A CHEF-TURNED-ARTIST CREATES DELICATE PAPER BOTANICALS AND CREATURES, AT HER LIGHT-FILLED STUDIO IN THE HILLS
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY | Penny Harrison
Buckets of colourful flowers line the walls of Natasha Vourdanas’s studio. There’s everything from luscious peonies and poppies to vibrant Sturt Desert peas and orchids, all looking as though freshly picked from the garden. Even at a closer glance, it’s hard to believe that each stem has been meticulously hand- crafted from crepe paper.
For Natasha, it was an unexpected change of direction. Growing up in Glen Waverley, she knew from an early age that she wanted to become a chef. “I loved playing with food,” she recalls. “I still remember at school being given certain ingredients in class to make tabouli, then adding different ingredients when the teacher left the room. She said I had a very mature palette.”
To read the full article, see issue 55 Spring 2023 here.
