I look down at the dappled red petals in my hand, all that remains of the tiny flower Sarah deftly picked from the garden bed and handed to me without so much as breaking her stride. Barefoot she led the way, zig-zagging through the enormous garden, around lettuce patches and under lemon trees, stopping every so often to identify a plant or tree of interest or toss a fruit back to me. The conversation flows from future plans for garden expansions to discussions about the best ways to cook figs, all punctuated by a contagious zest for homegrown food that you can’t help but adopt yourself.

Organics is the fastest growing food category in Australia, more than doubling in the past decade amidst a cultural shift toward the idea of sustainably sourced food and a renewed social interest in where our food is really coming from. Environmental awareness campaigns around the paddock-to-plate movements and food meters as opposed to food miles are two of the driving forces behind small-scale community farmers and market gardeners like Sarah Anderson of Pope’s Produce providing quality produce and an education about sustainable living for a local clientele.

Pope’s Produce was founded in 2016, with an ethos of providing a genuine connection for people to their food and where it comes from, along with the people growing it. From humble backyard beginnings, it’s expanded to sustainability workshops and educational programs for school-kids alongside a weekly subscription service, through which fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables are picked up or delivered to the doorsteps of local business’ and customers mere hours after being plucked from the soil. 

‘There’s a satisfaction in learning how to grow and supply your own food – and there’s value in nurturing and growing something along the way. It’s more than the paddock-to-plate movement, it’s a deeper connection to what you’re actually putting into your body.”

Sarah, Pope's Produce

“Everything’s mass mass mass… mass-production, two-dollar plates, you can get a dinner set for twenty bucks. People don’t want that, anyone can get that. People want it real.”

Rows upon rows of mottled clay tumblers adorn the shelves that run the perimeter of the studio, the flecks of turquoise and lavender in the glaze illuminated by the afternoon sun. A heavy wooden workbench, commanding black kiln and a pottery wheel caked in red-brown clay are all that decorate the sparse studio, but after twenty years as a high-profile art director simplicity is all that Therese Petre is craving.

“There’s nothing tactile about a screen – for me in that career for so long, I felt like it was about me trying to get to this tangible thing that was never going to be there, it was only ever going to be 2D. It will only ever get touched on that glassy surface.”

Pottery as a profession and the hosting of workshops, for Peach, were the antithesis to the industry she had invested most of her career in, favouring a slower and more deliberate approach of creating something physical over prioritising the digital needs of a corporate customer. In a world obsessed with what’s trending, it’s easy to forget the inherent value and satisfaction in learning how to craft something with your hands, able to be used and felt rather than experienced through a monitor – something so simple and powerful, sometimes missing altogether in the lives of professionals today.

“I feel like I’m living some sort of authentic life and as a designer I didn’t really feel that… and in a time where everyone wants things instantly, they’re prepared to wait. That says something about what people crave, which is hand-touched and handmade.”

Peach, Ceramicist

The dulcet tones of Otis Redding’s Cigarettes and Coffee waft through the blond-wood and cacti and time seems to slow to a crawl as you meander the aisles, perusing the earthy ceramics, speckled blocks of handmade soaps and beautifully crafted textiles sprawled with intent across brown leather lounges. Racks of vintage and handcrafted clothing line the walls, eventually giving way to wooden lattices serving as rotating artist residencies, housing everything from rows of ornate crystal jewellery to independently-published novels.

“The interest was huge – we couldn’t hold enough stock, as soon as we’d get something new in it would be gone in a matter of days.”

Noel and Gladys is a lifestyle and small-scale designer store, specialising in socially-conscious and environmentally sustainable goods nestled between a boutique café and lounge bar on the south-side of Thirroul, New South Wales. The brainchild of owner Anna Heyligers, the shop began as an overarching idea about ethical production and creative authenticity in early 2016 and came to fruition amidst an explosion of support from local artisans and independent makers, even some as far away as North America. 

“People need to know who’s out there making things and doing things, and without places like Noel and Gladys it’s hard for them to show people their products and get their message out. This is a space for people and businesses who believe in the same things we do to support each other.”

Fostering a genuine connection between creator and customer goes much further than a simple business statement, and exposure to artists and their crafts comes in the form of weekly Sunday Sessions; an intimate creative experience coordinated by artists focused on good food, drink, music and conversation as much as it is reintroducing participants to the satisfaction felt when using their hands to make something tangible and beautiful.

“Engaging with people is how we create lifelong customers. They love everything we’re about, love their time at the Session and build a genuine relationship with the people who work here. It’s a way to connect with the community on a personal level, and the art class is just a way to facilitate that.”

Brock Walsh