Secret Tiny Home & Garden Hidden In The Heart Of The City

Imagine creating your own magical home and secret garden right in the heart of the city. Here in this very secret location that is exactly what we've uncovered and this is a place that I cannot wait to show you. Hi Janice it's so lovely to meet you. Hi Bryce it's so nice to see you too after all this time. I know it's been such a long time that we've been talking. I know. This is such an enchanting home that you have created for yourself and of course that makes perfect sense because you are an artist. I first actually found you through your art I think. You did. You've got a couple of my pieces. I do yeah. And this is where all the magic gets made. Exactly it is where it gets made yeah. Yeah one of the reasons that I initially fell in love with your art is because it does have that sort of fantasy forest aesthetic and here in your home looking at what you've created around you it makes perfect sense. It's a brilliant fit. It's a bit of a whimsical place isn't it? Yeah. It took a while but it's there and it's here. What got you started in your art? I actually started in high school. One of my electives was art that was in 71 and then I had family and then I didn't do it for a little while and then I got back into it and here we are. Amazing. And can you tell me more about your art and what inspires you to create? Well it's funny you should say that because sometimes I get little visions. I'll wake up in the morning before I open my eyes and I've got all these flashes like they've been given to me of flashes of things to make and if I don't get up and make it it'll go or sometimes I'll sort of think I can do that and you've got to go and draw a picture or you've got to go and at least make some sort of attempt to go do it otherwise it just goes. But I've got no idea what I'm going to make until I make it and I've got no idea sometimes what it's going to be until it's finished and another thing it's really weird when people say how do you know it's finished? I thought it's just finished. And how would you describe your art? I'm very inspired by Art Nouveau with the ladies' faces with the backflow incense burners that I started making it went crazy so yeah it's just Art Nouveau mainly. Yeah lovely. And of course everything is very nature-inspired with you as well isn't it? It is yeah yeah a lot of leaves. Everything's got leaves everything's got a face. I do want to make things without faces but most of them have faces. Yeah I think that was actually one of the things that sort of drew me to your artwork it reminded me almost of a kind of animism you know which brings life to these inanimate objects and it does give it this very magical quality. It does and all the faces have got all their different little expressions. Yeah. Some of them are happy some of them are not happy. What was it that first made you want to become an artist? Probably Mud Pies when I was a kid. Seriously don't you play in the mud it's really tactile and I believe everyone's got a medium. Yeah. Mine's clay but a lot of people go through the whole life and they don't search or find it. Yeah. I was lucky at a young age to, clay's my thing so yeah. Yeah and are you able to fire all of your stuff here as well or do you do that somewhere else? Well I was able to fire before the flood but I've got a really big kiln on the side of the house which actually just went underwater so I get a friend that fires my pottery now. And you had to rebuild all of this as well didn't you? Because all of this was destroyed in the floods. It was horrible. My son's six foot two and it went up to his neck. Wow. Where you're standing so we lost everything. That must have been heartbreaking. It was because I had books like I'd collect books. I was writing a book I lost a book because it was on paper. Oh no. So I lost my novel. Everything had to be gutted again and you don't realise that when the flood your furniture floats so you walked in and the furniture was everywhere so now I actually screw the furniture to the floor. I lost a lot but I gained a lot because now I've got weirder stuff than I had before. I love that. Weirder stuff than before. Can't go wrong with that. No. Yeah and this home that you've created for yourself this is really quite something. Can you talk to me about first of all your journey here and how all of this came to be? I was actually helping a friend run a gallery on the Gold Coast in the Crumman Valley and then I got sick got invasive breast cancer and was given one to five years to live. So my family where we are now decided to come back here and I come back here and my gut instinct was not to do radiation or chemo and the biggest thing I did was I gave it to God. I prayed and said you take it I don't know what you're going to do with me and he did and then all these doors opened up and I went holistic and eight months down the track it was gone. You're joking. No. That's incredible. It is pretty incredible. I'm like a walking little miracle. You sure are. What were the doors that opened up? Holistic like budwig protocol, apricot seeds, CBD oil, no sugar, no meat, no dairy. Dropped a lot of weight really quick but my youngest daughter said go hard or go home. So I did and within eight months it was gone. Wow. So I went back to the specialist and she just said your cancer's gone and I said you're telling me the cancer's gone. She said yes it's gone. What an incredible story. So those are lifestyle changes that you've obviously stuck with and you're still healthy today? Yes, yes. Wow. I've never went back for a checkup because if I believed that God was going to get rid of it he's not going to give it back. So I just live big today and thankful that I'm still here to spend time with my grandchildren and I've got so many of them and family and children, my children. So yeah it's pretty good. And how lovely that you do get to live here with your family as well. I know my grandchildren come down and