at Df HQ! It will reach all our wonderful subscribers and stockists any day now.
Cover photograph by Juliet Ellwood

[*Spoiler warning* If you want the five people in Issue 20 to remain a surprise until you receive your copy - read no further]

Photography by Daniel Guerra

Aaron Blabley
To most it would have appeared that Aaron Blabey was a pretty successful Australian actor. He’d won an AFI award for Best Actor and had a couple of other nominations. He’d had parts in tv shows like ’The Damnation of Harvey McHugh’, ‘Stingers’, ‘Crashburn’, ‘All Saints’, ‘Wildside’ and ‘Phoenix’, and movies like ‘Mullet’ and ‘The Human Touch’. He had an agent, fans … but inside he felt like a fraud. A chance encounter with some paints on a theatre stage gave him the impetus he needed to leave acting and start painting. Painting led him to making children’s books and again he’s winning awards, this time doing what he genuinely adores. But life twists and turns and once more Aaron’s at a crossroad. We met him there …

Margaret Wertheim
Margaret Wertheim is the first to admit that for the better part of her life she’s missed the mark and been “out of sync with the times”. Her books, ‘Pythagoras’ Trousers’ and ‘The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace’, delved into themes of science and religion, well before the topic became fodder for mainstream press. She has also written and produced a dozen television documentaries and most recently she founded The Institute for Figuring (IFF), an organisation to further her life’s work of “bringing science to the other 90%.” This time, Margaret seems to have tapped into the zeitgeist. The IFF’s Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project has captured the world’s imagination. It has been shown in some of the most prestigious galleries and exhibition centres and Margaret has been invited to give workshops and talks (including the TED conference in 2009) the world over. Now this Brisbane-girl talks to us …

Photograph by Joseph Brown

Nicholas Rowe
A young(er) Nicholas Rowe had the world at the tips of his ballet shoes. He had danced with the Sydney Dance Company and the Australian, Royal New Zealand and Finnish Ballets. Then an epic bike journey through Europe, Africa and India shifted his outlook and ever since he’s been working within the world’s most traumatised communities, helping to foster communication and story-telling through dance. During the eight years he spent in Ramallah, Palestine, he not only helped hundreds of children to cope with their suffering, but also had two of his own with wife Maysoun. They now live in New Zealand where Nicholas has taken a position as Associate Dean (Postgraduate) National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries of Auckland University. We spoke with him there …

Photograph by Andrew Lehmann

Saskia Havekes
The other day, Saskia Havekes and I sat, perched on a corner of the massive workbench which dominates her tiny shop called Grandiflora. Dwarfed by the most amazing blooms and battling sensory overload we chatted while her helpers whipped thousands of thorns from the stems of roses. Just as we were finishing up, chef Damien Pignolet arrived with the most divine cake, fresh from the oven, (apparently he bakes the Grandiflora team one every week) and left with an armful of flowers. I did likewise. It’s easy to see that it’s Saskia’s extraordinarily generous spirit and down-to-earthness, as much as her talent, that have led her to become Australia’s most sought-after florist …

Photography by Sean Fennessy

David Trubridge
In 1981, David Trubridge and his wife Linda sold all their worldly possessions, bought a yacht called Hornpipe, and set sail from England. David left behind a budding career as a furniture designer – he’d recently fulfilled commissions for the Victoria & Albert Museum and St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh. They took with them their two small boys and a desire for adventure. For five years they sailed through the Caribbean and Pacific, eventually landing in New Zealand where they’ve been ever since, and where David has managed to carve out an extraordinary reputation as a furniture and lighting designer. His immediately recognisable lights adorn the chicest of cafes, homes and offices. Here David shares with us his story and ground-breaking ideas that could revolutionise the way we buy and consume design, and in turn significantly lighten the load on our environment …

Order a copy of Issue 20 here.

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