"Name This Bar has established itself as the boho chic cocktail bar for discerning street art fanatics, thirsty artists and curious passers-by. The beating heart of the local Sydney art scene, Name This Bar sees some of the best underground DJs, celebrity drinkers and well-respected young artists Sydney has to offer. Owner Simon Mercier has emphasised his love for the arts by offering his space, walls and façade as the canvas for these loyal artists, and says: "The arts, in all forms - film, paint, dance and music - plays a bigger role in this bar than I do."
Sally Walsh's Art Battle on Oxford St.... this Thursday!!
This Thursday night, Sally is flexing her art muscles in a live art battle on Oxford St!
Its set to be a fun filled night full of good music, drinking, dancing and a hell of a lot of art!
Name this bar on Oxford Street is a unique, brilliant bar, it hosts fantastic DJ's, live music and of course... live art battles!
Six great artists have already battled it out on the pubs walls over the last few months....Sally is next on the list and battling against a damn good artist, Claire Nakazawa.
The art theme for this battle is "A view from my mind" so of course Sally has all sorts of crazy ideas running around in her head at the moment.....now to pick one?!
So come join in on the fun, have a drink and cheer for Sally, while She makes as much of a mess of the pub walls as possible =)
Name this bar is on Taylor Square end of Oxford St, look out for Sally's Sunday Sets Mural on the outside and you can't miss it!
To Learn more about Sally from Sillier Than Sally please Click here
For the last four years I have been living and working in
Hong Kong as the Chief Design Officer of Intuitive Automata, a healthcare
robotics startup. We are developing robots that help people manage their health,
focusing our efforts on conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and elderly care.
Our first coach, Autom™, will be out later this year. I'm also a part-time
lecturer in the School of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and an
active Airbnb host.
Who (or what) inspires you to do what you love?
The possibility of finding the ideal balance of visual
language, technology, cost and impact in a design (be it a product, service,
environment, or process) keeps me curious and motivated. It is extremely
inspiring to see successful results of that pursuit.
Where do you get your inspiration from when you design?
First and foremost I gather inspiration from users. While
they might not be able to articulate what they need and want, they can give you
so many useful clues through interaction and observation.
Hello my name is Autom™
What are the five words that people who know you would use
to describe you?
When surveyed, creative, upbeat, optimistic, fun, and
caring were some of the words my friends used to describe me.
Tell us about your very first job and what path have you
taken since then?
My first industrial design job was in athletic and
technical shoes, which taught me the importance of understanding manufacturing
techniques and being precise. I gradually transitioned into the world of
fashion, where I learned why a design needs to jump off the shelf and connect
emotionally with a customer. Handling product development from concept to
production over the years gave me an appreciation for process and introduced me
to Asia. The opportunity to design Autom™ allowed me to apply these skills to a
completely different industry, gain an understanding of user research and help
build a company from scratch. As a part time lecturer, I now share what I've
learned about the value of design research and how it can impact all aspects of
a business.
Describe a typical day in at work?
There is really no such thing. In our company, like most
startups, we wear many hats and things are constantly changing. Today I am
charged with keeping our social media up to date. Last week I lead the creation
of a marketing video. Before that I visited an electronics manufacturer across
the border in Shenzhen. While most activities involve me glued to my laptop for
long hours, the work itself varies a great deal.
As a Designer, what is your biggest frustration?
As a creative problem solver, one of my biggest
frustrations is hearing the words can't, never, and won't. Those words don't
foster a sense of collaboration and can derail the product development process.
Tell us about how you prioritise your work.
At a startup, it's always hard to balance the
"important but not urgent" with the "urgent but not
important" to ensure that you allocate enough time for the former and
don't spend too much time on the latter. I find that being organized and clear
about goals helps to put these issues into perspective. We put together a list
of design priorities for projects both big and small and make sure everyone is
clear about which details are most important to the success of the design.
Can you please tell us about how do you connect with other
designers, and your customers (i.e. how do you network)?
