obligations. “This sort of stuff is so important for creatives to know. If
I hadn’t done the NEIS, I would have really been stabbing in the dark.”
The other overarching challenge is more internal. “I struggle with my
mental health sometimes. So running my own business is good and
bad for me. I can work when I have the energy to work, and take a day
off and not feel guilty. But on the flipside, there’s that feeling that no
one else is there to share the load when I do need the time off.” At
the end of the day, it’s the making itself that gets her through. “If I’m
having a bad day, I just kind of pinch myself and think, ‘You’ve got one
of the best jobs in the world. Why don’t you wanna go into work today?
You wouldn’t have it any other way, so suck it up and get in there.’ And
once I’m here, it’s always better.
“Ultimately, I love sharing stories with people. When I put a pair of
earrings up online I usually offer a story about where it’s come from
or its influence in my life. And so often people will say, ‘Oh, I’m buying
this pair of hydrangea earrings because my grandma had a beautiful
hydrangea garden.’ To have a back-and-forth with people about a
particular flower and what it means to them is so nice. The people who
send me stories like that are the best people in the world, I think.”
Rosaleen and her flower-filled studio
are featured in our new book, Look
What We Made – an introduction to
the new generation of Australian
makers. Find your nearest stockist or
grab a copy online at frankie.com.au/
lookwhatwemade.
 PODCAST

MYF WARHURST BECI ORPIN

MUSIC DESIGN

JENNY KEE
FASHION

BENJAMIN LAW JEREMY WORTSMAN

WRITING + PODCASTS ART + ILLUSTRATION

+
A WHOLE LOT MORE!

tips for creatives , from creatives

TO LISTEN, HEAD TO FRANKIE.COM.AU/GOODSTUFF-PODCAST
Photo Getty Images
 learn something new
spray and wıpe
mia timpano examines the tearable
history of toilet paper.
For as long as us humans have existed, we’ve shat – but the
implement with which we’ve cleaned the dregs of poo from our butts
has varied wildly, governed by resources and cultural norms. The
first known instance of folks wiping with paper occurred in medieval
China, 589 CE. Rather than using a refreshing spray of water
like many did at the time, the Chinese used one of their greatest
inventions, paper, to get their backsides squeaky clean post-toilet
time. By the early 14th century, millions of packs of TP were being
distributed around China, but sheets weren’t the teeny squares we’ve
come to know and love. Instead, bog paper for the Imperial Court was
as big as two-by-three feet, or around the size of a bath towel.
In other parts of the globe, the rich scrubbed their butts with wool,
hemp or lengths of lace (the preferred way to wipe in France). If you
were poor, you could go shit in the river, then wipe yourself clean
with your own hand – or, if you were feeling fancy, you could rub
your unmentionables with grass, moss, rags, corncobs (complete
with handy in-built ridges), snow, leaves, or – should you be
willing to suffer a splinter or two – wood chips. Legend has it the
ancient Romans had the clever idea of popping a sponge on a stick
(when not in use, this device lived in a bucket of vinegar, a natural
disinfectant), and sources indicate the ancient Jewish practice
was to polish one’s arse with a set of small pebbles. The pebbles
were carried around in a special bag; use of dry grass and broken
ceramics was also encouraged.
Up until the 1800s, folks in the Western world were still getting by with
their corncob arse-cleaners, but in 1857, New York inventor Joseph
Gayetty came up with an idea the Chinese had been onto for eons:
toilet tissue. Only, Joseph’s TP – made from hemp and infused with
aloe – wasn’t yet called ‘toilet paper’. Since the idea of acknowledging
that shit does, in fact, happen made Americans scramble for the
smelling salts, Joseph named his product ‘therapeutic paper’. Added
bonus: it prevented haemorrhoids (apparently). But America didn’t
see any reason to buy Joseph’s product when they could just as easily
use the catalogues that came for free in the mail (haemorrhoids be
damned). Wiping with Sears brochures became the norm, sending
Joe’s therapeutic paper sales down the toilet.
