Evi Ferrier: Artist, Collector, Free Spirit

Rare Air with Meri Fatin

“I’m sick and tired of the things you never get tired of…so that’s why I decorate my house the way I do”

Every community has characters. Evi Ferrier is one of Perth’s.

Her home, in the swanky suburb of Mosman, is mosaicked from top to bottom - a riot of eye-catching colour in a sea of boring good taste. Her free spirit and sense of fun pervades everything she does and she’s a strong supporter of the arts as well as being an artist herself.

Although she’d shown aptitude for art at school, it wasn’t until she was married with children that Evi attended the Claremont School of Art and fell in love with mosaicking. In a sense, it was borne of Evi’s loathing of waste, that her childrens’ craft activities as well as broken crockery and mirrors were not destined for the rubbish bin, but for adorning her home. For Evi, the mosaicking is her “gardening” and even now she’d been in that house for 30 years , there’s an ongoing project.

Recently her bowerbird tendencies prompted a “sculpture park” on an empty block across the road from her home – an open “house” with rooms and furniture that grew up out of junk left out for roadside collection. The whole community got involved in the fun and when it was time to end it – she held a party there.

Friends say she’s the best kind of friend herself, generous and caring, and this sense of community extends to volunteer work. Evi has volunteered in Africa three times inspired by Gemma Sisia, the Australian woman who has set up the School of St Jude in Tanzania and Evi has also helped with children with eating disorders at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children and with disabled children at Rocky Bay.

Now in her early 70’s Evi energetically pursues numerous interests ranging from dragon boating to knitting to tap dancing and continues to delight all who come across her.

Thanks a million to Evi for sharing some of her stories with us and allowing us to photograph her delightful home.

Recorded at Evi Ferrier's home in Mosman, Western Australia Mixed by Adrian Sardi Rare Air podcast © Meri Fatin

Theme music Les Jeunes Pousses by Françoiz Breût Production music Another Day by Ketsa ( Free Music Archive)