Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 123- Jan/Feb 2025 i frankie Magazine

My family would spend every summer holiday there, either camping in tents or, if it was particularly hot, staying in the park’s old, air-conditioned cabins. We’d sit in deckchairs on the ‘beach’ by the Murray-Darling River, nibbling on ham and cheese sandwiches and reading magazines that we’d picked up from the local grocery shop on the way in. My magazine of choice was Total Girl and, as I got older, Girlfriend or Dolly. My little brother would often get K-Zone. The river was lined by swaying willow trees, while the park was filled with towering gums. The heady scent of sunburnt grass filled the air during the day and possums would climb down the trees to steal food at night. We kids (my two siblings and I, a few cousins…

“No! Hold on – he’s digging in the trash. Vinnie!” About a minute into my Zoom call with New York photographer Ari Seth Cohen, he has to duck off screen to stop his four-year-old bernedoodle, Vinnie, from pulling tissues out of the bin. It’s impeccable comedic timing from Vinnie given that he is one of the key pups to inspire Ari’s latest book, Advanced Pets. The book is a collection of images of fabulously dressed seniors and their beloved animal companions: there’s Sandra and her pet cow, Lucy; Lauren and her 40-year-old tortoise, Kitty; Terri and her cockatiel, Snowball; plus dozens of cats, dogs and their stylish owners. “I’ve always loved animals since I was really young,” Ari says. “I’ve been a vegetarian since I was three. I’m a vegan…

I’m 20 years old, cripplingly hungover and curled up on the couch in my disastrously mould-prone Wellington sharehouse. Like every other anxiety-filled Sunday, I’m feeling sorry for myself. I’m contemplating whether I’ll ever find a boyfriend in this godforsaken city – spoiler alert, I won’t – when my housemate bursts into the lounge room. Wordlessly, she thrusts her phone screen towards me, awaiting my reaction. As my eyes dart across the screen, taking in the bold orange text, my sleep-deprived (and probably alcoholically poisoned) body is filled with sudden adrenaline: Tinder, the buzzy American dating app, has finally launched in New Zealand. Like most single people who came of age as dating apps entered the world, I initially had mixed feelings about using an ‘app’ to find people to date.…

Hi Adrienna! Please tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do for a living. I currently live in Toronto, Canada, and I work as an industrial designer and textile artist. I’ve worked as an industrial designer in Toronto for 10 years and my area of focus is furniture and rug design for residential and hospitality projects. Fun fact – in 2019 I worked collaboratively on designing the jewellery displays for Mejuri’s stores, which can still be found in all their stores internationally. When did you learn the art of punch needle embroidery? I taught myself the punch needle technique during the first COVID lockdown in 2020. I had recently been laid off from my job and needed a creative outlet to keep my mind and hands busy.…

I simply did not know I had it in me to dish out such frequent and intense tantrums until I moved out of home for the first time. The slew of tanties I unleashed as a 25-year-old felt like they could power an entire city, or at least Albury. I have a bone to pick with anyone and everyone who has flown the coop. Why hadn’t you told me how difficult and stressful it would be? It’s like the secret cloak we clothe childbirth in: no one speaks of the truly terrifying parts. In my visions of out-of-home living, I pictured hosting beautiful dinner parties – but instead of plating up decadent meals on In The Roundhouse dinnerware, I was going round the bend. Even before the whole moving-in thing,…

Hi Julia! Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do for a living. Hi, I am the author and founder of Good and Strange, a decorative doll store. I have been doing this business for nine years now, and this is my main activity. I sew textile sculptures from fabric, and sometimes I use polymer clay, artificial leather and other materials in my works. How did your journey into making textile sculptures begin? My journey started with simple and primitive dolls that I sewed for myself and my child. Gradually my skills improved and I moved on to more complex characters. Now my dolls are not just toys – they are real heroes of my fantasies. You don’t use any patterns to create your characters. So, how…