Had toilet technology remained rudimentary, we might still be
using catalogues, newspapers and, yes, even magazines, for the
113
purpose of cleaning ourselves of poo and wee. But towards the end
of the 19th century, flushing toilets became increasingly common
in American homes – even though they’d been invented way back
in 1596 by British nobleman Sir John Harington (hence ‘the john’).
A flushing toilet, unlike a hole in the ground, requires paper that will
flush and disintegrate, lest one’s pipes become damaged; catalogues,
like corncobs, weren’t up to the task. Americans needed toilet paper,
stat. So, in 1890, when brothers Clarence and E. Irvin Scott had the
genius idea of selling paper on a roll, they quickly became the biggest
producers of TP in the States.
Actually mentioning toilet paper was still a no-no, however, which
meant it was marketed as a medicinal item until 1928, when the
Charmin Paper Company’s use of a pretty lady on its packaging
made it appear more, well, charming. The Charmin baby replaced
the Charmin lady in 1956, leading to the “Charmin babies your skin”
campaign, and toilet paper manufacturers have used babies and
puppies as mascots ever since – although the idea of using either of
these to refer to the product’s softness seems odd, given you’d never
wipe your bottom with an infant or a dog (we hope).
Over the course of the 20th century, as the general population
became less averse to acknowledging the need to clean themselves
butt-wise, TP-makers celebrated by releasing loo roll in many
colours: pink, lavender, green and more. No longer were you limited
to stocking your dunny with plain old white paper – now you could
coordinate your poo wipers with your tiles, linoleum floor or nail
polish, if you were so inclined. The heady days of rainbow toilet rolls
were short-lived, however; folks reckoned the dyes caused medical
dramas of the highly unfortunate variety, from inflammation of the
pubic area to cervical cancer.
Yep, we’ve come a long way from rubbing our anuses with lace,
pebbles or the side of a broken vase. And toilet paper itself continues
to improve, with increasingly generous ‘ply’ (England’s St. Andrews
Paper Mill produced the first two-layer paper in 1945) and convenient
perforations every 10 centimetres, allowing one to tear off a square
to blot one’s lipstick or dab a runny nostril. It’s also ideal for throwing
ad hoc over your most despised teacher’s house in the middle of
the night, before running away to contemplate your destructive and
environmentally questionable tendencies.
 [ shop directory ]
BUTTERBING COOKIE SANDWICHES
IN A SENTENCE: A close-knit team of cookie enthusiasts who bake
brownie cookie sandwiches, aka Butterbings – the perfect morning
tea treat // WHAT WE SELL: Butterbings in over 50 mouth-watering
flavours, such as peanut butter, salted caramel and Turkish delight
// PRICE POINT: $22 for a four-pack gift box // WHAT MAKES
THE SHOP SPECIAL: We make every cookie by hand, using locally
sourced, fresh ingredients, like free-range eggs and real dark
chocolate. They’re also gluten-free and available for shipping
anywhere in Australia // FIND US: Online at butterbing.com.au
B LU S H C L O T H I N G P L AY H O U S E
IN A SENTENCE: Fun, feminine and super-affordable fashion for
ladies, size 6 to 22 // WHAT WE SELL: Clothing, accessories and
shoes from our own label, as well as fashion from other Australian
brands. We also stock fabrics and haberdashery for those who
enjoy a bit of DIY // PRICE POINT: From $30 to around $110 // WHAT
MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: We want women of all shapes and sizes
to feel confident in what they wear, and we’re working to make that
a reality // FIND US: Online at blushclothingplayhouse.com or at
13 Commercial Road, Murwillumbah, NSW
114
BAE.
