published pieces: sibella court - peppermint magazine

I am chuffed to see my story on Sydney stylist and author Sibella Court in the new autumn edition of Peppermint magazine. The Peppermint crew has done such a beautiful job with the content and design throughout. The front cover is just dreamy. I am slowly working my way through the mag, savouring each pretty page. 

I loved the story 'Raw Awakenings' by Stacey Roberts about Raw Beauty Queen founder Kemi Nekvapil. And Tess Curran's story on Petra Cremming's entrepreneurial approach to building her own sustainable floral design studio is an inspiring read for small business owners and those dreaming about launching a creative venture. 

Thank you Peppermint. x

P.s. For those interested, Sibella Court is running new styling workshops on April 10 in Sydney and April 13 in Melbourne. Her website is being redesigned but her workshops are mentioned here. Here's hoping she hosts a session in Brisbane too. 

when do you make time to write?

When do you make time to write?

Our Bassie usually sleeps until 6.30am or 7am if we're really lucky. This morning he woke up at 5am. 5am! It was still dark. We managed to get him back to sleep with a bottle and a dry nappy.

I tried to fall back to sleep but couldn't. I thought it the perfect time to get up early and sit with my laptop, something I've been meaning to do for ages. I usually write at night and at lunchtimes, but I have to admit my brain feels weary and dull at night.

I've read about writers who swear by waking one hour earlier than usual of a morning to "show up" at their laptop. This simple ritual kicks off the day by demonstrating a positive, physical commitment to your craft. As a mum, it gives you a moment of peace, a pause, a calm breath to start the day on your terms, completely absorbed in your own creative world.

I remember my favourite uni lecturer, author and mentor Nike Bourke, telling us she would wake one hour earlier than her children (she has four kids!) every morning. She'd brew herself a cup of tea and sip it slowly in front of her laptop. The words wouldn't always flow, but often they did, and that's the point. The first step is turning up. 

This blog has some interesting tips for writers on how to make the most of those early mornings. And the blog Simple Mom talks generally about the value of waking early here. I've mentioned Elizabeth Gilbert's TED Talk in this space before; she too talks about the importance of "turning up" at the laptop or page.

Before Bassie arrived, I used to wake early before work to write when a deadline was looming. My brain felt fresh and zingy and I loved the stillness and quiet that greeted me just after dawn. But since falling pregnant and having Bassie, sleep has become paramount. It still is - I worship sleep like the sun - but maybe I'm feeling ready to wake a little earlier, even if it's only for deadlines or when Bassie is my impromptu alarm clock.

inspiration is all around

I have been feeling a little ill and weary of late, so I've been looking to others for inspiration. It's heartening to see these women I admire achieve their creative writing dreams. I hope to interview some of these writers in this space soon. 

• My stupendously gifted friend Christine Sharp is an author, illustrator, artist, book designer and editor. Christine will launch her first picture book for children, Bea, on February 28 at Avid Reader in West End, Brisbane. It's about daring to be different and staying true to yourself. I expect to find pure whimsy and joy in those pages. 
• Brisbane photographer, writer and stylist Chantelle Grady's first book, Devorer Montreal (in English, Devour Montreal) is due out soon. It's published in French because it is French! Chantelle hopes an English version will follow soon. She shares how this serendipitous project was born here on her stunning blog. I love this video of how it all came together. Enchanting.  
• Ange Takats is a journalist, author, and singer/songwriter. She is one of those people who makes her dreams happen and if I didn't know her better I'd think good fortune falls in her lap. But I know how hard she works to realise her creative projects. I went along to her charming CD launch at the Sandgate Town Hall. Her new album, Arva, is just delightful. Do yourself a favour and listen here. Being the go-getter she is, she's also written and self-published a book of her travel memoirs, The Buffalo Funeral.
• Writer and interiors stylist Pia Jane Bijkerk will soon release her fourth book, Little Treasures: Made by Hand. Through the very cool Pozible campaign, she called on her creative community to pre-purchase her book to enable her to self publish and they responded! She wrote a post full of gratitude on her blog here. I interviewed Pia for Peppermint magazine in 2011 and I've followed her blog for years. Pia's baby girl turned one last week, which I find a reassuring reminder that you can still achieve your dreams with a little one tugging at your leg (and your heart).  