they play clay and read bible stories to me which is quite bizarre that they do and yeah they're so sweet. Yeah and how did this house come to be as it is? You've sort of created everything that we're seeing around us haven't you? There wasn't one tree, one stick, anything down here. I got two caravans, one big travel home. You don't actually stand up in it. I can't touch the roof so you'd be able to stand up in it. I got one of those and then we got a millard and we stuck them in L-shape. We built a platform and then we put some foundation down and it was just greenhouse and I had a hammock in there and I thought it'd be nice to have a roof and then we put the roof up and my two sons who actually did the framework said mum you could put walls up and make a room of this. So I started collecting windows and French doors. I got two sets of French doors for a lamp I made. I swapped it, done a barter. I always barter and then after that I started moving all the walls around to fit the windows and when I got to the end of the last one the French doors just fitted perfectly and just slotted in so it was all meant to be. I know that you were coming so I thought let's build a studio but it thought it'd take three days to line it but no it took three weeks. That's pretty normal though. I'm actually amazed that you even built that in three weeks. That's actually pretty fast. I work well under pressure. You certainly do. I had the grandchildren put in all the house wrap and stapling and taking six and all the screws up and stuff like that. Yeah. I had help. And the gardens that you have created here are absolutely exquisite. You have basically grown your own forest here. I know. I've always felt the most at home around the rainforest so I decided to create my own. Yeah and I love the way that you've also incorporated so much of your own art and your pottery all around you in the gardens here. The sculptures are just so special. Well I actually sell most of my art and I don't really keep much. Right. But anyway there's a bit of it here but not much. And as an artist doing what you do, being inspired where you work is really important isn't it? Yes I've got to be facing the right direction. Yeah. If it doesn't feel good I can't do it. And I can't work in clutter. Everything house works would be done I just can't go and create unless I know that I can without anything in the back of my mind that I have to do. Yeah of course. And this is a cattery that you've got here as well. Oh yes the catio is for the big three black Persians in there. Beautiful. So I collected all the weird pieces of timber and a lot of carved things. There's actually a piece in there of an old organ. They come out of it in the morning, hang around and then they go back in and they sleep in there and they're nice and safe. And because of where we live there are snakes so it's all snake proof wire. Right. So no snakes can get in. Yeah. And you've built this lovely outdoor shower for yourself as well? Yes it's pretty cool. It's really lovely being able to come outside and have a shower and it's pretty private here. Yeah. So I have a shower with the rainforest and I've got the gas bottle there so I've got hot water. Yeah fantastic. And it's hard to believe because here it does feel like we're in this little enchanted forest but this property is hidden away beautifully right in the middle of town isn't it? It is. It's a secret. It is. It's a wonderful little secret. Yeah. Little treasure. Walking into this home it's like coming into the secret garden. That's a favourite movie so funny you should say that. Very appropriate. Yeah it is. And what a lovely outdoor lounge space you've created for yourself. It's pretty cool. I've had that hanging swing since I was 16. It was a present for my 16th birthday. Wow. Probably the only thing I've actually dragged around with me all over the place. And the lounge I picked up from Marketplace. It was $50 or something and she gave me a little side table next to it but it was really yucky and I just got my favourite jar of stain out and just whacked it on and now it's actually very pretty. It is. Yeah wonderful. Well already I just think that what you've created here is absolutely amazing and I am so excited to see what you've done inside. Can we check it out? Of course you can. Alrighty. This is an absolute wonderland that you've created here. Yes isn't it? Wow. The moment I stood in here it actually completely took my breath away. There's just so much beauty and so much to look at in here. And I've toned it down a bit and put a few things away. Immediately walking into the space I can just see so much of your personality in here and it really is quite an otherworldly space that you've created here isn't it? It's really good to come home and get away from the real world for a little while and just sort of you know be in your own little world. I think people live in a black and white world where they don't sort of do what they want to do they do what they think they should do so I've just let loose and now I'm just doing my own thing. So this is what it ended up being. I absolutely love that sentiment because technically having gone through what you've gone through you shouldn't still be here and so I love the way that you have taken that as an opportunity to sort of embody just how special life is and really wanting to create a home and a space that is exactly the way that you want it that's unapologetically you and that just it throws convention out the window and it's just what you want. Exactly and I think everyone should do that. Yeah what a great lesson. Now this home you have one caravan, two caravans and then the space that we're standing in at the moment is sort of an annex that joins the two of them. Yes I call it a cabin because it looks like a cabin. It does look like a cabin. You've collected some really beautiful windows to build this space. I know friends gave me windows, the arch one come from a church but just come about so