Good evening cutie pie,
How gorgeous has this weather been? Literally every single capital city in Australia has been at least 25 degrees celsius today. Call it greenhouse gas, call it climate emergency, call it hot girl summer – it’s lovely.
I’ve been in a celebratory mood today off the back of my Vodka Cruiser partnership announcement. It’s taken many months to finesse this ambassadorship and I’m absolutely overjoyed to be the face of such an iconic Australian brand. (They actually originated in New Zealand, interesting story, I will tell in good time.)
Now, onto tonight’s newsletter!
If you are a fan of The Design Files and/or love looking at houses and imagining yourself living and farting inside them, this one’s for you.
I’m peeping inside the home of Jordana Johnson and Charlie Ford, a crazily creative couple who live a charmed life in a dreamy apartment on a hill in Tamarama, Sydney.
Jordana and I lived together when I first moved to the city, and she has remained a big sister figure in my life. I had a front row seat watching her romance with Charlie truly blossom. And I also heard it blossom, as our walls were made of plywood.
Next Friday, 25th of Feb, they’ll be opening up their apartment to the public, converting it into a temporary gallery to display Charlie’s new photography exhibition. And everyone is welcome! Especially my employees.
Before you go visit, I thought I’d give you a little insight into this couple so you guys have things to talk about before you drink their wine and potentially clog their toilet. (If that happens it’s so chill, I poo’d with the door open in front of them both for the entire 100 weeks we lived together.)
HOUSE
F: Ok so you have one of the coolest apartments I’ve ever seen. Jordana, we used to live together and that place was also cool, but this one takes the cake. Where do you live? What do you love about the area?
JJ: I loved our last apartment, RIP those years. This one is a tiny little apartment in a Spanish Mission Architecture block, built in 1915 in Tamarama. We are both big fans of all the Spanish Mission homes and buildings in Sydney’s East - apparently there used to be 90% more of this style, but they were knocked down in that late ‘90s ‘ultra modern’ era. This building was built to sit quite high, so you can see other houses in the gully, the hills and the ocean, which sometimes if you squint, makes it feel like you could be somewhere in the Mediterranean.
C: We have another building next door identical to ours and there is a beautiful communal garden, it’s the first time either of us have known all of our neighbours in years (also thanks to lockdown). We love that communal aspect of it, so does our dog Bibi who spends most of her days going in and out of everyone's apartments.
J&C: We’re always kind of moving things around and changing it up because it is a small space but I think what we love most are the arched living room doors, the giant sandstone boulder in the backyard and the garden view from our bedroom.
F: You both love art. Something I learnt whilst living with you was that sometimes it’s better to hold out and save up lots of money to buy something you really love. I remember JJ – this Annalisa Ferraris painting was your first big ticket item:
F: Can you show us some of your other favourite artworks?
JJ: I love this sculpture from friend and Artist Nabilah Nordin - her work (like her) is so playful, imperfect with the best texture and colour combinations you’ve ever seen. It reminds me to be more like Nabilah (Pictured here alongside a James Lemon vase, left):
C: I love these paintings and this vase from my Grandpa:
He was a GP and painted in his spare time for the love of it, mostly on ceramic tiles and vases. Once he retired he painted every single day for 30 years in his home studio in Melbourne. They’re all so special because he was such an important figure in my life and now that he’s passed away, it’s really nice to have these parts of him in my life and a constant reminder of the joy in creating simply for creating’s sake.
I also love this stained glass work by Poppy Templeton (@duckragu on insta) that Jordana gifted me:
It’s the first piece of custom art that anyone has gifted me and it commemorates our first date - where we dressed up as our favourite artists (Alexander Calder and Joan Miro) - who turned out to be highly influenced by each other and best friends. Aww.
EXHIBITION
F: Charlie!!! You’re doing a showing of your art next week at this very house!! Can you please give us the details?
Yes! Very exciting. I’m exhibiting a collection of 21 medium format images taken during the 2021 lockdown in and around our place in Tamarama (on Gadigal & Bidjigal land). Tamarama was also known to the Traditional Owners as Gamma Gamma - which means “Land or Storms”. The opening is happening in our garden and home on Feb 25th from 5pm-8pm and you’re all invited! RSVP essential for covid safety and limited capacity. RSVP here.
We loved the idea of exhibiting the show in our home, in the area it was created in and inviting everyone over to see the work in a living situ. If you can’t make it to the opening night, it’ll be up from Feb 25 - March 6th for appointment viewings, you can email info@swfilm.tv.
I love the richness of colour, depth and detail you get with medium format film, especially when printed. It has so much more texture and life than you get with digital photography. I also love the magic of taking a photo and having to wait until it comes back from the developer to see if it worked out or not. It feels like unwrapping a Christmas present.
Here’s a pre show link exclusively for FROOMESWORLD employees. Password: CEO.
You can purchase straight through the online store now and contact info@swfilm.tv directly if you have any questions.
F: Before you go… are these any final fun tings/Tamarama-based trivia or tips for our colleagues who are perhaps travelling to Sydney soon and want to check out the area?
J&C: If you’re looking for a local shop with 10/10 coffee and flowers galore, we love My Flower Man on Fletcher St. M Deli next door has some epic salads too. Also love the cafe kiosk down at the beach, Bibi gets given a treat over the counter there every morning.
F: Yum! I hope to go for a delectable treat with you both in the near future. Thank you for the tour!
That’s it!
It’s such a pleasure knowing that if you’re reading this sentence, you finished the whole thing. Your attention span is highly impressive and deserving of a treat… maybe a bowl of Connoisseur Vanilla ice cream or, dare I suggest, a Vodka Cruiser?
See you next week :-)