Inspiration is all around (as my sweet friend helps remind me).

published pieces: map magazine - li cunxin and richard maloy

My interview with Chinese-born, world-renowned ballet dancer Li Cunxin is out in map magazine this month. You can read it online here. You may know Li as 'Mao's Last Dancer' and he is now at the helm of Queensland Ballet. Li has experienced such heartache and pain in his life but also astounding success and achievement.

My favourite quote was when Li said: “I’m a forward-looking man. I am genuinely excited about what’s ahead of me; I always set myself goals and aims. Whatever I do, I really want to see how best I can do it. So the pursuit of excellence and perfection is what motivates me to go forward.”

I also interviewed New Zealand artist Richard Maloy who is exhibiting his Big Yellow installation at GOMA right now. His article is in map magazine and right here. 

Image: Olive trees are on my Christmas wish list. Love, love. 

published pieces: salt magazine - lucy walter

The summer edition of Salt magazine is out on the Sunshine Coast this week and it's available online here too. Acting editor Claire Plush has taken some stunning photos to accompany my story, 'Living a Kinder Life' (and online here) on raw food chef, restaurateur and animal activist Lucy Walter. 

I was on a high after meeting Lucy on her pretty farm in Maleny, which she and her husband have turned into a private sanctuary for abused and neglected farmyard animals. We sat on Lucy's peaceful Queenslander porch, looking out over the Mary Valley, and chatted for an hour while the dogs she has rescued sat at our feet (and sometimes on our laps), lapping up the constant pats and ear scratches. One of her rescued pigs, Brutus, even trotted over to say hello. 

Lucy is such a positive and proactive soul. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis seven years ago, she revolutionised her diet to become a raw food and vegan devotee and has managed to rid her body of M.S. symptoms. Along the way, she opened The Kind Living Cafe in Maleny, published a cook book, and has begun hosting raw food cooking classes. I believe her story will inspire anyone who is looking to live a kinder, healthier life. 

NOTE: I also loved Linda Read's Salt story on Smile Clothing, a for-profit Sunshine Coast company with a mission to "Give first. Wear Second. For every item of clothing we sell, we will donate a school uniform or t-shirt to a child in need." Linda notes that so far, Smile Clothing has given away 5000 garments to children in countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Kenya and India. 

Image above: Mint and rosemary going great guns in my garden.

a fresh start for this blog

Tomorrow marks the end of our decor8 Blogging Your Way e-course. Sniff, sob. It's been such a beautiful, positive, and creative space to visit daily, and I really don't want it to end. It has sparked new ideas that haven't always been about my blog but about my life too. I love that. I highly recommend it for any budding bloggers out there or perhaps those blogging veterans who need a fresh shot of inspiration. A big thank you to our inspiring host Holly Becker of decor8 and our guest lecturers - the lovely Jeanette Lund of By Fryd (www.byfryd.com) and Nicole Balch of Making it Lovely.  

Our final homework challenge was to give our blog a facelift. My original blog header was in dire need of a makeover because it consisted of a fuzzy iPhone photo with some generic blue text clumsily layered over the top. See what I mean:

The new blog header you see at the top of my blog may only stay for a short while. I'm a total novice at Photoshop and this header isn't quite the whimsical design that I am drawn to, but it feels pretty good for now. The apple signifies that our little boy is the apple of my eye and that my apple mac is often by my side. The blue and green colours calm me no end, the blurred speckles remind me of soft raindrops splattered on a window, and the circle (or full moon, if you will) helps centre me.

