{new work} TEA TIME ALCHEMY...

Carrot top tea served with carrot and date mini muffins with beetroot frosting. Teapot and tea warmer from Organic Merchant, plates, coasters and shell spoon made by hand by me.

Letting them make their own teas with different ingredients, like little alchemists.

"Brewing potions from vegetables and herbs, it looks like witchcraft"

This shoot was for Happi Kids, shot this time last year, August 2020. The brief was "a winter tea party for kids, with 5 different themes" and "very little or no sugar, with gluten and dairy free options" and also "unisex, so that boys can get into the idea of enjoying tea time too". Challenge accepted!

"Don't throw a bag into a cup of water and you're done. We go into the kitchen together and then, just like the English, take the time for it: tea with lots of goodies. For example, on a rainy Sunday afternoon or when grandparents come to visit. There are four themes - which one do you choose?"

I do love using google translate! This is the opening paragraph. While living in Amsterdam, we realised the Dutch have their very own version of English, complete with its own rhythm and word scrambles. And I do feel google translate has captured it rather well in this translation!

The most incredible handmade tea set by Peacharoo, who made it especially for me for this shoot. Complete with mini teapot, cups, saucers, spoons and milk jugs, all with the most wonderful glazes.

While on the Patreon collective in December last year I posted the whole story as well as a PDF of all the recipes - because they are all delicious and easy, and so great to make with kids, especially now if you’re needing some inspiration while we stay-at-home - here I’m going to share some behind-the-scenes stories for you. First of all as I mentioned in the caption above, I commissioned Peacharoo to make this mini tea set for the shoot, it was such a joy to play with on set, and reminded me of the joyful days working with Peach on commercial shoots a decade ago when I was an interior stylist, and she was an art director. It was always so much fun working with her, my favourite art director for sure.

Props galore, all made by hand: pink pin cushion made by my great grandmother, Vera, tea set by Peacharoo, spoons by Erins Window and the little My Hearts Wanders dish by Paper Boat Press. On the right, shell spoons made by me using found beach shells, twigs and copper wire.

This was ‘high tea for all’ so I made it rustic and earthy, using rocks as platters and some plates and cups hand formed by Laly and I over the years. Featured here are chestnut cookies dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt - these were absolutely delicious, the recipe is on Patreon. The black bean brownies have become a staple at our house ever since my friend Penny introduced them to me, so I had to include these in the story. And one of my all-time favourite treats, since living in Rovereto, Italy as a teenager and having them straight from the street stall in a newspaper cone every Winter - castagne… roast chestnuts with sea salt.

All props are handmade, found nature, and vintage. Twigs and feathers are a must on all my shoots.

Mini Matcha Donuts! Ceramic platter made by me, dishes by Peacharoo, whisk from Organic Merchant.

Mini Matcha Ceremony, anyone? How fun to create this for a little tea party! Laly and her friends taste test all the recipes for me so I know how they go with younger tastebuds and these too were a hit, more than I thought they would be! I topped them with a pistachio yoghurt icing.

Making beauty and mess in my old studio in Balmain. August 2020

This shot was epic. The concept was “three ingredient cookies” and it needed to be in one photograph. I was the only one on set - recipe testing, baking, styling, photographing, and art directing. This capture tested my multi-tasking and organisational skills to the max.

For this I made Tahini, Honey and Oat Cookies, Cocoa, banana & peanut butter fudge cookies, and Pumpkin cookies with cream cheese filling. All recipes are on my Patreon collective, dated December 21, 2020.

Winter White Tea Party

I have saved my favourite to last - the Winter White Tea Party for Two. Do you recognise the background? Who knew this vintage chair I picked up at Rozelle Markets 6 years ago would get so much attention!

On the menu for the winter white tea party…

Wild Blueberry and "White Chocolate" Bark

White Chocolate popcorn

Snow Drops

Milky Chai

White Tea

A big thank you to all the makers and creators who have contributed to these feature stories over the years and are inspirations in my every day. I feel like there is just never enough gratitude expressed and communicated, so I won’t hesitate to keep sharing the love. I have more visual stories to catch up with you here. This one, as it turned out, was the last shoot in my Balmain studio, before we relocated to our new home up north, and my new studio.

