Hi Josie, you’ve recently jumped back into your woodworking business ‘Maldon Artisan Furniture’. When did you first become interested in woodwork?
My dad was a farmer, but he was a carpenter and joiner by trade. As a child, he would always be in the workshop building and I was there beside him. So I’ve always had a love of it and dad taught me well.
Can you tell us about other careers you’ve had?
I started out as a professional writer; writing books, movies, and TV shows. After a while, I was headhunted to be the head of the writing department at the film school in Sydney. I went on to work as the Director of the Literature Board for the Australia Council of Arts. During this time, I transitioned from a male to a female, which was challenging. and totally necessary. I would have gone absolutely mad if I didn’t, but because I was a public voice I became cannon fodder for the newspapers.
During my time as the Director of the Literature Board, there was a political shift, and I chose not to renew my contract, instead going into freelance movies. Just in time for the global crisis. I ended up broke and alone in Sydney.
Dear friends of mine bought a house in Maldon and I went to house-sit for them for a few weeks. By the time they came back, I was the Editor of the Tarrangower Times and knew more people than they did! I had a workbench and a few tools so I decided to stay. I made furniture from junk around the property I was renting and then people started asking if I could make them a table or a bookshelf and suddenly I had a business.
I had to take a step back from woodworking for a while due to suffering from RSI. The jobs were getting bigger and the lease ran out on the workshop so I decided to explore writing and performing music and produced an album. After pursuing music for a time, I got the feeling no one was interested in what I was doing, so I stopped. I am proud of myself for trying, although I have to say of all the things I’ve done, I find woodwork the most personally satisfying.
What are you reading at the moment?
Chelsea Manning’s memoir. She’s an astonishingly brave and ethical woman. Her book makes you reflect on the nature of the world we’ve made for ourselves.
That sounds like a book worth reading! Do you have a favorite genre of music?
Early 20th-century classical, jazz, and country from the 1950s.
Do you have a philosophy that you live life by?
At the moment, I feel like I live in a state of grace, living in the deep flow of the universe that philosophers have spent years grappling with.
That sounds like an incredible place to be! How does one achieve that do you think?
I got there through deep introspection, mediation, ruthless self-analysis and not being afraid of change.
And finally, what do you love most about the place you call home?
The connection with the earth through growing food and the sense that I’ve arrived.