I guess this new design also says that I write by mood, I seek inspiration in my environment and like to dream while staring at beautiful things, like the moon and raindrops, green apples and our little boy, Bassie.

Thank you so much for visiting this space. I really appreciate it. :)

a boy and a pineapple

Is this perhaps the cutest baby pineapple there ever was? It arrived in our weekly Food Connect fruit and veggie box this week and managed to entertain little Bassie on this spring afternoon. He couldn't quite figure out if he liked touching it or if he really didn't AT ALL. 

I have a post I'd like to share soon about Food Connect and Community Supported Agriculture, but my wireless is giving me issues and Food Connect's website is down too! It's just not meant to be today.

I'm off to cover a story this weekend at an amazing organic health retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland but it will be my first weekend away from Bassie and I'm really not sure how I feel about this yet. He's in good hands with his dad and my mum (thank you, mama!) so I know he will be fine, and I need a recharge so I'm sure I will be more than fine. The wise women around me (i.e. my sister, sisters-in-law and friends) who have been through this 'first-time away' thing tell me the anticipation of leaving is worse than the actual experience of being away. Let's hope they're right. 

When my mum asked me today what I'm most looking forward to about this weekend, I replied that I intend to swim in the infinity pool, and to sit under a tree and stare over the valley for hours on end. All I crave is to be still and quiet. To stretch and to sit. To dream and to breathe. Simple really.

*This adorable pineapple also gave me a good excuse to play with my new portrait lens, a 50mm f/1.8.  
**The photos below are of Bassie getting bored with the whole thing and on the right, biting into a filthy shoe to get my attention away from the camera. 
*** The top image uses my new favourite backdrop, which you'll be seeing a lot of in this space. I love our gum tree that shelters our porch and is right now dropping seed pods, which make the LOUDEST CRACK when they hit our tin roof.

sibella court, objects and memories

Earlier in the week I heard Sydney stylist, creative director and author Sibella Court speak at Riverbend Books to launch her new book, Bowerbird. She is such a sweetheart - down-to-earth, passionate, grateful - and clearly a go-getter. She works constantly ("there's no loitering by the water cooler for me", she explained sweetly) but like most creatives and entrepreneurs she doesn't see her job as "work" because it feeds her soul. 

This year alone Sibella has traveled to 20 countries (she noted Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands were standouts) for design inspiration and research for her books. 

Ever the collector, Sibella made me smile when she said: "I'm not great at remembering what happened last week, but I can tell you about the people I was with and the place I was in when I collected an object from many years ago. It's just that I don't record my life chronologically but rather by the objects I treasure." 

Sibella also commented that collecting objects on her travels and through her life is her way of slowing down, of focusing on the little things, of finding calm within the chaos. I guess this theory rings true whether you are globe trotting or simply pottering in your garden.

I love how memories are hinged to special objects, whether they are found or purchased, received or gifted. When I look around my home and dig through my cupboards, drawers and my great-grandfather's wooden war chest, I find so many precious memories hung on walls, tucked in boxes and wrapped in fabric. 

Last month, I found dried flowers and seeds I had saved from Spain when I lived there 10 years ago. Pressed inside a folded piece of paper, their spicy scent took me back to the cork oak tree farm where I stayed alone in a yurt for a month over summer. There I would read books outdoors for hours on end until the sun slipped behind the hills beyond. Feels a lifetime ago. 

Sibella's book will inspire me to display my treasured objects - perhaps to pop the dried seeds in a tiny glass bottle on my desk, rather than stashing them in cupboards and folded bits of paper.


What would you choose to display if you dug out your memories? 

I'll be picking up a copy of Bowerbird from my friend Sarah's stunning interiors and homewares store, Carmel's Designs, at James Street, Burleigh Heads. Her two other stores are at Mooloolaba and Peregian Beach. So worth a visit. Sarah is a natural when it comes to displaying things beautifully. 