IN A SENTENCE: The place to go if you’re looking for a fresh take
on maternity and nursing wear – for real mums, by real mums //
WHAT WE SELL: Versatile, uncomplicated clothing for motherhood,
including activewear, feedwear, dresses, basics and more // PRICE
POINT: From $49 for tanks and tees to $149 for Bae. Boutique
dresses // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: We provide a great
range of essentials and a few fun seasonal highlights in true-to-life
shapes, so you look and feel great throughout life’s most exciting
little journey // FIND US: Online at baethelabel.com
BUSY HEAD
IN A SENTENCE: Colourful, happiness-inducing earrings, designed
and handmade in Brisbane // WHAT WE SELL: Bird earrings, plant
earrings, custom pet portrait earrings, and heaps more // PRICE
POINT: Our core designs are $38, but prices vary for custom pieces
// WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: Driven by a love for bright,
bold colours, our range brings a little joy to your earlobes. All
our designs are hand-drawn and inspired by our favourite things:
plants, animals and yummy beverages // FIND US: Online at
busyhead.com.au
 [ shop directory ]
AROHANUI BOTANICALS
IN A SENTENCE: Ceramic wares and cold process soaps from
Melbourne-based artist Emily Brookfield // WHAT WE SELL:
Handmade pottery and ceramics – including one-of-a-kind vases,
oil burners, mugs, planters, soap dishes and more – as well as
vegan body bars // PRICE POINT: From $15 to $200 // WHAT MAKES
THE SHOP SPECIAL: I touch and form every piece by hand in my
home studio (aka my shed). My products might not be perfect, but
they’ve all been made with love, effort, care and thoughtfulness
// FIND US: Online at emilyonly.com.au
WOOLERINA
IN A SENTENCE: Australian Merino wool clothing handcrafted
with love from the finest hand-selected wool // WHAT WE SELL:
Luxurious, durable and elegant woollen wear for ladies, gents, kids
and bubs // PRICE POINT: From $30 to $299 for our adult range, and
from $35 to $129 for our kid and baby ranges // WHAT MAKES THE
SHOP SPECIAL: When visiting our shop, you’ll more than likely meet
the person who has hand-selected the raw fibre for our products,
as well as the person who made your garment // FIND US: Online at
woolerina.com.au or at 70 Torig Road, Forbes, NSW
115
GEORGIA MAE
IN A SENTENCE: A one-woman Melbourne-based fashion label,
making the stuff that your cool older sisters would never let
you borrow // WHAT WE SELL: Bags, wallets, clutches, dresses
and hand-sequinned bombers // PRICE POINT: Wallets start
at $45, bags at $50 and bombers at $120 // WHAT MAKES THE
SHOP SPECIAL: Georgia Mae is me – I design everything and am
super- involved in the production of all my products. I also keep my
range affordable, so you can update your look as frequently as I do
// FIND US: Online at georgiamae.com.au
MURPH&MURPH
IN A SENTENCE: We make picnic blankets from neoprene (wetsuit
material) and the Cove, a super-stylish and functional outdoor bag
ideal for picnics and the beach // WHAT WE SELL: Our neoprene
outdoor rugs (which are super-soft, easy to clean and the first of their
kind); the Cove outdoor bags (which are fully water-resistant and come
in a bunch of charming colours); and more // PRICE POINT: From $25
for a stainless steel keyring to $275 for a Cove outdoor bag // WHAT
MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: Our designs are original, practical,
functional and stylish // FIND US: Online at murphandmurph.com.au
 [ shop directory ]
MOSOV ORGANIC
IN A SENTENCE: An ethical Brisbane label making organic
cotton clothing for blokes, ladies and babies // WHAT WE SELL:
Comfortable, soft basics for the whole family, designed to be
timeless and ideal for everyday wear. Our range for wee ones
features Australiana-inspired illustrations unique to Mosov //
PRICE POINT: From $15 to $80 // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP
SPECIAL: We make every piece locally in Australia with GOTS-
certified organic cotton, which is kinder to the environment and
your skin // FIND US: Online at mosov.com
OAKIE
IN A SENTENCE: Unique, naturally dyed sustainable clothing and
handmade organic straw accessories // WHAT WE SELL: Dresses,
overalls, tops, tees, pants and bags // PRICE POINT: From $29.99
