pyd. market design finds...

I was only too delighted to find out about pyd. design market when I picked up the event card while getting my regular caffeine fix on Dank Street. This was the 3rd pyd. design market but it's definitely my first since I just got back to Sydney after a 3-year hiatus.

pyd. design market did not disappoint. There were 80 designers exhibiting in the building (according to the pyd. website). Now.. ON to the art/design wares that caught my eyes! :)

Gnomes anyone? 

One of the stalls that caught our attention immediately was Multiple Box - an online gallery that carries limited editions of prints, photography, multiples and objects by Australian and international artists. Absolutely love the blue pig on the floor!!  Keith was (as usual) attracted to the eponymous gnome. (Ducks & pigs don't go well together, maybe?) Well.. Wilbur will be the ONLY house-pet for now. lol.

The work belongs to a German artist, Ottmar Hoerl, who creates installation from these quirky creatures that looked like oversize toys. All the individual pieces were all one of the many pieces in his art installation in interpretation of a subject or deliverance of a message. I looked him up and am absolutely fascinated by his work! I will digress if I cover more of his work here.. so.. back to the design market...

Insphere Furniture

Meet furniture designer Murray Wilkinson from Insphere Furniture

Don't you just love those hair-pin / paper clip like table/stool legs?

Meet Murray Wilkinson, the furniture designer behind Insphere Furniture. I was drawn immediately to his stool & coffee table as I absolutely love those hairpin / paper clip like legs. Manufactured as flat-packed,  one can assemble the pieces quickly without tools and be able to take it apart again easily. Therefore, if you're constantly on the move (i.e. moving from rental to rental), this is a piece that you will be able to take along easily. The stool and the coffee table are adorable and I love the option of being able to choose colour of the table / seat with the legs. I was told that customizable shelves are in the making too!

Cardboard wonders - Zeppo Chair

Think cardboard is uncool? Think again. Frank Gehry's cardboard chair is a great example. 

Decorated Zeppo Chair with the designer, Cath Ertler in the backgroud

Now.. think miniature cardboard chair and you get cardboard Zeppo chair by Cath Ertler, a Tasmanian-born, Sydney-based designer. The Zeppo chair comes flat-packed, so children can assemble and decorate, paint or draw on the chair. It will definitely be a limited edition chair once your kid is finished with it. :) Apparently the chair can withstand weight of normal adults so Keith & I test-drove the product. At the end, it was so nice that we thought it would be a great Christmas gift for one of our friend's boy. 

We were quite disciplined at the end and only bought Christmas presents for our friends and nothing for ourselves. Purchase reserved for another day. :)

By The Quirky One

Design Market in Sydney & Melbourne this weekend!

If you are after limited editions or eclectic range of homewares, design objects, art, jewelery or fashion accessories, make sure you head down to pyd. design market in the pyd. building, Waterloo Sydney or Mark it @ Fed Square, The Atrium Federation Square Melbourne this weekend. 

It's exciting when there are avenues to bring together independent designers, artists, craftsman to showcase their wares. Great place to pick out gifts for Christmas. I had a peek at the pyd. design market  this morning and it is pretty exciting! More on that in future posts. 

by The Quirky One

 

Pilgrimage to Dutch Design Temple - Moooi

On our recent trip from Toronto to Sydney, we made use of Keith's conference in Valencia to travel around Amsterdam & Belgium. Needless to say one of the must-see for me was Moooi Design Gallery in Amsterdam. Moooi, the epitome of Dutch design opened its door to the public in January 2009. I was only too happy to pay pilgrimage whilst I was there. :)

Stepping into the Moooi's flagship store (or more appropriately called Design Gallery) was like Alice falling into the rabbit hole and going into Wonderland. The oversized lamp & paper chandelier,  life size silver horse lamp (230 cm tall) & the pig table creates an absolutely surreal & whimsical setting. It truly felt like a gallery than a furniture store. Obviously there is no way that I can afford any of this..  but.. it's always nice to oggle. Think I'll ever find any of these on ebay?Hmmm... one can only hope!

I also discovered the wonderful work of Lorenzo Petrontoni in the Moooi Gallery. Kinda look like a giant mood/inspiration board.

See the wonderful installation of Lorenzo's work below : 

 

By The Quirky One

Meet Wilbur!

Have been looking at spreadsheets all day and am glad to have some reprieve by blogging about my most recent find. So.. Meet Wilbur! Our very own house-duck which now resides on our dining table.

Wilbur

Well I did mention that I was going to post about my most recent find.  :)

Last weekend, Keith & I went to an auction wanting to score deals on some vintage posters but ended up coming home with this baby. Trust me.. I did NOT think that I was going to come home with a duck, but I did!! Keith actually quite liked it. In fact, I think he likes it more than I do!!

Did a quick research on the web and it appears that taxidermy came into fashion back in the Victorian era. A lot of the taxidermy these days are mostly made in that era.  I think this trend is somehow creeping back. When we were in Tarlo & Graham, there were lots of animals heads - water buffalo, zebra, moose and dare I say camel? I do hope that they were embalmed after dying of natural causes. Me and my mate Trace were even wondering if some of them were real, 'coz they were HUGE!!

Tarlo & Graham

I think Wilbur complements the overall feel of the eclecticism in our place. So am quite happy with it thus far. :) 

Vignettes of taxidermy can be quite nice, yes?

 

By The Quirky One

A good thing?

Have been thinking about this for a while.. & finally decides to do it.. It is an endless pit when one becomes more interested in window shopping in décor and design shops than shoes or clothing stores...  Pathetic... I know..

Scavenging in op-shop, auction houses & dragging my poor hubby along for weekend deals has been the norm these days.

Signs of coming of age? lol

Just came back from Melbourne & discovered some really good independent design shops, industrial vintage & mid-century shops such as Third Drawer Down, Tarlo & Graham, & Three Quarters 20th Century Furnishings.

Three Quarters 20th Century Furnishings holds an amazing collection of second hand Scandinavian & danish designs including fabulously worn leather couches that you'll comfortably indent your bump cheeks into & gorgeous looking screens that's hard to find these days. Owner Glenys & wife Ruby Weigh imports quality mid-century pieces from Scandinavia. Glenys with his wife & children also own three other shops across town, bbold (Carlton), 20th Century Scandinavia(Lygon, Brunswick East) & Le Contraste (Chapel Street). Le Contraste has a different theme of french industrial vintage.  I was admiring the shop front on Sunday when they were closed, so I didn't actually get to see Le Contraste.  The Weigh's homes must be very well decorated, I imagine?

I had my eye on a lovely vintage bus scroll that has "my hood" - Randwick, Coogee Beach, Clovelly & Kensington on it. Would look totally cool in my apartment... Well too bad that my budget doesn't allow it + I later on bought something else in an auction back in Sydney... All to be revealed in my next post!!! So.. Stay tuned!

Did not bring my camera when I was doing the rounds at the stores - will be sure to bring them along next time so there'll be more photos to oggle at in the future... :)

by The Quirky One