Image: These are four of my favourite things (L-R) A hand-crafted Moroccan ceramic cup from my other dear friend Sarah to celebrate my boy's first birthday; a stone sculpture from our home country of South Africa that I took borrowed from my parents - they've had it in our home since I can remember; two of the three little bison milk jugs my very generous elder sister, Nichola, bought for me on my birthday many moons ago. 

published pieces: yasmin levy, map magazine

I interviewed Israeli singer and songwriter Yasmin Levy for the November edition of map magazine. The story lives online here. I felt so happy after our chat as Yasmin exuded such infectious joy down the phone line - it spilled out of her in the most natural and grateful way. 

Yasmin is living the dream as she tours the world with her band (along with her husband and their 13-month-old son), singing traditional Ladino songs with a contemporary twist to keep her heritage alive. Ladino is an archaic form of Spanish and considered a "dying" language. It's sad to think that stories and memories can be lost forever in words no longer spoken.

map's November edition also offers an interview here by editor Mikki Brammer with Matt Pember of The Little Veggie Patch Co. It's such a fun little Q and A to read. Matt and his business partner, Fabian, have started facilitating veggie plots on top of a carpark in Federation Square in Melbourne's CBD. Another reminder that growing food is for everyone, everywhere. 

an interview: the flying orchestra by clare mcfadden

The Flying Orchestra is Brisbane artist and illustrator Clare McFadden’s first picture book and, just like Clare, it is full of pure whimsy, joy and wonder. Do you know it? It won The Children’s Book Council of Australia Crichton Award and was adapted into an enchanting theatre play by internationally renowned puppetry artist, Peter Wilson (The Red Tree, How to Train your Dragon, King Kong) for the 2012 Out of the Box Festival in Brisbane. My friend Sarah took her two boys to see it and found herself shedding a tear during – it really is so beautiful.

Clare is a dear friend and I watched her work on her precious manuscript in her warehouse studio at Metro Arts. I admired the heart, soul and precise attention she poured into it over many years, never rushing the process. Since it was published in 2010 I have bought it for so many of my friends’ and family’s little ones – wrapping it with love and handing it to them with a warm glow in my heart, heartened by the delight awaiting them in its thoughtful pages. It was so special buying it for my little Bassie when he turned one last month.

In part, I started this blog to interview writers and creatives like Clare to share what happens behind the scenes as they develop their dream projects. I asked Clare some questions and this is what she replied. As you'll find, she has a beautiful way with words. 

INTERVIEW: 

Frances: What inspired the story of The Flying Orchestra?
Clare: The Flying Orchestra was inspired by a few thing things. Firstly, I wanted to create an entry point into orchestral music for small children. Unfortunately, I think there's often elitism attached to orchestral music, which is ridiculous. Music is for everyone. Secondly, I wanted to honour the deep and complex emotional responses that children have to their world. I think that a child understands their world through aesthetics and through perception - so they have this very sophisticated understanding of art and feeling – and yet, unfortunately, this is not always celebrated.

F: What message do you hope readers find in its pages?
C: I hesitate to answer this only because I think that the book has taken on a life of its own and means different things for different people, which I am thrilled about. The Flying Orchestra symbolises a myriad of things (from being a “soundtrack to your life” to something transcendent or multiple things at once) and I realise in my work with children that, even some very young children, can understand and articulate this, which I find wonderful. Most simply, I hope readers get the message that there are ordinary and extraordinary things that happen to all of us but together, these things form a symphony - and that symphony is always beautiful.

F: How did you learn to draw?
C: I learnt to draw by practicing! I never had lessons and I didn't go to art school. I was drawing from the time I was 18 months old so I still grip my pen like it is a crayon. I sometimes overhear mums say things like “you can draw and paint at kindy” – but it's not enough. I'm putting it out there to the mums reading this blog – give your child paints and pens and paper at the kitchen table. It is simple really. I think I developed some of my techniques for painting while I was at Metro Arts. I was lucky to live next to some great painters who imparted their knowledge and tricks of the trade to me. I still remember Madeleine Kelly teaching me to paint light with Matisse Magenta, yellow and white.  Thank you Madeleine!

