 |
| Furniture Design & Jewellery |
Julie Pieda
My daily work is as the director of Koush, a contemporary furniture and interior design practice that also co-ordinates manufacturing. The practice has a varied client list including hospitality, commercial and residential clients and is based in Adelaide.
Koush also offers a small product line - Koush Design.
Initially the products were furniture items that we had received repeated orders for, and so we knew there was a demand – things like comfy barstools, dramatic but hardwearing tables etc etc.
Being involved in the first Bowerbird gave me momentum to focus on that product line further. To take time to work on ideas that had been bubbling away.
For Bowerbird we added to the existing Koush range with small upholstered chairs, ottomans and feature cushions. A surprise addition for me, was developing brooches and necklaces for the range. The idea came when I designed quirky engraved lino buttons for the cushions and people wanted the buttons off the cushions to wear as jewellery!
I have found that as the range evolves, regardless of the scale I am working at, my work always has something to do with textures and contrast.
I find myself drawn repeatedly to the play of light across surfaces in everyday life. This could be anything from manhole covers, the shadow cast by a tiny pleat in fabric, or the glow of colour through a translucent material. I am intrigued by the fact that some textures make you want to pat them, that some evoke memories, and some textures change an objects form completely.
These themes keep appearing in my work and will do for new items to come. I am really looking forward to being involved in the 3rd Bowerbird in October as the product range keeps developing and the direct feedback customers and other designers give you is terrific!