to $159.99 // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: Our aim is to open
folks’ eyes to slow fashion, and encourage everyone to embrace
thoughtful design. As for our garments, they’re super-comfy,
breathable and suitable for all body types, as well as being
eco- friendly with no nasty chemicals – win-win! // FIND US:
Online at oakiethelabel.com
116
ORSKA
IN A SENTENCE: Beautiful and expressive jewellery, entirely
handmade in a small workshop in Europe // WHAT WE SELL: Our
collection includes pendants, earrings, bracelets and pins, crafted
into the shape of insects, bees, honeycombs, robots and exotic
plants. We also make pieces from old watches, machinery, Swarovski
pearls and crystals // PRICE POINT: From $49 to $299 // WHAT
MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: The components of our products come
from different historical periods and parts of the world. They’re
rather distinctive designs, too // FIND US: Online at orska.com.au
CAPTAIN ROBBO
IN A SENTENCE: Super-comfy, hand-printed ‘Adventure Pants’
(otherwise known as leggings made from cotton or Merino wool),
plus heaps more nice stuff to wear from local craftspeople // WHAT
WE SELL: Our very own Adventure Pants in a range of awesome
prints; locally made clothing; and local jewellery, too // PRICE POINT:
From $90 to $125 for Adventure Pants, and from $16 to $180 for
jewellery // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: Everything is printed
right here in our studio // FIND US: Online at captainrobbo.com or at
93 Johnston Street, Collingwood, Melbourne
 [ shop directory ]
TIGER & TAUPE
IN A SENTENCE: Super-nice, high-quality, ethically produced
lipstick and lip care products // WHAT WE SELL: Seven colourful
shades of matte liquid lipstick. Our high-shine gloss range is
coming soon // PRICE POINT: Matte liquid lipsticks are $19.99
each // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: We’re Australian-
owned and operated; our products are vegan-friendly, cruelty-free
and paraben-free; and our liquid lipsticks are renowned for their
concentrated pigments, light-weight formula and longevity //
FIND US: Online at tigerandtaupe.com
KARMME
IN A SENTENCE: Quality leather goods and a signature artisan
fragrance, all made in Sydney // WHAT WE SELL: A variety of bags
developed exclusively for KARMME, including Italian leather clutches,
totes lined with hand-dyed Shibori cotton and heaps more. There’s
also our newly released fragrance, KARMME scent, designed to
make every woman feel beautiful // PRICE POINT: From $70 to $385
// WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: Our eye-pleasing presentation
and exceptional customer service ensures that every purchase from
us feels special // FIND US: Online at karmme.com.au
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PETITE AMALIE
IN A SENTENCE: A charming local clothing label for little ladies
aged two to eight // WHAT WE SELL: Beautiful and timeless
garments your lass will cherish for years to come. Our collection of
dresses, tops and skirts is made using delicate fabrics, and features
artful embroideries and trims // PRICE POINT: From $69.95 for a
top or blouse to $149.95 for an embroidered dress // WHAT MAKES
THE SHOP SPECIAL: Each piece from Petite Amalie is lovingly
designed in Australia by Alex Vardakis, a proud mum of three little
girls // FIND US: Online at petiteamalie.com
WILSON AND FRENCHY
IN A SENTENCE: Lovely stuff for bubs inspired by animals and
nature, all made with a sustainable approach and proudly designed
in Melbourne // WHAT WE SELL: Baby clothing, bedding and
sleepwear made from 100 per cent organic cotton // PRICE POINT:
From $16.95 to $80 // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: Each
of our collections comes from the heart. We put special care and
thought into all aspects of your shopping experience, from the
quality of our pieces down to our bespoke gold foil packaging //
FIND US: Online at wilsonandfrenchy.com.au
 [ shop directory ]
MELISSA ALLEN MOOD ESSENTIALS™
IN A SENTENCE: Natural unisex fragrances that smell wonderful
and make you feel great, too, thanks to their essential oils // WHAT
WE SELL: A range of fragrances to spray as perfume or cologne.
