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indie art & design blog
peacock in paisley
I love the way in which the peacock parades through this paisley design by Melbourne label Yum Plus One! Designer Eduardo Wolfe-Alegria has incorporated the decorative paisley pattern into a striking graphic image.
With their bold prints and dramatic colour contrasts, these cushions will add a touch of drama to your living room. Pictured above is The Peacock in Paisley, a 50cm x 50cm cushion featuring metallic gold hand screen-printed on black cotton canvas (front & back), available from Yum Plus One for AUD $80. More colour options are pictured below, and also available is a 50cm x 28cm cushion for AUD $50.
Yum Plus One was launched a couple of years ago by two friends: designer Eduardo Wolfe-Alegria and marketing manager Brad Korff, who share a desire to break down the barriers between art and design. Inspired by a range of influences including Art Nouveau, 1960s and 70s pop, Japanese design and 1920s fashion illustration, they aim to add fresh new flavours to the world of interior decorating and design.
The Yum Plus One line up incorporates four ranges: A Paisley Paradise, Butterfly Blossom, The Peacock in Paisley and Utopia. The cushions pictured above are from the Butterfly Blossom range and are titled "Spinning". They are printed in metallic silver and purple on white cotton canvas (front & back), and both are available for AUD $80 each. Pictured below are dizzying designs from the Utopia range. "The Swirl" is available in three eye-catching colour combinations, each for AUD $50.
Visit www.yumplusone.com.au to check out the full line up. Selected prints are also available as stretched canvasses. Plans are underway to expand the product range to include lamps, bed linen, furnishings and wallpaper, so stay tuned! Yum Plus One products are available from the following stockists:
VIC: Meli Interiors (Richmond), Pash Interiors (Fitzroy), Crowded House Design (Malvern).
NSW: Funkis (Bondi Beach)
and of course from the Yum Plus One web site at www.yumplusone.com.au.
platform call for entries
The Platform Curated Design Space provides an opportunity for emerging designers to get a foot in the door at Australia's premier lifestyle & homewares tradefair, LIFE inSTYLE. As you know, I was in Melbourne for the July/August fair, and went along to see for myself if LIFE inSTYLE deserved its glowing reputation... and I was impressed! The calibre of exhibiting designers was certainly 'high end' and I have no doubt this would be the perfect place to introduce your wares to the boutique homewares & gift market in February (to be held in the Entertainment Quarter Moore Park, Sydney - formerly Fox Studios).
The Platform space is offered at a subsidised cost of AUD $1155 incl. GST and successful applicants will be provided with a gallery style display plinth (1.1m deep x 0.6m wide x 1.1m high) for the 5-day fair from 19-23 February 2009, inclusion in the exhibitor product handbook and 12 months exposure on the LIFE inSTYLE web site. Competition for these spaces will be fierce - perhaps I shouldn't be telling you about it, as I'll be submitting my own application for our range of Non-Fiction greeting cards! Grab your application from www.lifeinstyle.com.au and make sure to submit it by 5pm, Friday 31st October 2008.
pyd designer markets
The Danks Street Festival is being held in Waterloo (Sydney) this Sunday (26.10.2008) and over 80 designers' stalls will inhabit the warehouse of the pyd building. With over 30 000 visitors expected, it will certainly offer great exposure for both emerging and established Australian labels, including those whose products are pictured here: Eliza Mok, Millicent and Frank, Forbidden Linen, Klei and Zaishu. The Danks Street / Young Street area has fast become one of Sydney's well known & dynamic creative precincts and pyd is a unique destination presenting the best in interior design. The building actually takes its name from the bordering streets: Phillip, Young and Danks.
The delicate creations pictured above are part of the 'Shan Shan' collection brooches (left, US $35) and bowls (right, US $55) hand cast silicone rubber by Eliza Mok. 'Shan' represents coral in Chinese, and she uses the different stages of the coral life cycle as a metaphor to represent her past experiences through jewellery and object design.
The timber "Alphabet" by Millicent and Frank is pictured above. This Australian label creates a variety wall hangings, objects and centerpieces. Many feature clean crisp lines and geometric shapes, and of course, the gorgeous curves of serif typefaces.
