Born and raised in The Netherlands, Suzanne Lustig is the artist behind this year’s Capital magazine tea towel.
When she’s not creating things for clients she creates things for herself, making prints, patterns, scribbles, and experimental art in virtually all of her spare time. And she still manages to climb mountains, develop her tattoo collection, and answer Q&As. Unsurprisingly, she has trouble switching off.
What did/do you want to be when you grow up?
A voice actor for a cartoon. I ended up drawing them instead.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
From a fictional character in a Dutch teen series: stop eating meat. The character did a presentation for her class and it convinced me – I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 10 years old. Equally good advice from a cartoon character and a famous singer, via my grandma: Hakuna Matata, when you worry you make it double.
What’s a skill or talent you have that people wouldn’t guess?
Belly dancing and parallel parking. Although I once reversed into the house.
Have you ever had a bad accident? What happened?
Not counting my parallel parking incident, I was blown off a ridge in the Tararuas; damaged my labrum. Winds of 120kmh were more than I could take. After surgery and almost a year of training and physio, I’m still recovering. Damn wind.
If you could change one thing about Wellington, what would that be?
The weather (cliché I know). We used to live in Raglan and I really miss those warm summer nights.
What’s your go-to takeaway order? Or your favourite dining out dish?
Seroja Café: Dutch people love Indonesian food! My aunty used to feed us these dishes back when I was a kid. It’s so good to be able to taste those memories again – it reminds me of home.
What book is beside your bed?
I always have heaps of books going at the same time. Paul Stamets’ Mycelium Running: I really got into mushrooms over the past two years, they’re so mysterious and delicious. The first lockdown was such a good time to forage. I read my pocket edition World Atlas to make me sleepy before bed. Also, Robin Hobb’s Blood of Dragons: I love to escape into alternate universes where I can lose my thoughts and shut down my brain before falling asleep. Most of the time, that’s the only way to stop my brain from randomly connecting thoughts. This can take an hour or two of reading, so I burn through books.
This year’s elegant Capital tea towel, designed by Suzanne, is available free to all new subscribers, while stocks last.
Suzanne’s work can be found at headandtail.nz, with more arty stuff on her Instagram.
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