…between stars afloat in the night sky…

Now, I’m no poet so I’ll stop right there, but this lovely friend of mine is. Not only is she a poet, but an artist of the truest kind who surrounds herself with beautiful handmade creations, works in progress, and lots of interesting curiosities.

Are you ready to come and visit her corner of the world with me? She lives quite far away so I hope you’re up for a little adventure. Take my hand. All set? Okay, let’s go…

Welcome to the home studio of Kylie Johnson, creator of paper boat press. Kylie lives in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, in one of the most picturesque quiet corners of a city I’ve ever seen. Surrounded by huge native eucalyptus, wattle, ferns and palm trees, Kylie works on her clay creations, illustrations, and poetry in her studio which is an outdoor room overlooking the trees and a gorgeous old church.  I visited her a couple of months ago for the first time and already, I am missing being in her presence and her calm, inspiring space – which is why I wanted you to come with me today…

I could spend hours looking at Kylie’s creations – picking each piece up, turning it in my hands, and imagining a world that exists outside the one I know. Her book of poetry ‘count me the stars’ is filled with beautiful words, phrases, fragments of memories and dreams. I like to open it at a random page and digest the content while I continue with my thoughts.

Fancy a cup of tea and some homemade muffins out on the balcony? Kylie has just pulled a batch from the oven, they smell utterly delicious. Tea is on the table…

Kylie has lots of wonderful things happening this year – including the release of her second book of poetry published by murdoch books called ‘a once courageous heart’. I can’t wait to read it…

photograph courtesy of kylie johnson

It’s time to go. I know, I don’t want to leave either. But now that we have this post permanently in the (blog)house, we can come back again and again. Thank you for having us dear Kylie, I wish you all the best for the year ahead and I can’t wait to see you again, wherever that may be…

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The launch for Kylie’s book is next Friday, March 5th and if you live in or near brisbane, please go along and cheer her on for me. The rsvp date is this friday, february 26. Details are below…

I am going to linger in queensland for the rest of the week here in the (blog)house as I have lots I want to show you from my trip there last month. I hope you’ll join me…

xx

PS oh and I nearly forgot! Here is a little peek inside her living room, I love it. But I got so distracted with her studio and creations that I forgot to show you…

…so make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight as you’ll need all the rest you can get before we head off on this very special journey. See you bright and early in the morning!

xx

Cassandra’s  beautiful old home in New Zealand, as photographed by Matthew Williams.

Perhaps you are like me and are guilty of collecting fabrics upon fabrics which you want to make into a quilt but never find the time? Well, yesterday while I was reading Cassandra Ellis’ (from Haven Workroom)  beautiful blog, I was thrilled to find out that she is now taking orders for quilts made with your own personal collection of fabrics! It’s a wonderful idea, and Cassandra’s style and designs are stunning, she is one of the rare people I would give my pile of precious fabrics to without hesitation.

Read her original post about how she serendipitously came upon the idea here, and click here to find out about pricing (follow the link to ‘our goods’, ‘quilts’, then  ‘download pricelist’).

For those of you who are new to Cassandra’s work, let me introduce her to you. Back in 2002, Cassandra started a business called Haven Workroom in NZ. Then it was a gorgeous little store selling high-quality hand-made homewares (which sounds like my little indigo, but no doubt much, much nicer!). A little while ago, Cassandra packed her bags and moved to London and re-created Haven Workroom into an atelier making bespoke contemporary quilts as well as restoring and up-cycling vintage furniture. Cassandra’s aim is to keep artisan skills alive and relevant. Her quilts are contemporary and one-of-a-kind, made from vintage silks and cottons combining Indian, English, Asian and Eastern European textiles.

Take a look at her quilts right here.

The photos you see above and below are from Cassandra’s home back in New Zealand. I love her eclectic yet cohesive collection of homewares displayed throughout each space. It’s a home filled with soul…

Beautiful, non? Oui! But you know I was going to say that.

I don’t know about you but for me, this week’s posts about talented female artisans and their work spaces has been truly inspiring – first  it was Tracey Deep, then Harriet Goodall and now Cassandra Ellis of Haven Workroom. Be sure to check out all the links attached to each post as there is more inspiration to be had than what I have shown here.

Have a great weekend mes amis. See you on Monday!

xx

PS I am over the jetlag and flu now – yay! Thanks for all your well wishes.

For the last week here in Amsterdam, our canal has had a layer of glorious snow over the top of its frozen, icey surface. It has been reflecting a beautiful blue-white light into the boat that I have never seen before. Every morning I have been eagerly pulling up the blinds to let in as much of the light as possible, and I have been so inspired to use this new white light – imagining up all sorts of new still life tabletop scenes and interior settings. This morning I was a little sad to see that all the snow had melted on the canal.

But I didn’t come here to give you a weather report. Instead, I want to let you know that food stylist Yvette van Boven is here in da (blog)house again! After I saw the latest post on her blog called Dutch Fare, I asked if she could translate one of the recipes and being the wonderful friend that she is, she said yes. She shouldn’t be indulging us though, because she too is very busy working on a huge book and she needs no distractions. Meanwhile, she has runaway to Paris to try to get some work done on her book without being distracted by the likes of well… me. I understand.

So, go take a look in the (blog)house kitchen (click here) to see which recipe Yvette kindly translated and wrote about for us. It’s the perfect winter treat. Enjoy!

xx

all gorgeous photographs for this story  by chris chen.

Before I hopped on the plane back to Amsterdam, I grabbed the latest issue of country style at sydney airport for two reasons. 1. because I’ve always loved this mag (the photography is perfection, and they often feature the homes of country artists whose style is natural,  real and inspiring) and 2. because a little birdy told me that the feature article would make my heart sing. Indeed it DID make my heart sing because it is all about Harriet Goodall, her home & property in Robertson NSW, and her incredible woven creations…

Harriet’s story about how she came to be weaving baskets is as beautiful as her creations themselves. She says she has always been drawn “to the ephemeral and imperfect beauty of natural materials and have forever collected buckets of shells, driftwood, beautiful leaves, bones, moss and feathers  with no particular purpose in mind.” Sounds delightfully familiar.  She saw a flyer for a basketry course in Mittagong and decided to join up because it fitted perfectly with her love of art made from nature. After another course she was well and truly hooked on the craft. Inspired by the work of Andy Goldsworthy, Herman de Vries, and Chris Drury, Harriet says that the wonderful thing about baskets is that “it’s possible to harvest your garden then sit on a patch of ground and, just with your hands alone, make something that’s strong, useful and beautiful – while knowing that women have done this for millenia”…

Harriet and her husband Mat collected all their furniture from the local tip shop and family hand-me-downs. The area where they live is surrounded by national parks, waterfalls, beaches, rainforests, and incredible escarpment and rolling green hills  – all within a 30km radius…

Meet Banjo: Harriet and Mat’s little guy who loves being in nature as much as they do.

It’s a beautiful, inspiring story, and I encourage you to find yourselves a copy of the february issue of country style to learn more about harriet’s home and work…

cover shot by mikkel vang, styled by sibella court.

Thank you for the inspiration Harriet! I hope to come and visit you one day, and see your creations in person.

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Harriet’s baskets are available to purchase. They start at around $140.00 AUD. For further enquiries, click here to email Harriet, or you can call her on +61 402 346 106.

A big thank you to Country Style and photographer Chris Chen for the use of the images.