We’ve got products to help you feel calm, confident, joyful and
focused – simply pick what you need in 50ml or travel pack size //
PRICE POINT: $15.95 for travel pack sprays and $39.95 for 50ml
sprays // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: Our products help you
smell lovely; dream bigger; overcome hurdles; and feel positive about
your life // FIND US: Online at melissaallenmoodessentials.com
AKAZI
IN A SENTENCE: A mother-and-daughter clothing label based on
the Gold Coast, making functional, elegant and ageless garments
from natural, plant-based fabrics, such as linen and organic
bamboo (our silk range is coming soon) // WHAT WE SELL: Tops,
jumpsuits, skirts, dresses, pants, kaftans and more // PRICE
POINT: From $55 to $239 // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: We
make clothes you connect with emotionally, creating a relationship
that will endure many washes and life experiences. They’ll also get
softer and softer with time // FIND US: Online at akazi.com.au
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JAGGER SLEEPWEAR
IN A SENTENCE: Luxury sleepwear with a focus on minimalist style,
designed and made in Australia using organic cotton and bamboo
// WHAT WE SELL: A collection of sleepwear garments so nice that
they double as everyday wear – ideal for travel, working out or just
relaxing // PRICE POINT: From $59 to $109 // WHAT MAKES THE
SHOP SPECIAL: We’re dedicated to producing ethical sleepwear that’s
good for you, as well as the environment. Our raw materials are grown
in India, then woven and dyed with non-synthetic dyes in Melbourne //
FIND US: Online at jaggersleepwear.com.au
JANE IN TRIBE
IN A SENTENCE: A duo based in New Zealand and India, creating
classic and vintage-inspired clothing that features screen-printed
and block-printed designs // WHAT WE SELL: Mostly skirts and
dresses made from hand-woven cotton // PRICE POINT: From $79
to $199 // WHAT MAKES THE SHOP SPECIAL: We work closely with
small ethical producers in Jaipur, India, who hand-print all our
fabrics using organic vegetable dye. We’ve also just opened our own
shop/café in Goa, where we’re based for part of the year // FIND US:
Online at janeintribe.bigcartel.com
 pretty pictures
the body beautiful
IRISH ILLUSTRATOR TARA O’BRIEN
EXPLORES STRENGTH, VULNERABILITY
AND BODY IMAGE.
Interview Sophie Kalagas
Tell us a bit about yourself. I’m an illustrator born, raised and still
residing in Dublin, Ireland. I draw lots of different things, but mostly
the female form, often of the larger variety. Other than drawing, I’m
passionate about dogs, fashion, procedural crime dramas, feminism
and listening to sad songs at loud volumes.
What is your artistic style? ‘Sophisticated naivety’ feels like an
appropriate representation of what I try to achieve. I love detail, and
I’m constantly trying to fit as much in as possible while maintaining
an overall graphic, easily digestible style. I think the inherent
tension in that can make for some interesting results.
Why do you make art? I honestly can’t remember a time in my life
when I wasn’t drawing. I studied visual communication, with enough
illustration included for me to realise it was a potential way to make
a living. During that time, I had a bit of a breakthrough moment
when I found body positivity as a subject to focus on – I felt it gave
my art purpose and a certain level of responsibility. This amplified
my passion and I finally felt like I had something valid to contribute.
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Who are the women in your illustrations? What do they stand for?
They’re the women we all know, who live ordinary or extraordinary
lives; who are mostly underrepresented in media and art. They are
nuanced people who can be strong and resilient, but also vulnerable
and fragile. I think they stand for their right to be themselves without
the social constructions of our world limiting who or what they can be.
