Creative People

When we ran the TDF Kids Art Awards earlier in the year, there was one artwork in particular that our team (and so many of our readers!) were immediately smitten by. It was a piece by five-year-old Molly Wattle Boney, who painted a beautiful golden wattle tree with sprawling branches, surrounded by cockatoos on a bright sky-blue background. We found out that Molly had her own Instagram account (run by her mum, Tessa!), and after a bit of snooping, saw that both Molly’s parents, Tessa Nuku and Brendon Boney, were also incredibly talented artists themselves. So we decided to get in touch!

Living the  good life in Ettalong Beach, New South Wales, the creativity of Molly, her parents and their extended family runs deep. We love what they’re about, and we reckon you will too!

There are so many incredible First Nations artists creating powerful work across the country,…

Bundjalung/Minjungbal woman Emma Rolls remembers the exact moment she decided to take the leap…

There’s no two ways about it: Lana Launay loves lamps. When the Sydneysider made a hasty departure from New York last year as the pandemic accelerated, she turned to weaving as a creative outlet while she worked out what to do next. As it transpired, the weaving was the next step!

When she’s not working for cult jewellery designer Lucy Folk, Lana designs and handweaves earthy-toned lampshades from her home in Darlington or her mother’s art studio in North Curl Curl Beach, under her own brand, Shades Lanay. Whether conical, cubed or cylindrical, each one-of-a-kind design is crafted from natural materials like coffee-stained raffia, coconut shell rope and bamboo yarn. We love them!

People say that even if you don’t recognise a famous face when you pass one in the street, they still have a superstar quality about them that turns your head. ‘They must be a celebrity,’ we mutter under our breaths, and scorn the lack of reverse-Google Image search in the real world.

The innate starpower of these born performers gives them an aura, a glow, a whiff of godly magnetism. If you don’t believe me, scroll on through these photos of actor, Chloé Zuel, who plays Eliza Hamilton (the lead female role!) in Australia’s production of Hamilton.

Despite this seemingly inexhaustible energy that comes with a performer’s confidence, stage work is a gruelling, exhausting and nerve-wracking job. But it’s also an exhilarating one, particularly when it’s in a musical at the forefront of a pop culture reckoning. When it debuted on Broadway in 2015, Hamilton swept up a record 16 nominations at the Tony Awards, winning 11 of them – plus a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for its writer and star, Lin Manuel Miranda. Its world domination has continued steadily, with the production landing on Sydney’s sunny shores last year and now making it’s way to Melbourne in the coming months.

Amongst this heady mix of glamour and the grit, we followed Chloé around for a day in her hardworking shoes to see just what it’s like behind the scenes of the world’s most famous musical. Between morning meditation at her home in Clovelly to battling nerves and navigating upside-down days (she has dinner at 5pm and starts work after!) – we talked self-doubt under the spotlight, making musicals cool again, and, of course, work!

Artist Thea Anamara Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman, with family ties to the Redfern community in Sydney. At just 29 years old, she’s been nominated for the Archibald Prize for the last three consecutive years, with her confident and courageous painting style. She imbues people and landscapes with emotion and vulnerability, and is known for her personal portraits of prominent First Nations figures.

Among her other accolades (she was a finalist in the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, The Alice Prize 2020 and has exhibited as part of Tarnanthi) Thea won the Australia Council’s Dreaming Award for emerging First Nations artists in 2020, which she plans to use to develop workshops with the Tangentyere Town Camp Artists in Mparntwe (Alice Springs). On top of that, she is a NATSIAA finalist for 2021, and is about to launch her first ever solo show – Shimmer – this month.

In case you haven’t worked it out yet, this is one young artist destined for very big things.

The Australian Tapestry Workshop was founded in 1976 and remains one of the few studios in the world continuing the art of handcrafted contemporary tapestries. In the last 44 years, the workshop has woven over 500 tapestries for public and private collections around the globe.

In an extraordinary new project called ‘Weaving Futures’, the ATW worked with four local artists to recraft their artworks as tapestries. Artists Eugenia Lim, Atong Atem, Troy Emery and Hayley Millar Baker worked closely with weavers Tim Gresham, Pamela Joyce, Amy Cornall and Emma Sulzer to bring the colourful woven works to life.

See inside this a truly epic craft from the ATW’s light-filled studio in South Melbourne!

Last year was one of protection: turning inwards to our bubbles, families, loved ones and communities in a time of great stress. It seemed that the only cure to a highly infectious, rapidly-moving virus was hyper locality – a.k.a. staying put.

This was both a blessing and a curse for small businesses. Some thrived and some did not, but lots of them pivoted – and out of the ashes grew new ideas and fresh beginnings. The Beautiful Bunch was one of those pandemic miracles. Started by Merchant Road founder Jane Marx when her hospitality and events business was forced to halt completely, the floral subscription service provides training workshops and employment to young women from refugee and migrant backgrounds who struggle to find work.

This extra special, community-focused project boomed so successfully with local support that it launched as a full-time operation this year. Just in time for another Victorian lockdown…

Earlier this year we featured the work of the very talented emerging artist, Amalia Keefer. We loved her work so much (and so did you guys!), so before long we got chatting to Amalia about the possibility of hosting her first solo exhibition – and to our delight, she accepted!

‘Here, In My Mind’ is a series of 14 abstract paintings exploring colour and form. Through Amalia’s perspective, ordinary daily moments are made extraordinary. We’re hoping to be able to open Amalia’s show in person (fingers crossed!) on Saturday June 12th… but for now, pre-sales are open!

Click here to view the entire show and email art@thedesignfiles.net for all sales and enquiries.

There are few people on the internet whose musings make you vigorously mutter ‘Yes!’ under your breath to the chagrin of your fellow commuters. Journalist, podcast host, audio producer and self-proclaimed ‘bearded Muslim man who has opinions’, Osman Faruqi, is one of those rare people.

As the head of audio at independent publisher Schwartz Media, Osman oversees production for the enormously successful 7am (which has become the most popular daily news podcast in the country since its launch in 2019) and will now host the newest addition to the masthead’s stable – a weekly podcast covering TV, film, music, art and literature called The Culture.

That’s a long way from spending a summer making spreadsheets for a construction firm while studying environmental engineering, and doing volunteer stints on Sydney’s community radio on the side.

But that’s the thing about dream jobs, often they’re not at all where you expected to find yourself.