Professionals Tamborine Mountain 
e360 Design is one of Tamborine Mountain’s newest additions, having only opened in August of 2020. Jen Robson explains her ethos towards creating art that’s not only inspirational, but practical, in this interview with one of the spearheads of the new wave of mountain artisans.
by Kyle Hitchmough
How would you describe the art that you make?
My sweet spot is ‘functional beauty’. What I really like are things that look beautiful, pleasing to the eye, lovely to have around your home but actually have a function or purpose. We make our art into mirrors or cushions or placemats so you can have beautiful pieces of art around you but you’re actually using them, they’re not just filling up space. That’s where the name comes from, e360: the E stands for esthetica, and 360 degrees, surrounding yourself with beauty.
What kinds of materials do you use? Where do you source them?
The main material I use is aluminium. The main reason for that is that aluminium can come in many different colors, so you can make it part of the artwork rather than just what it sits on. It has a beautiful function as part of the art. It’s versatile, light, it can go indoor or outdoor. We also use mirror, acrylic, and any substrate. I try and source them all locally. Different materials need different printing processes, so they do come sourced from different locations. We try and use companies that weave their textiles themselves. All of the manufacturing from printing to sewing is all local in south-east Queensland.
You do custom designs on commission, correct? Can you tell us more about that?
The majority of our business is custom design. We like to actually put people’s stories into the artworks for them, so they’re all one-off designs. Because we’re a small boutique, we’re able to sit down and talk with a client, find out what their story is and how to tell that through their home. Whether it’s an artwork on the wall, custom wallpaper, or textiles, they can tell that story through functional art pieces in their home. They can come into the gallery here and have a look at some pieces we have on the wall for inspiration and we can draw that all together with a color palette that might suit them. But it starts with that first conversation. It’s quite varied from life drawings to watercolours to abstract modern shapes and impressions, so they can let me know what style they like and we can build on that, and then we can show them the composition before it’s made, make sure they’re really happy with it, and then manufacture it.
Do you think living on the mountain has influenced your art in any way?
Absolutely. If you look around the gallery, all of it is based on what I see out of my windows. A lot of it is botanically-based artwork, but a modern interpretation of that. We’ll get a lot of rain and then all these lovely wild flowers pop up. Half of them I don’t know the names of, but I’ll paint them while they’re there because they’ll disappear in a couple of weeks. Nature is my biggest influence. It’s the community and aesthetics of Mount Tamborine that’s the biggest influence on me.
You also do custom furniture. How does that process work?
I design the furniture, and there’s some little pieces I make myself here in the gallery. If I can’t make it, I’ll use artisans and craftspeople locally. For example, this indoor/outdoor chair. I designed that, but I can’t weld, so I have a local gentleman who will weld that using Australian steel, and then upholster it. We go as close to the mountain as we possibly can to find that skillset. Nothing’s mass-produced, it’s all hand-crafted one-off pieces.
Do you have any types of pieces that are more popular than others?
At the moment, the botanicals are very popular, and the more serene greens and subtle colours. People are looking to make their homes more relaxing, more stress-reducing, so they’re buying artworks and cushions that reflect that indoor/outdoor space.
What’s your opinion on the Tamborine Mountain area and community?
We’ve lived here for over 20 years. We were drawn here, one for its nature appeal but also its artisan appeal, and the older generations of the 60s and 70s with the potters and things like that. There’s a few other stores on Gallery Walk that are doing a lot of local artisan trade and products made from the Scenic Rim and it’s really nice to see that. We’ve got a couple of local artists too: Michael Jones from Tamborine Mountain Pottery makes our beautiful pottery, look gorgeous and handcrafted but it’s still dishwasher-proof. We’ve got local weaver Cindy Wood, and a beautiful metal artist at the moment, Jan Brown, so we’re able to showcase a lot of other local artists as well.
What do you think e360 Design really provides to the area?
What I would hope that it provides to the area, is pieces that are handcrafted, unique, that you cannot find anywhere else, designed by local artisans, and made locally. We are proud of that, that we’re not just buying things overseas, or out of a catalogue. We’re making things from scratch, right here in the Scenic Rim. They are unique and they’ve got a story to tell, and that’s what people are after.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
The creative process is a dream. To be able to think of something and make it come to life and see it in the gallery. It’s a long process, so you have to be patient, but there’s nothing better for me than having an idea and then seeing it actually made, and the cherry on top is then if someone else comes in and loves it so much, gets some sort of reaction from it, that they wish to take it home… that’s the beautiful end chapter to the story.
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