Steven and Bobby Clark

Steven and Bobby Clark

Homes

Artists Bobby Clark and Steven Clark (aka Den Holm) live above a shop in Thornbury in Melbourne’s North. Their apartment is a sweet and slightly quirky two bedroom space, with a rooftop garden just big enough for their beloved pup Scout! They’ve been here 18 months.

I have a bit of a crush on these two people. It’s all very innocent of course, after all they’re married (to each other)… so rest assured I’m just admiring them from a safe distance. The two people I’m referring to are of course artist and photographer Bobby Clark, and her partner, sculptor Steven Clark aka Den Holm. BOTH are seriously talented creatives making really cool, original artwork, and both have featured on TDF over the past few months. In retrospect it seems inevitable that we have convinced them to let us photograph the home they share in Thornbury.

Since Bobby and Steve relocated to Melbourne from their native Scotland six years ago, they’ve formed many close friendships with local creatives, and their apartment brings together the work of many of these creative friends. Their dining room table was a gift from close pals (and Bobby’s previous employers) Poppy Lane and Scott Gibson aka Pop & Scott. The ‘Dream Weaver’ floor lamp is another Pop & Scott creation, a prototype from their popular locally woven lighting range. ‘This light was one of the first ones we made while I worked at Pop & Scott, and it has great memories woven into the fibres’ Bobby recalls.

Furniture pieces not made by Pop & Scott tend to be vintage finds. Bobby’s favourite is her vintage Fleur couch. ‘It is like a big velour marshmallow and the colour is exactly what I wanted – I found this dream on Ebay for $60 bucks’ Bobby says. ‘We drove out to the Dandenong Ranges to pick it up from this gorgeous old couple who told us about its long history in the family and how they bought it in the 60s and were really sad to be letting it go. I love pieces with a history’.

Though they’re renting, Bobby and Steve are endlessly industrious ‘can do’ creative types, and haven’t been able to help themselves but make a few minor improvements here. They’ve painted both bedrooms white – the large master bedroom has become a beautiful light-filled home studio for Bobby, leaving the smaller second bedroom for sleeping. ‘It drives me insane that the rest of the house isn’t white. One day I will cave and paint it’ Bobby says.

Setting aside her ongoing frustration with the colour of her living room walls (!) Bobby has enthusiastically decorated and styled her place, all on a relatively modest budget. ‘We have moved around so much that most of our belongings have been lost along the way’ she explains. ‘I actually think this house doesn’t truly represent both Steve and I. It’s sort of bohemian, tribal, hand me down chic. Ha ha! When we build our own house from the ground up it will be our true style. This home represents us finding our way.’

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