Olivia’s Fab Four is a weekly post that features my favourite finds on Instagram for the past week. To be in the running, all you have to do is hashtag your product photos #oliviasfabfour and tag them with my handle: @oliviashead.
Here are this week’s beautiful products (clockwise from top left)
Olivia’s Fab Four is a weekly post that features my favourite finds on Instagram for the past week. To be in the running, all you have to do is hashtag your product photos #oliviasfabfour and tag them with my handle: @oliviashead.
Here are this week’s beautiful products (clockwise from top left)
I adore art and when it’s both gorgeous and affordable, well to me there’s no better gift! But with so many options on the market, finding that perfect piece (that doesn’t blow the budget!) can be hard. So I did the tough work for you and found a range of gifts that span all tastes, from the abstract to the animal.
Clockwise from top left:
1. This Elephant print by Farrah’s Stone is just a bit too cute. And at $20 you’ll have enough cash to get one for yourself and a loved one!
2. Pretty and whimsical, this unique Lucky Wheel print by Kristina Krogh from Resident GP will add an understated artistic touch to your living space. Limited edition it retails for $149.
4. I stumbled upon the quirky work of Tiff Manuell thanks to Olivia’s Fab Four and since then I’ve been a fan! Made from cut pieces of painted canvas on art card her Cactus cut canvas art is $170.
Home & Abode have partnered with artist Catherine Parr to produce a beautiful range of Vogue cover canvas art prints and posters.
With a unique style, Catherine’s watercolour paintings were inspired by a collection of her personal Vogue covers, something that Home & Abode were particularly excited about. “Vogue cover prints are so in fashion right now, we just had to have Cate’s collection as part of our range,” says Home & Abode managing director Tom Beanlands. “We are so excited to have Australian exclusivity for these designs and are amazed at how stunning they have turned out on canvas, especially in our biggest sizes.”
With the largest size measuring a massive 180cm x 120cm they promise their canvases will blow customers away in real life. And with prices starting from as low as $65 there’s really no excuse not to start shopping!
Perfect for those who favour the graphic and geometric over the wacky and whimsical, Lane’s latest collection of screen prints give you style, sustainability and premium-quality in the one product!
Inspired by both twentieth century graphic design and travel, the British-based homewares label created their eight new designs after recent trips to Norway, the Scottish Highlands and Milan. “Travelling is always a big inspiration,” says Lane’s creative director, Joff Casciani. “You notice textures, patterns and forms that you wouldn’t normally notice on a daily basis.”
Printed by highly experienced craftsmen onto paper that is produced by one of the oldest and last remaining speciality paper makers in the UK., it is all sustainably produced and FSC accredited.
With a dream to one day run her own design business, Pinky Makaude spent several years working in both design and marketing.
Careful to make sure her creative drive was matched with a good business sense, it was time on maternity leave that saw Pinky take reign of her career by creating Festoon, her long dreamt of design business!
Launched last year, Festoon’s main products are a collection of colourful plywood prints designed by Pinky herself. With styles ranging dramatically from floral, landscape and geometric, they are designed firstly as hand sketches, before being digitally finalised and printed onto plywood.
Also selling adhesive wallpaper, furniture coverings, furniture accessories and prints on paper, Festoon is committed to developing and managing the creation of unique and quality interior design products. With a belief that Australian designed and made products brings back the genuine quality of things, all products are a reflection of our nation’s design talent, craftsmanship and local industry.
Festoon also offers graphic design services and product development. To find out more information and to shop online visit their website.
Known for their bespoke wedding stationery and decor, Brisbane brand Blushing Confetti have expanded their repertoire with the introduction of foiled art prints for your home.
The Love is the New Black collection, which abides by the Blushing Confetti mantra of daring simplicity, features a mix of simple typography and graphics with a statement element.
All limited edition, the prints are priced from $74.95 and will fit standard frames bought from Ikea or your local variety store.
To view the collection visit Blushing Confetti’s online shop or catch them at the Brisbane Finders Keepers Market in November.
In a first for Cotton On Body, the affordable, on-trend fashion brand has collaborated with Victorian artist Morgan Connoley of Colour & Skulls, in the creation of three custom prints.
Morgan Connoley
With the aim to make art accessible to all, prints will be $19.95 and fit in with Cotton On Body’s upcoming Christmas collection, which is a new take on the tropical print. Think pineapples, palms, botanical prints and cacti.
As a successful illustrator and graphic designer, Cotton On Body saw Morgan as the ideal collaborator. With work that is a whimsical mix of the inky, beautiful and macabre, Morgan successfully combines colour, femininity and nature into her art. Approached earlier this year regarding the partnership, it was an idea Morgan naturally jumped at and looking at the end result, she couldn’t be more excited!
“The prints for Cotton On Body are the perfect combination of Colour & Skulls and summertime,” says Morgan. “The prints represent the heart and soul of Colour & Skulls and epitomise the energy and spirit of the Cotton On Body girl. They are on trend and affordable, which widens my audience to a new demographic.”
Calling the opportunity, “a pinch myself moment,” Morgan sees the experience as one of her biggest milestones to date. Yet she has already had a very impressive career, working as a graphic designer by day and under her art alias, Colour & Skulls, by night. She is also the co-founder of the Geelong Illustrators Collective and a board member at Courthouse Youth ARTS Geelong, being very passionate about exposing and working with emerging talent within her local region.
Morgan’s prints will sit alongside Cotton On Body’s varied selection of Christmas gifting solutions and will be available in stores nationally from 17 November 2014.
After a particularly challenging few years, Melbourne artist Belinda Marshall decided to start 2014 afresh; setting herself the task of creating a new sketch as close to daily as possible.
