March 2024

Country Style

Escape the everyday

Country Style3 min readVisual Arts
Welcome Letter
PAINTING IS MAGICAL to me. As a writer and editor, I understand how the right combination of words can create an unforgettable character or vivid scene, but how a series of brushstrokes on a canvas results in a beautiful landscape or still-life is a
Country Style2 min read
Masthead
Editor KYLIE IMESON Creative director SARAH FARAGO Deputy editor HANNAH JAMES Queensland contributing editor CLAIRE MACTAGGART Art director BERNHARD SCHMITZ Stylist KATE LINCOLN Features writer REBECCA HOOTON Features writer RACHEL WHITE Junior write
Country Style6 min read
Your Page
I acquired my love of Country Style at age 16. My mum loved op-shopping on Saturday mornings – one weekend the store had a trolley out the front full of 50c magazines. The front covers were stunning and, just like that, in my arms I had someone’s ent
Country Style6 min read
March
WA Ampersand Estates Foodies and nature lovers will delight in this getaway with a gourmet twist. Located in Pemberton, 65 minutes’ drive from Margaret River, Ampersand Estates is nestled between ancient karri trees and the Donnelly River. This viney
Country Style3 min read
Peace Of Mind
IN TASMANIA, summer lingers deliciously into March. The days are warm, but the nights are cold enough for a blanket and even a fire (though this is much disputed in our household). Ahead of us, the autumn jobs – classing and crutching ewes, putting o
Country Style1 min read
Best In Show
1 Warm Blooms framed canvas art print by Jenny Liz Rome, $99.95, from Olive et Oriel. 2 Hacienda hand-tufted rug in Aqua Foam, $203 per square metre, from Jaipur Rugs. 3 Sophia coupe glasses in Peach, $39.95 (set of two), from Empire. 4 French linen
Country Style3 min read
Homegrown
AS THE SAYING GOES, a change is as good as a holiday, but for many, it’s a way of life. For Sophie Marino, teacher and artist at Scribblygum Weavings in Byron Bay, NSW, the idea of transition is built into her sustainable handweaving business. “With
Country Style4 min read
Living Colour
THERE’S A MULTISENSORY quality to the work of artist Jo White, whose colourful depictions of Australiana might recall a whiff of frangipani and the warmth of the midday sun; a chorus of cicadas as the soundtrack to a summer barbecue. Bright and optim
Country Style3 min read
Love Of Country
RED IS AT THE HEART of Australia. The name of the Red Centre might be a literal reference to the colour of the earth, but it also carries associations that are hard to ignore. Power. Heat. Danger. Love. For Yankunytjatjara artist Vicki Yatjiki Cullin
Country Style1 min read
Artists On Show
Artist Vicki Yatjiki Cullinan, who lives in Indulkana, on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in SA, paints the rich, red landscape around her. PHOTOGRAPHY LISA HATZ ■
Country Style4 min read
Between The Lines
WITH THEIR RICH, earthy colours and organic patterns, Elizabeth Beaumont’s abstract landscape paintings have a mesmerising quality. The process of creating them, however, is somewhat more chaotic. “I love painting, but I don’t find it relaxing,” says
Country Style1 min read
Our Country
To celebrate the fifth year of Country Style’s annual exhibition in partnership with Michael Reid, we’ve gone bigger than ever. For the first time, it’s being held across three galleries: Northern Beaches, Southern Highlands and Murrurundi. The theme
Country Style1 min read
Creative Space
Look around the modern art studio that was added to this home in Gippsland Lakes. PHOTOGRAPHY MARTINA GEMMOLA, JODIE BARKER, JONATHAN COHEN STYLING JO SABEY ■
Country Style4 min read
Natural Palette
THE ONLY SOUNDS THAT disturb the deep peace enveloping Jo Sabey and Tim Biles’s home in Metung, on the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai people in Victoria’s Gippsland Lakes region, are the stirring calls of the kookaburras and magpies. Jo, a tale
Country Style4 min read
The Road More Travelled
A GOOD TRAVELLER has no fixed plans – or so the saying goes. But for Jason Mowen, travel writer, blogger and tour guide, returning home is all part of the adventure. “Sometimes people come to the house for the first time and tell me they feel like th
Country Style4 min readArchitecture
Humble Beginnings
TUCKED BEHIND CONIFERS and golden elms, Bimlow Cottage is one of a handful of homes that make up the quaint hamlet of Edith on Gundungurra land in NSW’s Central West. A modest wattle and daub structure built in 1890, Bimlow charms with its wonky angl
Country Style3 min read
Sunlight And Shade
FOR THEIR FIRST WEDDING anniversary, Chris Shannon gifted his wife, Margot, an appointment with a landscape gardener. The pair had moved into the main house on the Shannon family property Talmo – a fourth-generation merino wool farm located at Bookha
Country Style3 min read
Blues In Bloom