yeah it's all meant to be. And so this cabin area is sort of your lounge and dining space. Yes I spent a lot of time in that lounge. Yeah it does look exceptionally comfortable. It is very comfortable that lounge. I love the way that you've used all these fairy lights to light the space. You can't get far without fairy lights. I don't like overhead lights and I make a lot of lamps so it's usually my own art that I'm looking at but the fairy lights are great and they don't take much electricity and so that's pretty cool. Yeah what do you do for power and water here? Are you connected to mains from the house? Yes and the water also. Right yeah nice and easy then. And what's behind the curtain there? That was actually finished that van. I've just been using a storage and it's just got a toilet just at the entrance. I'm going to do something but not just yet. Gotcha so a work in progress. Yes it's a work in progress. Yeah fantastic. Is this a hammock that you've got here on the ceiling? Yes you can't live without a hammock. What a great idea. It is a great idea. It's a double hammock so the grandkids all fit in at the same time so they do get a little bit carried away and go from side to side and get a little bit noisy but it's pretty cool. It's always been there. Yeah I think it's so special as well how being in here you still feel so connected to your wonderful gardens on the outside. It's such a lovely view out there and to all of the plants. It is it's really nice to look out at the green. You feel like you're in the forest. The palm trees and the rainforest trees they're pretty cool and it keeps the place cool. It really does like the bamboo at the back it's always eight degrees cooler underneath the bamboo so it's a pretty cool place to be. It sure is. It doesn't get hot out here at all in the evening summer the plants are great. Yeah do you need to heat or cool the space at all? No oh it gets a bit chilly in winter. I'll usually just take an oil heater and then pull the curtain across and hang out in there and yeah it gets a bit chilly. Not as chilly as New Zealand. No being in this region it is quite an amazing climate isn't it? It is. And through this door we have your kitchen and bedroom don't we? Yep that's where I sleep and the kitchen. Can we have a look? Of course you can. Oh this just keeps getting better and better. It's pretty cool in here. It really is. I love the way that you've used the fabric on the walls and ceilings to really soften the space. It does it makes it nice and warm and it's um there's always something to look at. Yeah this plant up here is a great addition as well. Yes it's pretty cool it goes right across there and comes out over there so it looks like it's coming through the window. Yeah. And across my mum's Chinese art because my mum's an artist. Lovely. The fish tank by the window looks great as well. Yes it is nice. I've lost a few but I suppose that happens but they can actually look out the window and see the kids playing in the yard which is pretty cool if you're a fish I suppose. Yeah again you've decorated that so beautifully. I know it's pretty cool isn't it? They do a lot of thing in the lot with the fish tank. Yeah and they're just so relaxing to look at as well aren't they? They are sometimes. Yeah. Just looking around I mean there's just so much to take in in this space. It is. What inspires you to create your home in this way? I've got no idea Bryce it just evolved. I've got a real good knack of picking things up for next to nothing and thinking oh this will look good here or just because you're supposed to wear it around your neck doesn't mean it has to stay you know you can just decorate anything with anything so it just happened it evolved. Yeah just looking at the way that you've crafted this space I can really see that not only does living here give you a lot of joy I bet creating this was a really fun project for you. It was and it just keeps evolving and I'm running out of space to put things but it just sort of grew. I love that term that you use as well it grew so normally when people talk about a home it's sort of built but your home grew this was something that was much more natural. It evolved over a period of time and it's good being a potter you can do what you want but it's good because I come from a family of artists and I collect their art and hang their art up there's one behind Russia over there there's my stepfather's an artist mum's an artist my daughters are artists you'll see some of their art out there and my grandchildren are artists. Yeah and behind you here you have this lovely workstation looking out on the garden. Yes it's got to be looking at the garden and the cats can see me also from the patio I've dragged that table around for such a long time I can make a pot on the corner of that table on my little just be so much stuff on the table I think I'll make a pot and just make it in that tiny little area yeah that's my table yeah and that's screwed to the ground too and I made that little shelf there to put my tools in and the cats sleep there sometimes so you've got to move all the tools out of the way so the cats can lay there. Yeah great and your kitchen here nice practical space. Well I don't really like cooking so cooking's not my thing so I don't need a big space the doors were actually I went and bought a Indian screen and chopped them all up I had no idea what I was doing I just make it up as I go along these had to be all restored from the flood and the thing that I miss the most I had this beautiful picture of the red girl on the fridge and that went in the flood but since then my daughters I've locked one of her canvases and put that on the fridge. That looks fantastic as well doesn't it? She doesn't like her painting but I do so that's on the fridge and all these in I went and got all these Indian belly dancing and stuck all those up there of course that's what you need on the fridge. Yeah yeah you're not a big cook but obviously food as