Giving her the freedom to experiment with form and colour in a way that large paintings don’t afford, she was able to come up with a variety of ideas that have now been transformed into larger works.
A selection of these have been reproduced as both fine art reproduction prints and her first range of textile wall hangings, produced in collaboration with local digital textile printer Frankie & Swiss.
The combined collection has been titled Organised Freedom, inspired by one of Belinda’s favourite artists, Bjork. “The name comes from a quote from an early Bjork song: ‘I thought I could organise freedom, how Scandanavian of me!’, which I guess is what the daily project is, and all my strictly full on domestic schedule allows work-wise!”
Being Belinda’s first major body of work following recovery from major illness and a separation from her husband, it was also significantly informed by her experience of travelling to Sweden to participate in Camilla Engman’s prolific ACE camp, which Belinda funded herself through a highly successful Pozible campaign.
“My work did change quite a bit after the big personal life events, but the change in style also coincided with my trip to Sweden and Berlin,” says Belinda. “These factors resulted in the change of style to a more free-flowing, more purely abstract way of working.”
To view Belinda’s work and to find out more visit her website here.
While some people wait tables or work in the local mall through university, student Jono Foo owns Piñata Press, an e-commerce site that sells quirky cards and art prints.
A self-taught illustrator and graphic designer (he studies law and economics at university!) he decided to start Pinata Press at the beginning of this year. “From a young age, I have had a passion for illustration and design but hadn’t had a chance to really go back to it since I finished high school in 2009,” explains Jono. “I decided to turn my passion into something real and very much enjoy what I do.”
Loving that he is able to do something creative and escape from the books, Jono’s biggest sellers are his handmade greetings cards, which are stocked through his website and in stores in Adelaide and Queensland. “I began designing handmade greetings cards because whenever I looked for cards in the past, I’d always find it difficult to get something that wasn’t generic and boring. From these experiences, I figured I’d have a go at designing my own line of quirky cards which drew from my own sense of humour.”
All original, handmade designs printed in his hometown of Adelaide, they are perfect for anyone who hates clichéd birthday or soppy Valentine’s Day cards. His art prints also warrant attention, which thanks to their bold colours and geometric shapes will instantly brighten up any room. Professionally printed on 200gsm paper, they come unframed in standard A4 and A3 sizes and can easily fit into standard frames from IKEA or department stores.
Perfect for local art lovers on a budget, Melbourne artist Ali McNabney-Stevens has released her second series of limited edition prints.
Protea and Orange
Printed on beautiful 300gsm archival paper, each print is available in four sizes and focuses on abstract and colour. If you recognise Ali’s style, you may have seen it on recent series of The Block.
Industrial Harbour
With a strictly limited print run of 50 per size, per design prints can be bought from Click On Furniture or through Greenhouse Interiors. Prices range from $299-to-995.
Harking back to the 1930s, Brisbane based paper goods and homewares brand Ma and Grandy, is all about encompassing the pre-war era.
A range including limited edition cushions, A4 art prints, wood brooches, single greeting cards and card sets, it’s the old-fashioned notion of sending a note in the mail ‘just because’ that really gets founder Natala Stuetz’s heart singing.
“I’ve always loved greeting cards and am a big hoarder of things like that,” says Natala. “There’s nothing better than sending and receiving a handwritten note – they’re so much more personal. I’d love for our modern society to put down their smartphones, step away from the email and remember a time when the handwritten note ruled!”
With their wonderful typography and vibrant colour palette of mustard yellows, electric blue and gelato pinks, the Ma and Grandy range is one of delightful simplicity, made even more enchanting by the story behind the name.
Ma and Grandy were Natala’s actual Ma and Grandy (grandmother and grandfather) whose real and wholesome love saw Natala’s whole family be in awe of them. So for Natala, the name choice came easy: “It seemed so natural to represent these two amazing people through my work and continue their legacy.”
Ma and Grandy is offering Interiors Addicts 10% off everything for a week from today using the promo code Interior10.
Starting her own online art print boutique, designer Pia Watson wanted to tick three boxes: “to be affordable, [have the products] made locally and have them arrive packaged and presented with love and care.”
With this mission in mind, Perri Luxe was founded and since launching late last year, has already produced a myriad of bold, bright and contemporary prints.
“We love colour and experimenting with colour,” explains Pia. “We don’t necessarily design to market trends but rather design based on styles, patterns and themes we are inspired by and colours we love together.”
The idea came about when Pia was sourcing artworks for her and partner Matthew’s apartment and finding that many of the pieces they ordered online weren’t as expected when they arrived in the mail. “Some looked great online but were different in real life and if we were able to buy something framed, the print often arrived bubbled. Not to be disheartened, we saw an opportunity for us in the online market.”
All the prints are designed by Pia, often with the help of Matthew, and while colour is a central theme, she is now working on a black and white series. With a dream to one day open up her Sydney studio space to the public, for now, you can buy Perri Luxe online. Shipping is free.
If you watched Offspring or The Block, you may have coveted Ali McNabney-Stevens’ colourful artwork, which has been in a few magazines recently. Behind the scenes, this very humble Melbourne artist and mum is just delighted to be doing what she loves day in, day out.
A fellow Pom, she moved here in 2001 after marrying an Australian. “After 5 years in London, he missed the sunshine and we decided to come for 2 years and that was 12 years ago!” There’s no doubt her surroundings have affected her work, with Melbourne’s bustling art scene and cultural diversity a constant inspiration. “Right from the get-go the artistic side of me was fueled. I am a very happy person here and I like to think that my art is happy. It gives me great pleasure in producing it and I guess I hope in turn that it gives others pleasure to hang it on their walls.”
Morgan’s prints will sit alongside Cotton On Body’s varied selection of Christmas gifting solutions and will be available in stores nationally from 17 November 2014.
