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Kirsty Budge shuffled between watercolours, printmaking, photography and drawing before settling on oil painting as her primary mode of artistic expression, well into her adult life. Since then, the artist’s style has evolved in a slow and measured way, and her distinctive twisted, melancholy paintings have received many accolades – including, most recently, the 2021 Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize.

Kirsty’s home studio feels a little like an artist’s studio from the 1970s, perhaps somewhere in Europe, where obsessive art-making overtakes everyday life. Here Kirsty lives and works, constantly slipping between the boundaries of her all-consuming art practice, and her personal space.

It’s a landscape designer’s dream to be offered a large site and the freedom to create any garden of their choosing.

This very scenario resulted in this Black Rock garden by Andrew Panton Design, which combines overflowing foliage, formal hedging, and tropical beach elements relevant to its bayside Melbourne location. 

Designed with year-round interest firmly in mind, the garden is divided into sections highlighting perennials that bloom throughout the seasons.

Ceramicist Mali Taylor traces her love of ‘getting her hands dirty’ back to her childhood in northern New South Wales. Although she’s now based in Melbourne after moving here to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts at RMIT in 2016, the prolific maker says her creative journey started at a small Steiner school in Wollumbin, NSW.

Mali’s delicately coiled creations range from sculptural vases, treasure plates, planter pots to earthy kitchenware – all ‘undoubtedly influenced’ from her younger days immersed in nature. Read on for more about her thoughtful practice.

Millie and Jessi Poutama are LGBTQIA+ advocates raising their child in an off-grid community. 

When the couple decided to start a family, they began fostering a child, before pursuing their own fertility journey three years ago. Their newborn, Tide, was conceived with a known donor and the services of Rainbow Fertility – a dedicated fertility and IVF provider catering exclusively for the LGBTI+ community in Australia. 

We spoke to the inspiring pair about their experience as foster carers, the IVF process, their expectations of motherhood, and connecting Tide with their donor’s Māori heritage.

Through a year of isolating at home during the peak of the pandemic, Billy Vanilli – who trained as a photographer and graphic designer – began exploring oil painting. Creating hyper-real scenes of food kept him company throughout Melbourne’s lockdowns, whilst separated from friends and family.

From fresh produce draped in translucent materials, to baroque dinner parties set with cheeseburgers, fries and candelabras, Billy’s decadent, delectable scenery vibrate with colour, energy and flavour. Today we meet this promising young artist, in his Fitzroy studio.

Today we’re wrapping up our inspiring and informative ‘Words from the Wise’ series, with Sarah Lynn Rees, Palawa/Trawlwoolway woman, lecturer, curator, and lead Indigenous advisor at architecture firm Jackson Clements Burrows Architects.

Through studying architecture, working in remote communities, and an understanding of her own heritage – Sarah’s practice is rooted in the social, cultural, political and ethical ramifications of design.

In this fascinating conversation with recent Monash Art, Design + Architecture Masters of Architecture graduate, Declan Murphy, Sarah talks about the importance of designing the built environment with Country, culture and community front of mind.

Jarnah Montersino launched Mont Studio in 2020, after making the leap into the design industry, from her first career in human rights and international development. Although worlds apart, the career change was partially inspired by previous work travels, where she found herself collecting fabrics from around the world.

After struggling to find work with a textiles business that aligned with her personal ethos, Mont Studio was born! Jarnah’s Melbourne-based studio creates original fabrics and objects – her latest range of patterned linens and abstract wallpapers is available via textile showroom, Style Revolutionary.

Whale Song is a beach shack turned accommodation designed purely for escapism and relaxation in the small town of Falmouth (population 102) on Tasmania’s east coast. 

Originally built by a local fisherman in the 1980s, current owners Ingrid and Clifton Daniell recently restored the property to highlight its charm and undisrupted ocean views. 

Book your stay to take in gorgeous sunrises through newly-installed windows, make use of the outdoor bath, cosy up around the outdoor fire pit, and spot whales on their annual migration path from your doorstep!

When pastry chef Patti Chimkire lost most of her work in 2020 due to the Melbourne lockdowns, she decided to make the most of her free time and explore a new source of income baking cookies and cakes from her small share house – and boy, are we glad she did!

Soon after she launched Mali Bakes, Patti was producing countless sweet treats each week and experimenting with cake colours and flavours. Her delicious retro-inspired creations – that look almost too good to eat – have been met with overwhelming demand, and now she has her own adorable Thornbury store.

We recently spent a day in Patti’s world filled with colour, sweet treats, and lots of hard work!

Dunmore Farm is a beautifully restored circa 1870 homestead on a 150-acre former dairy farm in Molyullah (just under three hours north-east of Melbourne). 

Take a closer look at this gorgeous accommodation surrounded by fruit trees, rustic gardens, and charming nearby towns.