30 question quiz there are six categories in this big quiz, containing five questions each. have a crack at answering them yourself, or host an at-home pub trivia sesh with your chums. CULT CLASSICS 1. What is the name of the Goblin King portrayed by David Bowie in the 1986 film Labyrinth? 2. Excluding Buffy, who is the only other character to appear in all 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? 3. What dance features in the finale of the 1992 film Strictly Ballroom – paso doble, tango or foxtrot? 4. The animated character Daria Morgendorffer originally appeared as an intelligent foil to the title characters of what series? 5. The Double R Diner is the local diner in what fictional town? BAKE-OFF 6. In the iconic cook book,…

Howdy Cris! Who are you and what do you do? Kia ora! I’m Cris, a Mexican-born artist based in New Zealand/Aotearoa. I create joyful and vibrant art with a cute, whimsical twist! I love using watercolours, gouache and digital tools. You became an artist at the age of 29. What made you decide to change your whole career at this time? My mental health. It was a cold, dark winter and I needed something to lift my spirits. So, I started painting flowers to create my own spring, and it bloomed into a whole new career path! How did you learn the skills to create art? Practice, practice, practice! Online classes and workshops were very helpful, but consistent daily painting is what really helped me develop my skills. What inspired…

You’re happily spreading peanut butter on toast when you hear a thud. You turn your head to see two kilograms of rolled oats spilt all over the bench, floor and amazingly, throughout the leaves and soil of your favourite indoor plant. Your child – who you now notice has train stickers stuck to the entire surface area of his face – has upended the entire contents of a large plastic tub of high-quality oats and made it rain throughout the whole kitchen. What is your immediate response? For me, it’s “FUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!” at quite a loud decibel level. But that is not what I say. I say, “Oh, it looks like we need to get the dustpan and shovel,” in a tone that is equal parts calm and dead inside. Such…

style…

In 2023 I got caught up in the global phenomenon that was Barbie . I purchased a ticket to see the film at the cinema and said to family who saw it with me, “Make sure you wear something pink.” And wear pink we did, along with the other cinema-goers! I did this even though (gasp) I wasn’t really a Barbie fan growing up. Instead, I loved and collected My Little Pony dolls. Admittedly, I did own two Barbies growing up – but I pretended they were equestrians for my ponies. Then there was the Barbie bus I had, which I used to transport as many ponies as would fit from one destination in my imagination to the next. Usually that make-believe destination was school (yes, ponies go to school).…

perfect pressies Whip your baubles out – Santa’s coming! If you’re a busy human, your mind is probably running through a constant reel of expletives at the moment, interrupted by the occasional cry of, “Why oh why didn’t I go Christmas gift shopping months ago?!” Finding a suitable pressie for your loved ones can be a stressful experience – especially if your purse strings are feeling a little tight. But don’t fret, festive friends. We’ve gathered up a range of gifty goodies to suit every need and every budget. Think fashion, crafty bits, homewares, fun stuff and stocking stuffers from as little as 4 bucks, all the way to splurge town. You might even spot something so sweet you’ll want to keep it for yourself. (We won’t dob you in.)…

I will be really honest here: I feel like I’m still finding my own style, and I think I always will be. It’s what I love most about design – it’s constantly evolving and changing as I myself change. I feel like I’m forever finding what works for me and honing in on that. As my taste, trends and needs change, so does my style. But – the freedom and confidence I use to move my style around are underpinned by having my own base style as a foundation to extend upon. The single biggest piece of advice I can give to unleashing your style is just that – unleash! Stop restricting yourself and stop second-guessing yourself. If you really love something, be it a wallpaper, a colour, a 10-foot…

ARIES MARCH 21ST - APRIL 19TH Aries, you’re a driven, natural leader in life (and in the zodiac chart), so we suspect you’re busy planning goals for 2025. Having goals is great, but might we remind you that sometimes it pays to be less hard on yourself. Take the pressure off by focusing on a creative project in the new year – perhaps a spot of scrapbooking or a few days spent DIY-ing some decor could help you relax. TAURUS APRIL 20TH - MAY 20TH You may approach life with logic and reasoning, dear Taurus, but sadly not everyone is like you. Take your conspiracy theorist uncle, for example. He’s probably going to make some outlandish remarks during Chrissy lunch, and you’re probably going to feel compelled to burn his…

