March 13, 2013

10 minutes with... briar stanley from sunday collector



As fellow Manly locals we are often on the other side of Briar's morning coffee, stylist and blogger of the beautiful blog Sunday Collector. We managed to get 10 minutes of her time - between styling, blogging and mumming - for a bit of Q&A with the inspired treasure finder...  

Hi Briar, please introduce yourself.
I'm a Sydney based Props Buyer and Interior Stylist who works in film and magazines. I'm married to Mark and Mum to Sunday, our 10 month old baby girl. I write a blog called Sunday Collector with my own photography that documents my sourcing travels, food, restaurants, handy suppliers and (lately) new baby adventures. 

How do you start your day?
Early. I've always been an early riser - which is guaranteed now with a baby. I'd love to say I start my day with a glass of hot water and a squeeze of lemon juice, but reality is it's a very big coffee - I can't start my day without one.

Where do you go for inspiration?
Lately, it's Instagram. I follow people (stylists, artists, chefs, even my Mum) from all around the world and love how instantly you are connected through the little photo squares. I also love blogs. I have too many favourites to list, but some are:

Ché & Fidel
Oh Happy Day
A Beautiful Mess
One Claire Day
The Beetleshack
Oh Joy!

Tell us a bit about your creative path, have you taken breaks or worked in other mediums/industries?
I originally studied Graphic Design at Enmore Design Centre for three years, and my first job was working at an advertising agency as a graphic designer for clients such as Telstra and KFC. I ended up on the set of a few television commercials with the client and spotted the 'set decorator person' amongst the film crew having what looked like a lot of fun. I had never considered the role as a career direction but realised I really wanted to give it a crack. At age 24, I left my full time job and got a job at a restaurant as a waitress. During the day, I worked for free on any film and television job I could. After about 2 months of work experience, I got my first paid job as a Junior Props Buyer on a Channel 10 telemovie. Jobs in film and television are rarely advertised, so it's really word of mouth in Sydney. I often work with the same crew, we just move around as freelancers from job to job.

What couldn't you live without?
Besides my husband and baby - I'd say (in no particular order): coffee, pedicures, stripes, polka dots and avocados.

What was your best find or best project?
Best project to date was my role as a Senior Buyer on the film 'The Great Gatsby' - due to be be released in May. In magazine land, I'm always pleased when my stories make front cover - see attached for examples. On a more personal level, I loved decorating Sunday's nursery while I was pregnant.

Have you been offered any professional opportunities due to the popularity of your blog that have surprised you?
I originally started my blog as a creative outlet as I was taking lots of photos, but doing nothing with them. As corny as it sounds, I find writing a blog recharges me and my thoughts. Any thing else gained is really just a bonus eg. Back in 2011, I was thrilled to be a guest blogger for a week on one of my favourite blogs The Design Files (click here to see the posts). Also through my blog, I was approached a few years ago by the boutique butchers Victor Churchill to create some window displays for their Woollahra store (see hereand I was once given a Ford Focus car for a week to test drive and review, which was very unexpected but good fun (see here).

What has been the strangest thing you have ever sourced or blogged about?
That's what I love about my job -  the strangest items can appear in a script from day to day, and there is nothing like the 'thrill' of sourcing something after going on the hunt. eg. While working on the television series Underbelly, I had to source a '1970's toy gun cigarette lighter'. I luckily found a collector about three hours out of Sydney that had over 20 original designs in his collection. No day is ever the same in my job, that's for sure. Re. my blog - I was surprised at how popular my week blogging about my trip to Bali became - I still get emails from strangers thanking me for the travel tips (click here to see Briar's Bali blog).

What’s your most favourite thing on your desk?Definitely a moodboard - I have always found it a handy inspiration tool. It enables me to illustrate visually the direction of style I invariably end up pursuing. Or, it can be just be simply something visually pretty and inspiring - in the case of me having a more permanent one in front of me at my workspace at home. As an alternative to corkboard, I had an inexpensive pegboard cut down to size at Bunnings.
 

Your bags are packed, your ticket in hand! Where are you going and why?
A trip to New York with no expense spared. Why? For obvious reasons - the food, the shopping, the museums and galleries. Sigh…one day. 





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