F: What do you love about illustrating?
C: I love the challenge of conveying enough of the particular and the detail so that an illustration is grounded and reads as “real”, but still in a way that can be universally accessible and understood. Also, how to capture the essence of something rather than just accurately record - to be evocative in one's work. Vincent Van Gogh expresses this so beautifully in saying (with regards to trying to paint in a way that is not so much anatomically correct but more how something “feels”): "My great longing is to make those very incorrectness’s, those deviations, remodeling, changes in reality, so they become, yes, lies if you like - yet truer than the literal truth." It's really hard! And then having to make each of these pieces artworks in their own right, yet part of a larger body of work. It's a huge job! I tried some of the illustrations for The Flying Orchestra four or five times before I was happy with them. (You can read more about this process on Clare’s blog here)

F: What was most challenging and most rewarding about the process of creating your first children's book?
C: It was really challenging to keep going with no knowledge of how long it was going to take and whether the final product would be any good! It took me, literally, years and I was always going into the studio on weekends, and sometimes (and this may surprise you) I really hated working on it!! Sometimes I loved working on it of course – those moments when you lose yourself in your work, but that process! You just have to have faith that this is a story worth telling and keep going! I can't tell you how rewarding it is to hear children's (and adult’s) responses to the book. To think of it going out into the world and having a life of its own, of being meaningful to children - that would bring a tear to a glass eye! After the stage show adaptation at QPAC earlier this year, I heard that a little boy said to his father on the way home, “That was the best day of my life”. It doesn't get much better than that.

F: How did you secure a book deal with your publisher, the University of Queensland Press (UQP)?
C: Well, I was lucky because I submitted it and they accepted it. I know it is usually not so simple so I am very grateful to UQP for recognising something in it as the first people I presented it to.

F: Can you please share the moment when you held a published copy in your hot little hands for the first time?
C: Well, it was great of course, but you know, probably even greater was seeing it performed as the stage show this year. In many ways, because of all the sign-offs in the publishing process, the printed book doesn't really come as a surprise ... you've seen the proofs etc. But, sitting in the Lyric Theatre, and seeing the brilliant job Peter Wilson and his team at QPAC had made of bringing the book to life ... that was just so wonderful. Like the little boy, it was one of the best days of my life.

F: What's next for Clare and The Flying Orchestra?
C: Well, the second book is coming along at the speed of a relaxed snail. I'm currently based in the US doing my Masters in Arts in Education, which is sensational but all consuming. So there hasn't been a lot of time to sit at the kitchen table with the paints. Perhaps over the Christmas holidays, when it's snowing outside and I'm missing Stradbroke Island. That might be a good time to get cracking on it.

Thank you dear Clare! 

The Flying Orchestra is available at all good bookstores. I get my copies from independent bookstore Black Cat Books in Paddington, Brisbane - they always seem to have plenty of copies on the shelves. 

Images by Yan Chen

An outdoor reading of The Flying Orchestra at South Bank for Father's Day 2010. 

to health and deadlines

A little tear slides down his cheek ... We're both a little worse for wear today. Bassie is teething and I often go down hill after I've put a run of stories to bed. That's when I retreat to my parents' house because mum always makes everything better. Right now she's making me sweet potato and quinoa salad for lunch while the boy sleeps. I love her. 

I'm gluten intolerant and not so great with dairy either, which you think would motivate me to avoid the stuff. I eat mostly whole foods and fresh produce and I love to cook but when story deadlines are looming I tend to let my guard down and eat whatever is easiest, which is often of the bread variety. After I eat bits of gluten for a few days in a row, the nausea sets in, the guilt follows soon after and then I really feel terrible! 