What led to your decision to start making this dollhouse? I’m a serial Facebook Marketplace scroller. I found myself searching for dollhouses on Marketplace. It started as a one-off search and then suddenly I was going on there once a day to have a quick look. One Saturday morning I came across this vintage handmade timber dollhouse for $25. It was perfect but I still questioned if I wanted to turn this little daydream into a reality. I’m the kind of person who goes all in – I knew I couldn’t just purchase it and leave it as a ‘maybe one day’ project. I was messaging a friend and told her about it. A moment later she said, “Do it,” and those were the last words I needed before I…

sasha strickland (they/them) handyperson and founder of hire a butch How were you introduced to the trades industry? As a kid I loved pulling things apart and figuring out how they worked and then putting them back together again. I started my career in the world of bicycles as a mechanic after doing a short course at TAFE. I ended up working with someone who’s sort of the mad professor of bicycles. While it wasn’t a formal apprenticeship, he was the best person I could learn from. I eventually went on to run my own custom bike shop in Melbourne for about 13 years. During that time, I went to NMIT to learn welding and fabrication and got into frame building and repairs. By the end of that period, I…

CHECK MATE What is ‘liburan’? Well, in Indonesia, it’s the word for ‘holiday’, and in Melbourne/Naarm, it’s the name of an accessories label that makes products you can take anywhere. These checkered bags ($70, liburan-mlb.com) are knitted and have a wide handle, meaning they won’t weigh down or cut into your shoulder when you’re toting around your stuff – very handy for when you’re exploring new places. There will be no sore scapulas around these parts! JUNGLE CAT CLUB It’s well documented that heaps of frankie readers are cat people. But how many of you are big cat people? Drop us a line if, like us, you think this leopard statue by Jungle Cat Club is the cat’s pyjamas. For science, obviously. $79, junglecatclub.com.au PLANT FOOD frankie HQ is going…

pretty pictures What’s the inspiration behind these flower monolith sculptures? A few years ago, I learnt the art of fused glass. This technique involves using sheets of glass in various colours that you can draw on, then cut and form into a design. You can even crush the glass to create ‘frit’ which, as it melts, produces a speckled effect. The glass is then fired at various temperatures. My favourite firing method is the ‘full fuse’ where the glass completely melts, resulting in beautiful effects. After exploring this technique for a while, I wanted to create a sculpture that represented a small monument, envisioning it on a larger scale to reflect kaleidoscopic colours onto a field of flowers or at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. A trip…

DEIRDRE FIDGE’S INTENTION IS TO THROW MANIFESTING IN THE BIN. Manifesting is the idea that you can think your dreams into reality and is one of the biggest scams in the self-help category, an industry jam-packed with scams. The theory that we can dream-believe-achieve our way to success is popular among celebrities from Oprah to Bella Hadid and sprang into popularity in 2006 when writer Rhonda Byrne published The Secret , a best-selling book, documentary and website that hosts some of the most ridiculous videos ever made (more on that later). Modern manifestations of, uh, manifesting now spring up on TikTok. There’s the ‘369 Method’ in which you write down what you want three times in the morning, six times in the afternoon, and nine times at night for 33…

PAULS JUST NATURAL – CHOCOLATE, HONEY AND MALT There are two big moments when eating a bowl of cereal – the first bite, when everything is still crunchy, and the finale, when you lift the bowl to your mouth and guzzle the remaining milk dregs, pleasantly tainted by Coco Pops, Crunchy Nut or whatever cereal was on special that week. Cereal milk… it’s one of the greatest substances on this planet. So when I tried this frankly wholesome-looking flavoured milk, I was pleasantly surprised to find it tastes like Milo cereal milk dregs. I cannot describe the grip Milo cereal had on me for a good year of childhood. I’d eat it before school, after school and before bed. One day I snapped out of it and transitioned to my…

