Inside Story: Kelly Thompson
The walls of Kelly Thompson’s apartment are beautifully adorned. Why? Because the Rotorua-born 30-year-old is a prolific illustrator (and sometime photographer) and plenty of her work ends up on display in her Melbourne, Australia, apartment. Thompson’s feminine and delicate designs are created as pieces of art and media. She’s worked for local magazines Fashion Quarterly and Remix, and for clients like CoverGirl and Nintendo. A recent commission saw her reinventing Ms. Destiny, the face of Penguin Books’ romance genre. All of the work takes place in the converted warehouse in Collingwood that Thompson shares with her husband Christian McCabe and Billie the beagle.
“It’s basically just one huge room with a wall of windows and a private bathroom,” says Thompson, who lived in Wellington for 10 years before moving to Melbourne 18 months ago. “We divide the space using wardrobes and bookshelves. My friends call it the jungle because every time they come over I have more plants! It can be a little messy.
“I love the convenience of my apartment,” adds Thompson, whose first book, Darkness of Noon, a collaboration with photographer Derek Henderson, came out in May. “I also love how easy and secure apartment living is – I’m regularly home alone but I always feel safe; you can leave your windows open at night, and the rubbish just goes down a hole – too easy!”