I'm Stuffed

"I'm Stuffed" Graphics by Napier artist, Martin Poppelwell. 2008. Ajr This is one of my favourite cushions from the gorgeous Esther Diamond range. Started by Napier’s Sandi Reefman (meet her in my Meet the People series), Esther Diamond has been a raging success. You should definitely check out the great Esther Diamond website and one of their major stockists is leading Auckland design store, Eon, which has a great online shopping facility. www.eon.co.nz www.estherdiamond.com

Shining a Light

Lamps from the Esther Diamond Collection, Napier. 2008.Ajr

Here’s a little something to brighten your day – two lamps from the gorgeous Esther Diamond range. You can read about the founder of this innovative Napier-based company by clicking on Design Spot 6 and there are a few cushions from the range here. www.estherdiamond.com www.eon.co.nz

Design Spot 6

Sandi Reefman, Napier. June 2008. Ajr

Meet Sandi Reefman, the Napier creator of the fabulous and rapidly-expanding Esther Diamond Collection – a quirky, colourful range of homeware products that incorporates the designs and artwork of several leading New Zealand artists including Dick Frizzell, Para Matchitt, Fane Flaws, Martin Poppelwell and Ben Pearce. I LOVE the idea of drying my dishes on a tea-towel emblazoned with a Dick Frizzell design or a witty work by Martin Poppelwell; or, in a loose moment, wiping dribbled food from my chin with a table napkin that really looks as though it ought to be framed. It’s all about getting contemporary art out to a much wider audience says Sandi, and I’m all for that. I think it’s a brilliant concept that deserves all the support it is currently getting. See here for more of this gorgeous range. www.estherdiamond.com www.eon.co.nz

Soft Landings

June 2008. Ajr This is just a tiny taste of the terrific cushions from the Esther Diamond Collection. Top: two from nationally acclaimed artist, Dick Frizzell; Bottom left; a witty offering from Napier-based Martin Poppelwell; Bottom right: a new take on the stag’s head from Napier artist, Leanne Culy. You can see a whole lot more of this creative take on household comforts by tuning in to: www.estherdiamond.com or www.eon.co.nz

To Sleep Perchance To Dream

Esther's Place, Napier. June 2008. Ajr

This is the gorgeous bed I am going to sleep in in Napier tonight!

At the very divine Esther's Place, a waterfront apartment stylishly put together by the Napier design company Esther Diamond, Millar Road, Napier providers of seriously stylish accommodation and Eon Design Store, Auckland.

Sleeping among these divine little rabbits - created by Napier artist, Martin Poppelwell for Esther Diamond - is something I'm very much looking forward to. www.esthersplace. www.millarroad.co.nz www.estherdiamond.co.nz www.eon.co.nz

Three Times the Talent

I think collaboration is one of the most exciting words in the English language and putting a group of multi-disciplinary talents in one room and letting them brainstorm has to be one of the most exciting things any creative person can be a part of. Esther’s Place in Napier is the brainchild of one such group – it’s a stylish modern apartment over-flowing with the best of New Zealand art and design and it’s there for us all to enjoy as holiday accommodation. The Collinge family had already established a divine vineyard retreat, Millar Road, in nearby Tuki Tuki Valley. Esther Diamond is a seriously stylish Napier design company founded by Sandi Reefman, which produces bed linens, lamps and cushions, featuring original artworks by some of New Zealand’s leading artists. And Eon Design Centre is a leading New Zealand design outlet based in Auckland’s Britomart Precinct. When these three entities put their heads together they came up with Esther’s Place, a gorgeous waterfront hideaway in Napier’s quirky, historic suburb of Ahuriri.
This shot of the apartment’s main living area features red cushions from Esther Diamond’s “Fall 2007” range; a painting (right) “Study for We All Need a Lie Down”” by Napier artist, Martin Poppelwell; “White Jugs” (left) a photograph by Napier's Brian Culy; the fruit bowl is “Bol” from Eon; the sofa is “Chester” from Eon; The table, chairs and sideboard are from the “Dom” range from Eon; the lamp and base are new from Esther Diamond. And the above photograph itself is by Brian Culy.
www.estherdiamond.com www.eon.co.nz www.millarroad.co.nz www.esthersplace.co.nz

Design Spot 2

This is what you call keeping it all in the family - jewellery by Auckland-based son, Grant Rewi. Says Grant: "The style of my jewellery is more determined by the methods I use to produce it - I am not really a jeweller and having never undertaken any training as a jeweller, I probably approach the construction and manufacturing side of things differently to most jewellers. I don't own many jewellery-making tools; the majority of my work is produced in an engineering workshop. I think a lot of my stuff reflects that." Grant, who has a Bachelor of Design from Auckland's Unitec Institute of Technology, has exhibited work at Eon Design Centre, Unitec and Studio 14 Gallery, all in Auckland and at the Melbourne store of leading New Zealand fashion label, Zambesi. He also designs furniture and works fulltime at Auckland Museum.