How important is it to you to show diversity in your artwork? One
of my core aims is to create more diverse representation of women
than we currently have, which stems from me not having that for
myself growing up. The fact that, as a fat woman, I generally can’t
find people in popular media who have bodies like mine and are as
varied in character as all the fat people I know – or even as their
slimmer counterparts – is appalling to me. Realising the same thing
applies for people of colour only increased my levels of rage. I would
feel I was being irresponsible if I didn’t actively attempt to represent a
diverse range of characters in my work. I know I still have more work
to do to fully achieve this, but that’s my aim, and I’m learning as I go.
Can you talk us through your creative process? I work in a few
different ways, depending on the project or how I’m feeling at
the time. Commercial and editorial work has led to my process
becoming much more digital, but usually everything I do is a mix of
pen on paper and computer work. I sketch with pencil, then draw a
refined version with a black fineliner pen. Then I’ll scan the original
and work in Photoshop to turn that into a finished colour piece. I
still like working in analogue mediums when I can, and constantly
explore different techniques.
What puts you in the mood to create? I’m generally in the mood
if I’m excited about an idea. That said, the most reliable way to get
myself to work is to have something else very important to do. Even
though I do it for a living, drawing is still the thing I procrastinate with.
What’s one thing we should know about you? I can wiggle my ears.
Where can we see more of your work? taraobrien.co, or on
Instagram at @taraobrienillustration.
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 rant
a grown-up palate
DEIRDRE FIDGE HAS TASTED
ADULTHOOD, AND SHE ISN’T
PARTICULARLY IMPRESSED.
The human face makes a very distinct expression when eating a
food that isn’t tasty: somewhere between a scrunch and a scream.
When I’d just turned 18 and was out with a fellow over-age friend,
I ordered a dry red wine based on the presumption that I was now
an adult, and should leave my Bacardi Breezer past behind me.
“Mmm, delicious!” I lied, catching my face making the tell-tale
scrunch-scream in the reflection of a window.
More than a decade on, I still find my face contorting regularly.
I’ve spent the past 10 years aggressively attempting to refine
my palate, forcing myself to eat things I’ve always believed to be
‘grown-up foods’, and a sign of maturity: olives; soft cheeses; chilli;
alcohol that isn’t peach-flavoured and poured from a can. As it
turns out, a fear of being laughed at by my peers combined with
a growing dread of becoming the embodiment of late-20s arrested
development is far more uncomfortable than a yucky meal.
Remember being six or seven, when the worst insult someone –
especially an older sibling – could throw at you was ‘baby’? I can
vouch for the fact that hang-up really stays with some people, and
shame can be a huge behavioural motivator. It can make young
adults worry that we aren’t being young adults properly, and
overcompensate. The result? For years now, I’ve been trying to
strong-arm my palate into adulthood.
124
Photo Courtney Jackson
It’s been said that you can alter your tastebuds simply by forcing
yourself to repeatedly eat a food you don’t like until they adapt.
But I’ve eaten enough olives to cause a shortage to the entire
Mediterranean region, and I still hate them. Every type; every
flavour; mixed into foods or eaten alone; soaked in a cocktail or
purchased from an expensive deli – they are all awful. I’m sorry.
Reverse psychology is apparently an effective way to get kids to
willingly eat tantrum-inducing foods, so I’ve tried that approach,
too. “Yum yum! More chilli, please!” I bark, ingesting a forkful of
chow heavy with red flakes and neuroses. A smile can be faked,
but you can’t trick your tongue. Eyes water; cheeks become
inflamed; the squish-faced expression appears: defeated again.
A key sign of adulthood is when party food transitions from fairy
bread to thoughtfully arranged (and photogenic) platters, but most
of those creamy cheeses and mystery meats leave me nostalgic
for frozen pies. “I’M TRYING,” I want to scream, raising a lump
of gorgonzola to my lips. Nobody wants to be the picky eater at a
dinner party or the customer asking for alterations to menu items.