For me, interacting with other designers is extremely
important to keep my design skills sharpened, share best practices and learn
about the latest trends. Luckily, Hong Kong is an extremely social city and it
is easy to connect with other creative professionals locally. I try to support
as many design conferences, workshops and events that are hosted here and stay
active within the university community. In order to stay connected with my
peers throughout the world, I use various forms of social media. It's hard to
imagine life without it!
What advice can you offer other creative people who are just
starting out and following their passions?
While I feel like I'm constantly learning and by no means
an expert, I would say that any creative professional needs to understand their
value and learn how to articulate their value to others effectively.
This is a tough one. One of my proudest moments recently
was when our company won Technopreneur of the Year at the Wall Street Journal
Asian Innovation Awards in October 2010. It was very gratifying to be
recognized for the hard work we had put in to build the company and Autom™.
Who do you most want to meet and why?
My father passed away when I was almost 7 years old and it
would be fascinating to have a conversation with him now as an adult.
What is the most important lesson in life that you have
learned?
It's important to trust your gut. Only you know what is
truly best for you.
What book are you reading right now, and do you have a book
you would like torecommend?
Right now I am reading "Exploring Happiness: From
Aristotle to Brain Science" but Sissela Bok. She does a fantastic job of
sharing a wide range of opinions and theories on the topic in a very
approachable way.
Where do we find you and your creative services?
You can find videos and additional information about
Autom™ and Intuitive Automata at:
Your business is based on a concept for living, right?
A concept based on a way of being or doing; a style, interest or passion. If that concept does not match up with your own beliefs however, then how will you sell that concept to potential customers? From my personal experience it will only end up being a recipe for self-destruction.
Towards the end of the nine years that I was a portrait and wedding photographer, capturing the beauty of living, my health suffered as I was living a life I did not truly believe in. Not the photography part, but the part where I was working seven days a week, day and night…shooting, consulting & preparing images for print assembling albums etc.From the start of that business I really should have set a time limit on how many hours a week I would be willing to work, but when you’re a micro business and especially when you have a young family to support it’s easy to do what seemingly just needs to be done in order to meet financial commitments. In the end though, is it really worth it? In my opinion, no! Working like a slave was not doing myself, or my family, any good. While I was capturing the beauty in the lives of others, I was missing out on living a beautiful life myself. And after many years, this made it difficult to feel the joy in what I was doing, even though I am passionate about photography and bringing focus to the beauty in living.
Over the past 4 years while building my current business I have focused very much on working in a way that represents my own personal beliefs. For me, what comes first is my family, so even though I am passionate
about what I do ‘creating beautiful products for everyday living’ I believe the results need to represent what I am about and what I believe in. Aside from my devotion to my family I am also devoted to doing my best to preserve a beautiful world for my children to raise their children in. This is not just about the future though. I also want to nurture a beautiful world now by supporting ethical, sustainable production practices. Rather than simply purchasing my supplies based on price I look at how it is made, where it is made and whether or not the production of it trades fairly for it’s workers. This ethos extends into our personal way of living too. We spend more on produce at our local growers market because we know it’s fresh and that the profits are
actually going to the producer not a multi national supply chain. So all this being said, I believe it is important that my range of wares represents a lifestyle that I truly believe in; one that I live and one that I hope my children will embrace.
In order to live authentically, or run a business authentically you really do need to know yourself and determine your core values as these core values will set the precedence for what you are willing to do in
order to earn your living. So my challenge to you is to take a little time out to really think about how you’re running your business? Does what you do marry up with what you are about or are you doing what you think you should in order to make ‘ends meet’ and in the end is that really worth it?
“Life is a journey to enjoy, not endure.” Author unknown
Australian Gift & Homewares Association (AGHA) is the proud organiser of the Home & Giving Fair – a trade only fair held annually in February and August.
The February Fair is held in Sydney at Sydney Olympic Park. The August Fair is held in Melbourne across two locations – Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC) and Melbourne Showgrounds.
