Contributor Series: Kelly Gibney

Kelly photographed by Sonya Nagels for Issue 14

Kelly Gibney started Bonnie Delicious just over a year ago and her passion for whole foods has gained her a swiftly growing readership. She didn't just pop out of nowhere though - Kelly has been working in the hospitality industry all her adult life and this summer opened Little Red - a seasonal coffee shop in a pre-loved shipping container (any time we went up North this summer we stopped off for amazing Kokako coffee and delicious treats). 

Keep an eye on the Bonnie Delicious facebook page as she'll be cooking at some beautiful feast events coming up this winter (as well as the requisite delicious food, you can bet any meal Kelly's involved with will be a feast for all the senses). 

Have a scroll through these mouth-watering images and click through to her blog for the recipes. On top of blogging, Kelly is a food writer and stylist – and along with fellow creative Amber Armitage, put together the beautiful Autumn Slaw spread on page 34 of the latest issue – where you can read our interview with her.

Contributor series: Erica Harrison

Self-portrait by Erica

Erica Harrison has the day job many of us dream of: children's book illustrator. She works for Usborne Publishing from her studio in Auckland's K-Road, and in her spare time runs Supercrafti, a one-woman brand of awesome screen-prints, cards, bookmarks, totes... the list is ever-growing. Her work never fails to entertain (just take a look at those bookworms - they're wearing tophats!) 

Erica did the delightful cover art as well as illustrating Whites Road by Lynley Edmeades for the Tall Tales issue. 

Go and say hi to Erica and get some Supercraftiness for yourself at the The Auckland Art & Craft Fair on June 28th.

Contributor Series: Sophie Oiseau

Having followed Sophie Oiseau's work since she ran the brilliant High Seas Gallery in Auckland, I was beyond excited when she agreed to illustrate the cover for the Adventure issue. Her style continues to evolve but one thing that's consistently evident in her work is her rad sense of humour (who else has written a poem about celery and made it into a zine?) Her medium of choice is dry brush gouache which gives saturated colour and really suits her old-timey picture book style. 

Sophie will be at the Auckland Art & Craft Fair on June 28th and always has a great selection of prints and other goodies for sale – I can never leave her stall without a few cards and bookplates. 

Head to confettiyeti.blogspot.com for more!

Opening: The Sew Love sewing lounge

Last night Jo and I went along to the opening of this fabulous space at the back of St Kevin's Arcade in Auckland, opposite Alleluyah cafe. We were treated to sweet sounds by Mermaid & Mariner (I do love a banjo) and sandwiches from Honeytrap, and we got to see the results of months of planning and hard work on the part of local upcycling legend, Sarah Lancaster (you may have seen the Sew Love tent at various festivals over the past couple of summers).

Big on being kind to our planet, fostering community and getting off our computers and phones, Sarah has been dreaming this dream for a long time and it's awesome to see her vision come to life.

The Sew Love pop-up sewing lounge is open from today, and Sarah is also selling a very reasonably-priced range of delectable vintage fabrics and bits and pieces. You can rent a sewing machine for $5 per half hour (with names like Barry & Borris how could you not?) and Sarah also promises workshops coming soon. See you there?

Wild + Free desktop download

And here is Emma Wiesenekker's beautiful Wild + Free cover as a desktop wallpaper to pretty up your screens - download here. 

Happy Friday!

Contributor Series: Emma Wiesenekker

Emma Wiesenekker is our featured cover artist this issue – and as she mentioned in her interview, she is curating a group exhibition opening on the 19th of this month at No Vacancy Gallery (poster below). Based around the natural history theme of a 'cabinet of curiosities', the show features 20 emerging Australian artists. Check out the Facebook event page.

As if that's not enough to keep her busy, she's working on a children's book with friend (writer and film maker) Anna Snoekstra which is based on a mutant killer whale; a screen print release with Dangerfork; and something very hush-hush clothing/textile related. 

Having only just graduated last year it is obvious that Emma is headed for great things – she is aiming to have a solo show sometime in the next year and at the rate she is pumping out top-notch work, there's no doubt she'll get there: check out some of her recent work below. And if you are lucky enough to live in the vicinity, head along to Chinpin.