Bondi Local | Vanessa Holle

Bondi Local | Vanessa Holle

Vanessa, tell us a little bit about yourself.

I emigrated from South Africa in 1978 with my family, including my 3 sisters, and we lived in Vaucluse. I’ve been living in Bondi since 1994.

I’m a graphic designer by profession, I worked in graphic design for 20 odd years and I also make things, I love to make things and always have, since I was little. I crochet and illustrate and just in the last 5 years, started to do ceramics which has become the main focus of my work. It’s really nice to have a break from graphic design because I get to be the client. I can choose my own direction and I make things that I want to make and that make me happy.

Where do we find the things that you do?

I’ve got an Etsy shop, it’s the Vanessa Bean shop and I sell through some stockists and I regularly take part in group exhibitions.

What brought you to Bondi?

I had been on an exchange, while I was studying graphic design, to Brighton Polytechnic in the UK and then went travelling to Berlin where I ended up living for two years. I met my husband to be through a friend there and came back to Australia with him in 1994.

We moved into a flat on Francis Street and very quickly bought our own flat on Sir Thomas Mitchell [Road]. And then we bought our house on Francis Street so we’ve kind of lived in a very small part of Bondi. That was 17 years ago. A lot of people find that interesting as so many people move. They do up their houses and move. But I love it. Our boys have grown up in the same house. And we’ll probably stay there. There’s no reason for us to leave. It’s a great spot.

What do you love about Bondi?

I love that we live in a quiet leafy part of Bondi, just above the gully, but we’re still within walking distance of the hub. I love that we can walk to our favourite cafes and restaurants and buy groceries, or whatever, and just be so close but also be able to remove ourselves. And also the beach of course. I’m a real beach person. I’ve grown up with the beach and I love it.

My husband grew up in Hamburg, which is a completely different kind of life but he has grown to really love Bondi. He loves the beach too although he’s very fair-skinned, so he has to be careful. He loves the lifestyle. It’s very relaxed and he’s got a very full on job, so it’s nice to live in a part of the world that on the weekend feels like a holiday.

The boys are big surfers. For them it’s perfect. We thought about, years ago, what should we do to draw the teenagers back home – should we put in a pool? Should we do this, should we do that? And then we realised that we’ve got the beach and that’s the drawcard. We’ve always got strange boys dropping off and picking up boards.

What are your favourite cafés etc?

The Tratt is a big favourite. Whenever we have a big family dinner we come to the Tratt. Been coming for years. We love Birichina for coffee. Love the Earth Food Store in Gould Street. I’ve always been a fan of Gusto in Hall Street. And Gelbison! Love that that has stayed the same after all these years. We go for zuppa de cozze or garlic potato pizza usually. Can’t go past that!

What are reading or watching?

I just finished reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. A Hawaiin/American writer and I can honestly say it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Quite harrowing but beautifully written. I read a lot and I read on a kindle and I find I read so much more. It’s great. You finish one book and boom you can have another one right there.