Meet Bethany from Ferntree Cottage
Hello, I’m Bethany van Dorp, the artist behind Ferntree Cottage.
Ferntree Cottage began as a place to share recipes and garden updates with family and friends. It has since become a space for both the artwork I create and the life that inspires it.
My Husband and I live in South East Queensland, Australia, with our two children on a small semi-rural block. Over the years, our garden has grown from a couple of veggie patches into ten large garden beds, bee hives, chickens, and a growing orchard. Inside the cottage, there’s always something fermenting: my sourdough starter, kefir grains, or a ginger bug quietly doing its thing while the slow cooker hums in the background making the cottage smell incredible.
These days, my time is split between the garden, the kitchen, homeschooling and whatever project I’ve taken on next, all of which inspires my artwork.
Welcome to my little corner of the internet. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Don’t over complicate the simple life. Turn off the news, bake your pies, play with your kids and frolic through your garden.
Shelby Dersa
What I’m about…
I’ve always enjoyed making things by hand and being creative. Much like the women before me: my great-grandmother with her hand-knitted toys, hand-painted birthday cards and veggie garden, my grandmother in the kitchen cooking family meals, sewing, and finding use for things others might have thrown away, my Nanna with her generosity, thoughtful gift-giving, love of family time spent chatting and playing boardgames, and of course my mum, whose whole being is centred around caring for, supporting and nurturing others.
Much of that has quietly shaped my current season of life. I enjoy growing food, cooking from scratch, preserving what we harvest, and creating a home that feels lived in, welcoming and safe.
A lot of what interests me sits in contradiction. I’m drawn to beauty and decay, sentiment and usefulness, life and death, and the kinds of things that hold more than one truth at once.
My artwork is often inspired by these contradictions, and by the small details that are easy to overlook but carry the most meaning in the life my husband and I are building together.
FAQs
Here are some commonly asked questions. If you have a question about a specific post or recipe, please leave a comment there and I’ll help you ASAP (I’m very nice).
All artwork, photographs and written content on this site are copyright protected and may not be copied, reproduced, redistributed, altered or used commercially without permission.
You’re welcome to share a link to my work or reference it with clear credit back to Ferntree Cottage, but please do not repost full images, reproduce artwork, or distribute my work as your own.
Everything you see here was created by me, from the writing and photography to the artwork itself. Ferntree Cottage is an AI-free space. All words, images and artwork are my own.
Yes. I release small collections of original lino prints, designed, carved and printed by hand, along with more affordable digital versions through the Art Studio.
At the moment I ship within Australia, with wider shipping to come. If you’re outside Australia and interested in something specific, feel free to get in touch.
Only lightly. I share occasionally on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook, but the best way to stay in touch and stay updated is through my newsletter.
Letters from Ferntree Cottage
For behind the scenes, new work and notes from the cottage, the newsletter is where I share first.