But is eating stinky cheese really a sign of being a grown-up?
Does eating oysters or spending too much money on a bottle
of tannins truly define adulthood? Will we look back on our lives
and reflect on pivotal moments of self-actualisation and growth,
mentally bookmarking the time we first enjoyed random fruit in
a savoury salad? It’s dawning on me now that ordering the kids’
menu chicken nuggets and enjoying them without shame might
actually be the more mature option. At least you know what
you want from life.
It’s a revelation to realise growing up means embracing who you
are instead of fighting it, and accepting your childish palate for
what it is, knowing your mates aren’t going to judge you. It’s far
better to experience social events with a smile on your face instead
of a squishy scrunch. Although, last week at a picnic I ate an olive
again, just to triple-check they’re still awful. Turns out they are,
so I think that will be my last one. Baby steps.
 famous folk
the accidental actor
YOU CAN TAKE TILDA COBHAM-HERVEY
OUT OF ADELAIDE BUT SHE’LL KEEP
ON COMING BACK.
Words Stephanie van Schilt
Tilda Cobham-Hervey never expected to be an actor. “I still think it’s
quite a foreign word when people relate it to me,” she muses. But,
foreseen or not, the 23-year-old from Adelaide is very much an actor
– and so much more – with theatrical roots deep and familial.
“I started off doing circus at age nine,” she explains. “At 12, I did my
first professional show at the Sydney Opera House with an incredible
choreographer and director called Kate Champion. My mum was in
the show and my dad lit and designed it, so it was a full family affair.”
But it wasn’t until she was cast as Billie in 52 Tuesdays, a coming-
of-age Australian indie about a young woman’s experience dealing
with her mother’s gender transition, that acting before a camera
became her focus.
“I attended the audition because the person running it was this really
interesting theatre-maker, and I wanted to learn more about her,” Tilda
explains. “I read the character description of Billie – it was like, “16 and
fierce and sexually aware”. I was 16 and had never kissed a boy! I was
completely shocked when they decided to give me the job, but I’m so
glad they convinced me, because it completely changed my life.”
52 Tuesdays was a game-changer for Tilda. The untraditional
filmmaking experience saw the cast receive scripts a week before
shooting – that happened once a week, every Tuesday, for a full
year. “It was like being in a Choose Your Own Adventure novel,”
Tilda says. “You couldn’t plan.” The production also introduced her
126
to her collaborator and good friend, director Sophie Hyde. “She’s
truly my idol,” Tilda gushes with signature sincerity. “Sophie is
part of everything I do. We’ve made art installations together and
done all this other work.”
She’s also responsible for encouraging Tilda to respond to an
ABC callout that saw her write and direct the quirky short film,
A Field Guide to Being a Twelve Year Old Girl. Drawing on her own
collaborative experiences from 52 Tuesdays and her childhood
circus troupe, Tilda created a documentary that’s at once quaint
and profound – the 12-year-old love child of a Wes Anderson movie
and Miranda July short story.
“I really wanted to make sure the project wasn’t about me trying
to tell everyone how I felt when I was 12, but actually getting a
group of 12-year-olds together and letting them tell me what it’s
like to be 12 in this day and age,” she says. As with acting, Tilda
humbly explains that she never expected to direct – it’s just another
experience under her belt. For now, she’s turning her attention back
to performance, starring in Fucking Adelaide, the latest mini-series
from Sophie Hyde’s South Australian company, Closer Productions.
Tilda plays Kitty, a free-spirited young woman who, along with
her two siblings (played by Brendan Maclean and Kate Box), faces
upheaval when their mother decides to sell the family home. “It was
totally life imitating art,” she says, when questioned about her
likeness to Kitty, and the show’s overall depiction of growing up in
the small city. “I’ve been attempting to move away from Adelaide
for about five years, but I keep getting drawn back. I’ve done four
feature films there. The last film was meant to be set in India, but
they still shot half of it in Adelaide.”