As a teenager, Annie Hamilton spent her spare time in her bedroom playing the guitar and daydreaming about being a member of The Strokes. Back then, there weren’t many women in bands, and Annie was a shy kid – so it all seemed like a fantasy. “I was wanting to be in an indie rock band,” the Sydney/Warrane-based muso remembers. “I felt like it was literally impossible… I didn’t know anyone else who could play.” That all changed after high school, when Annie made new friends and started playing lead guitar and singing backing vocals in a band called Little May. She gained confidence as a singer and started writing her own songs – and liked it so much that she decided to split off from the band and begin…

Hi George! First up, please tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do. Hello! I’m a photographic artist living in Los Angeles. I grew up in Sydney and moved to Los Angeles in 2010. What’s the inspiration behind your latest series, Synthetica ? I’ve been working on urban dreamscapes based on the landscape of Los Angeles for the past five years. For the Synthetica series, I decided to turn my lens on the rest of America, so I went on a bunch of road trips. From Daytona Beach to Death Valley to Yellowstone National Park, I took both natural and man-made landscapes. When I returned home to Los Angeles, I explored ways of pairing and splicing these images with other work I’d shot closer to…

Wil Anderson needs no introduction. He’s hosted shows like Glass House and Gruen , put on a tonne of sold-out comedy shows, written a book and, like every other white guy, has a few podcasts under his belt. At the moment, he’s busy co-hosting the fourth season of the ABC’s Question Everything alongside national treasure Jan Fran. Viewers know the program as a comedy panel show that dissects news stories and breaks apart clickbait headlines each week – but it’s also a training ground for young comics. Behind the scenes, Question Everything runs the Next Up Initiative, which provides up-and-coming writers and performers with the skills and exposure they need to carve a path into the mainstream media industry. The seed of the idea for Next Up was planted in…

If we were to ask a wide range of folks about what makes for a perfect Saturday morning, we’d stumble across a variety of answers. Active early birds might froth a sunrise stroll through their local park before the rest of the world wakes up, while the more hangover-inclined mortals might prefer snoozing in late to combat the aftermath of Friday night’s activities. But ask Melburnians Will Rainbird and Andreea Nemes, and they’ll give you one simple answer: sinking their teeth into the paper’s quiz section. “We’d always go to cafés for Saturday breakfast, and we’d look for any newspapers sitting around,” says Will. “We started buying the paper ourselves just to do the quiz.” The duo’s love of quizzes, like most lifelong obsessions, can be traced back to their…

The dreaded continental cake. Why adults forced this on children, I will never understand. As an adult, I love it, but that was after I developed a taste for alcohol. If there’s a picture of cake in the dictionary of my mind, it’s this one. Don’t eat and drive. INGREDIENTS Serves 8 to 10 cake – 375g (1 1/2 cups) plain vegan yoghurt– 240g caster (superfine) sugar– 220g vegan butter, melted and cooled– 1 tbsp vanilla extract– 1–2 tsp almond extract– 330g plain (all-purpose) flour– 1/4 tsp salt– 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)– 2 tsp baking powder Italian pastry cream – 1 litre (4 cups) soy milk– 1/4 tsp salt– 200g caster (superfine) sugar– 2 large strips of lemon zest– 1 tbsp vanilla paste or extract– 200g custard…

What’s the idea behind these icy-pole sculptures? The ice-pop sculptures came from my childhood memories growing up in France, where food was always such an important part of life – especially sweets! I used to eat so many as a kid (and still do, to be honest). I remember racing to finish my ice-pop before it melted all over me on hot summer days. The melting in my sculptures is my way of reminding us to enjoy the moment before it slips away, while also adding a bit of cheekiness to the whole experience. I like that they can be picked up and moved around; it adds to the playful feeling. Every time friends come over to my place, they freak out, thinking, “Oh no, your ice-cream’s melting!” It never…