For the recipes and more about shoot production, head over the the wandering hearts collective on Patreon. Pia xx

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new work: unique symbols of friendship for happi kids...

wax drawing with watercolour as message: give someone a secret message that they have to discover by painting over the top of it: A beautiful version of those secret message pens that children have.

Loved creating this collection of photographs for the Autumn edition of Happi Kids which is well and truly out now in The Netherlands! The story is all about ways of expressing friendship and love. I’ve captioned each image so you can learn more about the ideas in the visual storytelling. I love how conceptual this is, and how the focus is once again not on purchasing things but creating things - making something from ‘nothing’, truly alchemical in process, it’s what I love doing! Aside from the backdrops and a few little props, everything in each image are from objects and foliage around my home. Each tells a story within a story.

a new take on the family tree - select a beautiful branch and add photos as well as significant textiles and objects that tell stories. It can be added to over time to create a stunning feature in your child’s room.

I especially loved creating this photograph, because the three women in the polaroids are my grandmother (top left), my mother (middle left) and me with my mother in the bottom polaroid. My grandmother died earlier this year, and my mother passed away four years ago. Creating this tree was a beautiful way to reflect on the gift of life and how I now share that with my daughter. I added the emu feathers as the emu is a significant symbol for my daughter, and there is a piece of indigo-dyed textile made by my dear friend Nat. Messages, memories and stories can be written on pieces of card and hung over time to create layers of meaning.

The Native Indian symbol of friendship which you can paint in red as the colour of connection, love, and strength on each other’s hand.

The friendship necklace - find a little bottle and fill it with tiny treasures and a miniature note telling your friend what you love about her. Attach a piece of string and gift it to her any day of the week. Or you could make each other one as a gift for Christmas. My wonderful stylist assistant and model in the above images is my daughter Laly, standing in the dappled sunlight in our back garden.

Friendship code stones - do you and your friend live in the same neighbourhood, and walk the same streets but go to different schools? Gather a bunch of stones and create your own symbols for each letter of the alphabet, making sure to double or triple up on more common letters. Or create symbols for special words. Be sure to memorise the code or write out the symbols together. Leave the pile of stones in a safe place you both walk past often so that on your way to school or to the park, you can leave each other a message. Ask a question and then find out what they will answer! It’s a beautiful way to connect.

I absolutely loved making these friendship code stones! It’s the best idea, I can imagine kids loving doing this. It would be such a fun thing to do with your own child or grandchild - a collection of coded stones that you can create messages for them to find in places in the garden.

Keys to a special place - this idea got me thinking about the different spaces that could be shared - a treehouse, a beach shack, a creative space. And then I realised that’s what my studio is - a place I share with creative friends who come and stay, it’s truly is a wonderful way to connect!

I really wanted a compass for this photograph, as a way of symbolising direction to each other. I could not find one anywhere on short notice and it was driving me crazy. I sat for a moment of quiet, thinking about the present moment, which lead to me thinking about my family. I wondered how Laly was enjoying her day out with her friend Mya and Mya’s Aunty Tash, who lovingly takes the girls out on fun adventures together. I thought about their day out on this particular day, as Tash had taken them to the Maritime Museum. I wondered what they might be doing, and if they were on one of the ships, or were they looking in the shop? Then it dawned on me: they are at the Maritime Museum!! Surely there are compasses there! I called Tash to ask and when she got to the shop., they took a photo for me - there were over 3 dozen beautiful, old style compasses to choose from! I couldn’t believe my luck, I would never have thought of the Maritime Museum if the girls were not there at that very moment. So Tash helped me choose the one I wanted for the shoot and Laly brought it back with her. What a successful prop scout! A big thank you to Tash for her input on this photograph, the compass is the star of the shot. The piece of textile is from my friend Nat, who comes to stay in the studio whenever she’s in Sydney. And I realised this is what I have with her, this special bond of sharing my creative space with her.

With love,

Pia xx