I HAVE A LONGSTANDING love affair with hydrangeas. My pop grew them, many years ago now, right along one shaded wall of the Willoughby, NSW, house that my mum grew up in. They bloomed bright blue, carefully doctored by my keen gardening grandfather w
Country Style2 min read
Take The Plunge
How do you bring a sense of the sea indoors – without resorting to kitsch knick-knacks? Here’s how: a palette of fresh white and timeworn blue; nautical brass tapware (from CB Ideal Tapware); an antique seascape; and, yes, a single ocean-themed acces
Country Style1 min read
Down Home
Farmhouse-style recipes draw from the vegie garden to nourish family and friends. PHOTOGRAPHY LEAN TIMMS STYLING LEE BLAYLOCK ■
Country Style1 min read
Garden Bounty
Makes a 26cm bundt cake, or 6 baby bundt cakes 375g plain (all-purpose) white spelt flour, plus extra for dusting 390g rapadura sugar 10g (1½ teaspoons) bicarbonate of soda 7g (1¾ teaspoons) baking powder 5g (1 teaspoon) salt 6g (2 teaspoons) gr
Country Style2 min read
Flavours With Flair
A RECENT TRIP to Melbourne for my son’s graduation was an excellent reason to celebrate at a noted Spanish restaurant, MoVida. Each time we visit, the food seems better than the last. I recall Frank Camora’s old restaurant in an unassuming hotel in w
Country Style1 min read
Roll With It
AS WITH MOST THINGS worth doing, there is an art to good baking. Part science, part practice and part intention, I love the creativity and mindfulness of the baking process. And then, of course, I love the eating part, and the connection, joy and nos
Country Style3 min read
The Tipple Trifecta
LOVE. ART. SCIENCE. The triple bill that defines winegrowing. It’s also the acronym for Nic Peterkin’s cult brand, L.A.S. Vino. The foundations of good wine are quality grapes and a critical understanding of winemaking. However, it’s a winemaker’s de
Country Style1 min read
Island Life
Embark on a four-day walking tour of pristine Maria Island, located in the Tasman Sea. PHOTOGRAPHY GREAT WALKS OF AUSTRALIA, SIMONOGRAPHY ■
Country Style4 min read
Run Wild
SCUDDING ACROSS THE MERCURY PASSAGE aboard the Parla Dee on a blue-skied summer day marks a dividing line. Behind us, the south-east coast of Tasmania recedes, taking workaday life with it. Ahead lies Maria Island and four days of walking its long wh
Country Style2 min read
Mystic River
AN UNASSUMING COUNTRY cottage on the outside, Twiss Street is a lovingly restored, 160-year-old home full of personality and historic charm on the inside. Situated in Latrobe, where the Mersey River meets Bass Strait on Tasmania’s northern frontier,
Country Style1 min read
Carry On
With the launch of Jetstar’s new route from Sydney to Margaret River, WA’s wine-anddine region is set to boom. Wineries like Vasse Felix (below), plus great food and lovely scenery await. Visit jetstar.com Holiday shoes are a perennial puzzle. What’s
Country Style4 min read
The Style Diary
WORKING ON THE LAND is Lucy Hersey’s happy place. The 33-year-old and her husband Nathan, 36, own Sky Pastures Farm, just outside the village of Loch in South Gippsland, Vic, where they breed stud Scottish Highland cattle and work on regenerating the
Country Style5 min readMental Health
Changing Our Minds
“AM I LOSING MY MIND?” Between the ages of 30 and 60, many women will wake up one morning and wonder what hit them. Whether it’s uncontrollable sweating or a barrage of brain fog and anxiety, any woman can be confronted with an onslaught of peculiar
Country Style1 min read
Pack And Go
CLOCKWISE, FROM FAR LEFT Eight & Bob Mémoires de Mustique Eau de Parfum, $121 (30ml), from Saison, combines an invigorating blend of orange blossom, jasmine and osmanthus with musk and woody notes. Get your beauty sleep with the Pink Sleep Mask, $55,
Country Style3 min read
Small But Mighty
THERE ARE A NUMBER of reassuring things about living in the country. One is that even if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can be sure someone else does. Other people’s business is a pretty popular form of entertainment out here. And you never qu
Country Style1 min read
Field Guide
The Byng Street Boutique Hotel is located in Orange’s heritage precinct. A beautiful juxtaposition of the historical homestead and modern architecture, this 4.5-star hotel offers guests sophisticated style and comfort. byngstreethotel.com.au Merchant
Country Style5 min read
Book Club
Australian Geographic, Hardie Grant, $50 A sturdy laminated cover ensures that decades on, this heirloom item will still be intact. It’s a guide to 75 unique national parks across the country. Panels and maps give you highlights, while mini features
Country Style2 min read
House To Home
Add a soupçon of elegant French flavour to your garden with a gazebo in antiqued iron. The Tivoli Gazebo from Early Settler also lends shade to alfresco dining and entertaining; $2299. Visit earlysettler.com.au Woven from sustainably sourced cotton t

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