You can expect to see hundreds of exhibitors at each trade fair providing buyers and retailers with access to the latest gift and homewares products.
As the gift and homewares categories continue to grow, the Home & Giving Fair provides a comprehensive collection of products for a diverse industry. These include:
Kitchen to table products including: china/ porcelain, glassware, napery, woodware and gourmet edibles
Living décor products including: art/framed pictures, ceramics, clocks, photo frames and furniture
Gifts for giving products including: Australia-made products, collectables, men’s gifts and souvenirs
Accessories and pamper products including: aromatherapy, bags, bridal and jewellery
Read, write and play products including: books, electronics, party goods, shop fittings and religious items
"Reed Gift Fairs is Australia’s premier trading platform for buyers and sellers in the gift and homewares industry. Held five times a year, these unique events are where retailers come to source and buy the latest products from the best suppliers in the marketplace.
The Sydney fair will be launched from this Saturday 25 February to Wednesday 29 February at the Sydney Convention Centre.
By far the biggest annual gift and homewares event in NSW. An industry comes to Sydney to showcase 2012’s best products."
Self Mastery is about knowing who you
are. The ability is to
make the most out of yourself through learning, re-skilling and being the best you can everyday. As you go through this learning
journey you will start to discover who you are…the authentic YOU. The more you
learn about yourself the more you can understand and assist the people around
you.
Self Mastery is to start firstly in appreciating
who you are, what you are and what you have already achieved. This is a very
important step. If you can’t accept who you are or you are not proud of what
you have accomplished, then how can you learn to accept and understand others?
To help you with your self mastery,
we would like to share the following tips with you.
1.Define Your Desire, Passion and Purpose (DPP) - Successful people in business and in life know what they want in life
and they know what type of
lifestyle they want to live! So Find your Desire Passion Purpose (DPP)
2.The importance of Self Understanding - If you
understand yourself, then you can understand others and therefore you have
compassion. If you care for yourself and the people who work with and for you,
then they are more likely to support you and grow your business with you. It is
your role as a leader to help build the people around you by genuinely looking
after their wellbeing and helping them grow as a person.
3.Vision & Mission - Once you have created a plan of action and set your
purpose goals, you should stick to it by all means.
4.Purpose goal setting – People who set regular purpose goals will
have a clear knowledge of which direction they are heading. SO focus on your Planning and your Destination.
5.Confidence & Competence
- When you have a high level of
competence in your work and you have the confidence to act on your ability, you
can succeed in any area you choose in your life.
6.MBS- Mind, Body & Spirit
- The ability to make the most out of
your physical, mental, and spiritual health. In other words, to be the best you
can be.
7.Embrace Change - Our world is very unpredictable and yet to embrace
it you must have a positive mindset and welcome the changes that you come
across.
8.Be the Leader in your field - Leaders prize the seeds not the fruit – a true
leader will take the time to nurture the seeds knowing that they will produce
fruit later rather than just be happy with the end result. If something
needs to be said or done, then you must be able to speak your mind freely;
regardless of what others may say or think.
9.Time Leveraging - People who are good at time leveraging usually do
more of what matters and less of what doesn’t. Therefore you need to learn the
difference between the Urgent things verses the Important things.
10.Leveraging Resources - Be keenly aware of your resources – know what you
have at your disposal and what you don’t; this way, you can plan ahead.
11.Offering Help - By helping others you also help yourself and your
business.Sharing your knowledge and
expertise is a sign of caring and giving back to the community. What goes
around comes around.
12.Gratitude - Being
grateful for what you have. It's important everyday to appreciate what you have.
A simple thank you to people who help you is being grateful. The more grateful
you are as a person the more goodness you will receive. Gratitude is attitude.
To continue practising the self mastery process you
will need to understand the importance of setting clear goals for your personal
life and for your business by having a plan as to how you will go about
executing these goals. Self mastery is a growth process and mastering it well
will make you a greater person with a wealth of knowledge and abundance to
share your success with others.