a result of what you've been through is a big part of your life right so being able to prepare your own food and everything is still really important to you. Yeah vegetables so you know I don't have much in the fridge but I try to go to get vegetables all the time and make sure because you can't go wrong with veggies. Yeah you can go to the markets every second week and get what I need. Yeah brilliant and I certainly recognise all of these cups as being your artwork. Yes yes there's some mugs up there I've only got a few because they all get sold. Yes. So I'm actually making some at the moment so I'm not doing commissions anymore. Right. Just making what I want. Well as an artist as well you have to keep it interesting for yourself and you have to do what inspires you otherwise your work's not going to be up to where you want it to be. No exactly right. Yeah yeah absolutely and your bedroom through there just looks like the coziest space. Yes it's pretty cool. The bed used to be on the floor but then the grandchildren would come over and I actually built a loft bed and then I lowered it and it's got all storage underneath it but they still go in there and jump around and play and span the land especially with the fairy lights got the fairy lights. Absolutely. And again it's just so filled with art and all of your creative collection. Yes the art is actually an old frame I took the bottom off the glass and painted to match everything else. Yeah. That divider was actually a Moroccan coffee table and I've taken the sides and made it into a divider. Yeah. But they're really good those Moroccan coffee tables we get. Yeah beautifully done. You've been here now since 2014 what's this space like to live in? It's like a big warm hug and I can go into town or go anywhere and just come back and it's just home and I'm lucky enough to be able to be here. Everything I sort of want or need is here and I've got my grandchildren I'm close to my family it's pretty cool. Yeah that closeness to your family is such a huge part of what makes this a home isn't it? Exactly because the grandkids come down here and they're right into it it's their fairy land that they just think their grandmother's really strange but that's cool. When I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and now it's gone it makes you sort of realise that life is really short and it is what you make it. I mean no one knows from one minute to the next if you're going to be here tomorrow and I decided to while I'm here I'm going to make the best life I possibly can and live in a fantasy just be you and it doesn't matter what people think they don't live here it's not everyone's cup of tea but it's my home so that's what it is. Creating all of this and the evolution of this home must have been quite tremendous. Do you have any idea what this home cost to build? Probably with everything that I've put into it about $15,000. Wow. It's pretty cool. That's amazing. Yeah can't go wrong with that. You certainly can't and so the process for you taking two old caravans and building all that you've created from that it must have been an immense amount of work that you put into it. Yes and I knew you were coming so I thought I'd buy some rice you were coming let's go build a studio it'll only take three days it took three weeks but because it's so long since I've actually put this together I forgot how long it actually took but I look at old photos you'd think oh my gosh it was such a mess for so long but because I'm here now I sort of don't don't think about it it's a process but it is what it is. Yeah how does it feel to wake up here every single day and just be surrounded by so much art and so much beauty? Good I feel like I have to go and make more art yeah and you think oh lord more I need more fairy lights or you know I don't really need much but sometimes the fairy lights aren't working in certain things and they're annoying but all I've got to do is just go buy more fairy lights and put them back where they come from and if I go to normal houses and I look around think there's so much room here it's just a waste of room but I like tight cozy little places. Yeah it's so funny because just then the chainsaw started up and all of a sudden I was reminded oh my gosh we're actually right in the middle of a city right now I'd complete I felt as if we were just in the rainforest yeah and then you hear a noise that sort of brings you back to where you are. Yeah it does. Yeah that's amazing. It is it's pretty cool. So I would ask you what's next for you but really this home is a constant evolution and everything that you're creating is just in this constant flow of change isn't it? It is like there's a lot of led lights underneath the loft bed that I bring them out and take them back and and there's boxes in there I don't I can't remember what's in there and when I take it I think oh that's where that went but yeah because I lost a lot in the flood so I'm not sure if I still own it. Right. Yeah. Well Janice I just think the home that you have created here is absolutely enchanting it has been such a treat to get to come and visit you here thank you so much for sharing your home with me. Thanks Bryce thanks for coming. My pleasure. Life is so short and it's so precious and Janice's story is such a beautiful reminder of that having gone through what she's gone through having remarkably beaten cancer and everything that came after that creating this magical home throwing herself into art and creating beautiful things in the world what a glorious gift that turned out to be for her and by proxy of that and the art that she creates and the wonderful things that she does in the world what a wonderful gift that she's given to the world I absolutely love this home that she's created here this is a space that is unapologetically her and everything that she loves and I think that we could all take a very valuable lesson from that in terms of what we choose to build for ourselves in this life.