A conversation with Anthea at Spoonful

V: First Anthea can you share a bit about yourself with us?

A: Hmmm, let’s see. I grew up in South Africa, in love with the wild bush there and all the wonderful animals Africa luckily has, and then for safety-reasons (SA is not the safest of homes) my family moved to Sydney, Australia, my now very beloved and beautiful home. I’m a freelance graphic designer (who teaches design a few days a week too) and I generally have to pinch myself to remember that the lovely life I’m leading at present is real. It took a while for me to get here, but I finally love what I do.

V: Please tell us about Spoonful?

A: Spoonful is an independent little magazine all about enriching the everyday and filling readers with passion & happiness. Designed to be short enough to read on a bus or train ride & make you feel happy by the end, it is my little design & writing ‘baby’, a project which consumes vast quantities of my time, but definitely makes me feel fulfilled – plus, I get to work with wondrous people doing it, who very much inspire me to continue.


 

V: What gave birth to the idea of this wonderful magazine?

A: Well, I was a very miserable & unfulfilled graphic designer for many years. Working in the commercial sector seemed to drain me of any enthusiasm for life & I couldn’t believe that that was ‘it’ for the rest of my life. I used to go for walks at lunch time to try to cheer myself up, and often found myself marvelling at the shifting of the seaons, the light through the trees, and other natural beauties. My walks became a kind of solace and hope for me, and I wanted to share the feeling they gave me… I started writing little emails to special friends sharing these thoughts and moments, and then, having always loved books and little magazines I decided to try to create something that would cheer/fulfil and inspire me in printed-form, and hopefully inspired others too.
 

V: Could you also tell us about the choosing of the title?

A: Hehe, I decided in the shower – where all great decisions are made ;) It seemed right, as I wanted the magazine to not take hours to read (I had piles of unread ‘life-changing’ books, and mooks waiting to be read with no time to read them) and I wanted Spoonful to be easily digested, but still give you the same satisfaction of reading a wondrous novel… and so the title, with its short & medicinal/spoonful of sugar connotations seemed to fit perfectly.

 

 

V: Can you tell us a bit about the process of creating a spoonful issue?

A: Of course. Honestly, it’s a lot of work. It takes me ages, which is why I’m so grateful to have such patient readers. Every Spoonful is divided into sections, and each section is written/created/crafted or designed with new creatives each issue. Usually I decide on what is going to go in and approach the wondrously inspiring individuals I think would suit that section. If they agree to be in the issue, they go and work on their various tasks, and then all the writing, poetry, visuals and artwork comes back to me, where I put it all together into the issue. As there are not many pages, I very much try to make every single thing printed inside Spoonful to be worthy, beautiful or inspiring in some way, and so a lot of work and people and love goes into a page.

Finally once proofing & design is complete, it will go to print and come back to me to sell/market and send off into the world. I’m not the best saleswoman, but I try. I’ve often wished I could work with marketers or sales people on this part of the job as it’s not my strength but at present Spoonful doesn’t make enough money to warrant it.

V: What is for you the best part with working with a new issue?

A: Oooh, difficult question… I love coming up with the concepts to go into the issue, but I think I love even more working with other creatives and seeing how they interpret that concept. It is always surprising and inspiring to see how they work and what will be going into the issue. I never know how an issue will be until the very end when all the work comes back.

V: Where do you get new ideas and inspiration for a new issue?

A: Everywhere. I feel like inspiration is everywhere really… travels, walks, the supermarket, online, offline… sometimes I get a little overwhelmed and too inspired online and have to have some ‘off’ time to think a little. Spoonful very much responds to whims not having intense deadlines, so it is published only once inspiration strikes.

V: Today these "small and simple" things like: the bouquet of fresh pink tulips on my table, apple and thyme scented soap bubbles created while i am washing up the dishes, delicious left over cake from yesterday and starting to write down quotes in a new notebook given to me for Christmas by a dear friend is bringing happiness....
Happiness for you is?

A: Hehe, happiness for me is going outside for a long walk, feeling your heart beat in your chest and smelling scented leafy air float through the trees. It’s a completed Spoonful, packed with love and passion of so many people resting in my hands… and it’s spending time with the people I love in places I love.

V: A perfect way to start the day is for you?

A: Mmm I’m not the best morning person.. so I like to get all the ‘yucky’ stuff out the way, chores etc so I have a blissfully free afternoon/evening to do what I like. I don’t often manage it, but I loved when I’ve accomplished a pile of unloved tasks in the morning and the afternoon stretches ahead completely open.

V: Some ideas/thoughts about how to get more happiness into ones life?

A: It may sound naïve or simple, but it seems that a recurring theme for others and myself are the basics. Try to do what you love whenever you can. Spend time with people who love & inspire you, and go outside and look at the sky. It’s so so beautiful and puts everything in perspective.

V: I am curious Anthea: do you have a thing for spoons...do you collect them?: )

A: My dad has taken to buying me antique spoons on occasion. I love beautiful spoons, I confess though I love beautiful things in general, so it’s not necessarily spoon-specific.

 

V: I love coming across new music that i like and i have found several lovely musicians through your spoonful blog that i hugely enjoy listening to.

what are you listening to these days and do you also have a favourite artist/song or album?
A: We’re lucky actually, as poet & musician Hannah Stephenson writes a music column for us on the Spoonful blog and she’s constantly introducing me to musicians I didn’t know and love to hear. At the moment we’re working with Chloe Tully, an Australian artist and her music is dreamy and lovely. She’s on my playlist.

V: I am a collector of quotes and Spoonful always adds to my collection....*smiling*..like fex. with this one:
"Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes that would make all the difference." -Mignon McLaughlin

Do you have a specific quote that means something special to you? 

A: Oh SO many! I love them too. One that meant a lot to me when I was in a life/career crisis was: “Ask what makes you come alive, and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Howard Thurman, wise man.” 

 

V: Some "happy places" on the web that you would like to share with us? 
A: Ooh, I love Lobster&Swan, Emma Lamb, Alain de Botton’s twitter-feed & fantastiquememoiresfromtheouterspace, Anna Emilia… most people featured in Spoonful are from online lovely spaces I like to go to really… 

V: What are you most happy about in your life right now? 
A: I love living & working in Sydney, near family & friends & I love my Mr. We’re normal people (I hate people who say everything’s perfect, cause it’s not ever!!) but those things make me happy.

V: And lastly, what are your dreams for spoonful for the coming years/future?

A: Ooh gosh - we’re talking big dreams??
I’d love for Spoonful to grow & become a sort of publishing house, where we publish many a beautiful inspiring books & zines on all range of topics to enrich the everyday… That’s a big future dream…

Happy note:
Anthea and her Spoonful team is kindly giving away a Spoonful issue number seven to one of you, my dear readers!....*smiling*..... Just head on over to their lovely and inspiring blog, before the end of thursday the 10'th, and write them a little "hello" under their latest blogpost and you are with in the drawing of a copy. I will announce the lucky one here at the following day.

Where to buy Spoonful:

bigcartel

etsy

 

Links:

www.spoonfulzine.com 

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Spoonfulzine
twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Spoonfulzine 

a few words: http://www.flickr.com/photos/87213197@N00/6845808939/