Currently based in Los Angeles, Tilda’s about to shoot her first
movie on American soil – the thriller Plume. She’s a long way from
living in the “fantasy world” of her South Australian childhood.
No longer reenacting parts of The Lion King in her parents’ lounge
room, as an accomplished actor (not to mention writer and director),
Tilda is living the dream.
 rant
back in the habit
ELEANOR ROBERTSON IS DETERMINED
TO MAKE A GOOD ROUTINE STICK.
When I hear the word ‘habits’, the associations that come to mind
involve self-destruction: hard drugs; drinking; smoking; public
masturbation; picking up junk you don’t need from the side of the
road on hard rubbish day; and so on. This is because, in my life so
far, the only ‘healthy’ habit I’ve ever been able to maintain long term
is brushing my teeth. Even then, as the hour of the pre-bed brush
looms closer, I have to silence the voice in my head that sounds like
evil Elmo and whispers in its distorted little Muppety voice: “Don’t
get up. Who needs teeth anyway? Baby food comes in convenient
pouches now. Women in the olden days used to get full-mouth
extractions and dentures when they were newly married so their
husband didn’t have to spend money on dentistry,” and the like.
This still happens every single night, even though I’ve barely
skipped five brushes in the past 20 years. It’s like my brain
wants me to live in total chaos, skating on the edge of disaster,
MacGyver- ing together the shreds of my life into ad hoc, barely
functional solutions for continued existence. Forming new habits
that would help me stay healthy or sane? Haha! Forget it!
Over the years, I’ve gathered this is not how most people – or
at least, most comfortably functional people – live their lives.
Habits, even small ones like a cup of tea at a particular time,
128
Photo Claudia Fernandes
provide mental comfort and security. Bigger habits, ones that
seem daunting and borderline impossible to me, like exercise, are
performed with regularity by many people. I once saw a montage
video on YouTube of a guy slowly training his cat to use a human
dunny. If you can teach a cat to shit in the toilet, surely I can teach
myself to do 10 minutes of yoga in the mornings.
This problem has become acute for me recently. I’ve realised
the reason I can’t form any good habits is because nobody ever
taught me how. If I can’t teach myself, how am I going to teach
my (as yet non-existent) kids? Little Bobby (I promise I won’t
actually call my child Little Bobby) is not going to learn the
benefits of regular self-care and self-improvement if his mother
spends five minutes every night screaming, “Shut up, evil Elmo”
at teeth-brushing time, and he’s not going to practise his soccer
moves or shitty recorder scales if he can’t see me practising my
own soccer moves or shitty recorder scales.
So, at the start of this year, I began doing a truly minuscule amount
of regular exercise. One of the ways I have (so far) stayed motivated
to do this is by selecting the funniest and easiest program I could
find – 5BX, which the Canadian Air Force invented in the 1950s to
stop their airmen becoming unfit while stationed at remote bases
in Canada’s north. Every morning I huff through the extremely
short repertoire of exercises in the lounge room, while imagining
Canadian pilots getting told off by their superiors for putting on
“ice weight” and becoming “arctic disgraces”.
That’s the big thing I’ve learnt over many years of habit-formation
failure: you have to start small. When people say, “You have to start
small,” they’re not just saying it because they like the sound of
their own voices, which is what I assumed until I disregarded that
advice and failed miserably many times. Evil Elmo can’t be allowed
to anticipate any kind of intense discomfort. For me, that means
treating myself like the YouTube guy treated his cat – just placing
it next to the toilet every day for a fortnight before he even started
putting it on the seat. One day I’ll become as good at my habits as
Toilet Cat is at shitting in the toilet. I will make Toilet Cat proud.
 AW 18

P LACE BO

S T A T U S A N X I E T Y . C O M . A U