Forbidden Linen is an unusual collection of "textile titillation". Sydney designer Louise Murphy has joined forces with London based artist 'UnCut', to create a seductive selection of erotically inspired textiles. The image above features a twin handkerchief set (US, $50) - women's kerchiefs are finished with lace while men's are sewn with metallic coloured cotton.
We first posted about Klei back in March 2007, and they keep producing more & more original ceramic creations. With a gorgeous muted palette and organic shapes & textures, each piece is one of a kind... Pictured here are the Pebble Necklace and "two faced" Rivet Rings. View many more designs at Klei's blog.
Well known and admired by many is Zaishu, "a hip combination of style and substance". Using certified sustainable materials, innovative ideas and a collaborative design approach the Zaishu is a versatile slot-together seat and/or table that serves equally as art. I really love the hand-printed artwork in the Australian Bushland design pictured above (AUD $350).
act un, deux, trois
Last week, Bilingual launched their new jewellery range, "Cirque" with an exhibition at Gaffa Gallery (Sydney). Once again, the handcrafted designs were inventive and just stunning. Displayed hanging by a red silk thread and framed by a wooden hoop was Act Un, Act Deux and Act Trois. This new collection of unisex pieces draws on the mystery and intrigue of Cirque Nouveau, and each design can be worn as either a pendant or a ring. As rings, the three Acts represent familiar circus elements: Juggling, Contortion and Acrobatics, while as pendants, the rings they represent the surreal spectacle of aerial silk.
I think my favourite from the new collection is Act Deux - a geometric design representing the body bending art of contortion, demonstrating the human body's unique ability to form various shapes. It really gives the sense of constant movement as small changes in your perspective create strikingly different shapes within the piece - especially when worn as a pendant. Looking forward to seeing the new designs on the Bilingual web site soon! Bilingual will also be appearing at the PYD Designer markets at Danks St Waterloo this Sunday 26th October 2008, 10 am - 4pm.
Announcing the WINNER of our Bilingual Giveaway:
Thank you to all our lovely readers who entered this competition! The Instinct Rings are so beautiful, I wish we had set for each of you... However, there can be only one winner and the name drawn from our Chinese clay pot full of entries was Melinda (from Australia) - CONGRATULATIONS! Melinda was one of the 67% of voters who said they'd share the ring set with someone special.
girlie shows!
Travel Across the Universe and back again tonight! This all girls' art exhibition opens at No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne, from 6 - 8pm. On show will be artworks by 11 talented gals including Lisa King, Nickas, Snookie, Scarlett, Kelly Smith, Deb, Honor Bowden, Bec Winnel, Nicole Tattersall, Rachee Renee and Lauren Sutter. (Thanks to Lauren Sutter whose blog helped me find most of these links in no time!)
No Vacancy Gallery
27-33 Red Cape lane, Melbourne.
Opening night: 15th October 2008; 6pm - 8pm
Exhibition: 16th Ocotber - 22nd October 2008.
These girls have been busy! The intriguing works below were photographed by Nicole Tattersall at the Drape it in Sound exhibition a little while ago. I love Nicole's Ghost artwork!.
also showing now...
is A to Z at Brunswick Bound, featuring the talents of another four indie faves: Catherine Campbell, Andrea Innocent, Mel Stringer and Eveline Tarunadjaja! I'm wishing I was there...
Brunswick Bound
361 Sydney Rd, Brunswick, Melbourne.
Exhibition: 11th - 31st October 2008.
and another show...
Bec Winnel and Kelly Smith will also be taking part in the upcoming Cream Coloured Ponies & Crisp Apple Strudels exhibition at The Grand Social pop-up store later this month. They will be joined by Kareena Zerefos, Courtney Brims, Anna Pogossova, Eugenia Tsimiklis, Tina Salama & tmod. This one will be in my little home town (Sydney)! Found via Daydream Lily.
The Grand Social Pop-up Store
461 Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney.
Opening night: 30th October 2008; 6pm - 9pm
Exhibition: Fri 31st Ocotber - Sat 1st November 2008, 11am - 6pm.
If you've been to any of these shows, or have them jotted down in your diary, we'd love to hear your comments!