When the deadline fog has lifted, I immediately attempt to repair the damage by visiting these sites for gluten-free eating and living inspiration: Cannelle et Vanille, Sarah Wilson, and Jude Blereau. The Gwinganna Health Retreat recipe book, "Gwinganna ... from garden to gourmet" is also full of delicious recipes for gluten- and dairy-free whole food meals. 

But this self-sabotage has to stop. My new plan of action when I see story deadlines on the horizon is to stock the pantry and prepare protein-filled salads for the fridge. I must start applying the same care and attention to preparing meals for myself as I do for Bassie. I need to apply "aeroplane rules", as my husband likes to call it: it's important to fit your own oxygen mask before assisting others.

Every day is a new day, I like to tell myself. I wonder when I will learn? 

(P.S. Tips for finding dietary willpower are most welcome.)

byw: a mood board

I offer this mood board as part of our Blogging Your Way course - it's a taste of what this blog hopes to share. You'll see I'm drawn to soft hues of blue and green and all things natural. I am fascinated by books and magazines with soul, fresh produce and beautiful interiors. I'm surrounded by baby toys and soft muslin wraps and am often within arm's length of my mac. The "S" (crafted by my thoughtful friend, Jacqui) is for my boy, Sebastian, or Bassie for short.

on starting a blog

I’ve just begun the Blogging Your Way Boot Camp run by Holly Becker of decor8 and I have to admit, my head is in a spin. I’m desperately trying to digest the expert advice Holly is sharing with us, particularly the issue of being authentic and of finding your voice. This is proving trickier than I expected.

where do you go?

Freelance writing is mostly a solitary business, which is just fine by me. On a productive day, I love spending time alone with my laptop, playing with words to build stories as if they were Lego pieces to make castles. But I also love talking to other writers, which I rarely get to do. So in this space I'd like to share ideas from writers, editors, bloggers, illustrators, photographers, creative types and bookworms about writing and creativity: how they get inspired to write, how they hone their craft, fuel their creativity, triumph over pesky self-doubt demons and switch off from writing when it’s seriously time for shut eye. 

For starters, here are some of the sites I've been visiting lately for inspiration to write. I'd love to hear where you go for creative fodder.
- Dumbo Feather, an Australian mag that shares “conversations with extraordinary people”. Yesterday I re-read the story on Dumbo Feather founder and former editor Kate Bezar in Issue 27 (2011) where she spoke of the inner turmoil she experienced while juggling the dual roles of magazine editor and her new gig as a mum. 
- Sarah Wilson’s blog. Sarah is a journalist, blogger and presenter and was former editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. She is writing a book based on her health journey, which she charts on her blog. She is generous and frank with her advice on how to grow a writing career. This post in particular helped encourage me to start a blog. 
- TED Talks are “ideas worth spreading”. I think Elizabeth Gilbert’s talk on Your Elusive Genius is eloquently put.
- Nobel Prize for Literature website. Dorky, I know, but once in a while I'll visit the Nobel website to read winners' Nobel lectures, which are beautiful pieces of writing that often explain what inspired these great minds to write in the first place. Try Pablo Neruda’s lecture from 1971. 

There are so many more to share. I think I'll make this a regular post.

the first day of spring

It’s because of Bassie that I’ve started this blog. Our boy, Sebastian (Bassie for short), arrived in September 2011 and has made our lives brighter, for sure. Now we really know what love is. While I'm at home with Bassie I'm working as a freelance writer so the challenge is to muster the brain power and energy to write while the boy sleeps or when my hubbie or my mum are on baby watch. I’ve started this blog to capture and share things that are important to me - naturally, Bassie rates highest on that list and then there's my writing work, the books I love to read, and my quest to learn photography. I'd also like to share ideas from other mums, writers and creative types about how they live, work and pursue their creativity. I’d say I’m a pretty private person so this whole blog platform feels a little odd, but I figure it’s more likely to breed good than evil. At the very least, I hope it inspires my little sister to start a blog about her life in Italy. It's the first day of spring today. How poignant!

image by Damien Bowerman