Ever been to a curio store that sells freakish and bizarre stuff? I bet you have not been to a shop that has more bizarre and eccentric stuff than our seller this week, The Odd Luminary. He travels around the world with his pet owl (Bubo) and collects the most unusual of products to sell on his store. Though of a slightly older age, the charm for oddities draws  him to the 4 corners of the world and claims that wanderlust runs in the family. The store is divided into different sections like the Laboratory (which houses beasts, creatures, specimens and monsters which seem to resemble voodoo dolls), Library (where he sells odd books - note that the time machine book costs a hefty $6000.00), Parlor (where he sells sculptures and odd ends), Vivarium (which has framed insects), Attic (which sells jewelry and tote bags) and the Gallery (which sells fine art prints and photographs).

The Odd Luminary's house is filled with odd creatures, beautiful handmade art, and many peculiar one of a kind pieces that often defy description. He claims that all his products are handcrafted by artists and none of the stuff is mass produced in factories. The Odd Luminary also maintains an online journal here. You will be able to learn a lot about the personality of The Odd Luminary by going through his journal and get a better idea of his travel exploits. If you like me, are a true lover of  the odd and the bizarre stuff then I would definitely recommend that you visit his store.  The Odd Luminary was good enough to take some time out of his busy schedule and answer a few questions for us. Read on to catch his interview and see some of the strange items gathered by him:

The Odd Luminary (TOL), please tell our readers something about yourself.

Well, hello. I am an insufferably curious old gent. I revel in the odd and the eccentric. I often think the ugly is beautiful, that the creepy is the terrific, and I am constantly searching for things that are wondrous and strange. I love stories, history, and traveling. I’m a bit of a recluse and sometimes am rather grumpy. My best friend is my pet owl Bubo and she is with me everywhere I go. I love words and myths, deep shadows and dark secrets, and a good joke.

























Tell us how you go about collecting products for the store? How do you determine whether a product qualifies to be added to your store?

I fill my house with odd and unusual art pieces from around the world. I look for pieces that are a little off-kilter, slightly dark, and always inspiring. I like things that can’t be found anywhere else and every product is handmade by an artist – nothing is factory-created and many pieces are one-of-a-kind but everything is slightly dark, slightly whimsical, and strange.





























Please describe your art collection to our readers.

My house is filled with an eclectic collection of art handmade by artisans from around the world. Each room of my house holds different groupings of art. There are gorgeous museum-quality prints of etchings by a Lithuanian artist and astounding underwater photographs by a Russian photographer. There are whimsical metal sculptures smithed in the Southwest and the South and hand-fired porcelain pieces from the Pacific Northwest. You can find stunning hand-made books that are works of art in and of themselves and jewelry made in both Brooklyn and England. There are mind-boggling needle-felted creations and exotic insects under glass. There are paper mache figures from Romania and fabulous monsters from the British Isles. If it’s considered “weird” it’s most likely found in my house.


Given the eccentric and odd nature of your stuff, how do you promote your products?

I rely on social media a great deal to promote the store; I have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, and a Pinterist account and I often post on StumbleUpon, Reddit, and Digg. Fans of the art in the store have written blog posts on their personal blogs and I am always humbled to hear from folks around the world who have found my store via word of mouth. Those of us who enjoy this niche category of art often find each other through word of mouth and mutual friends. I love hearing from people who also enjoy the outré and the inspiring.






























This could be a tricky question for you TOL but of all the odd things that you have collected, what is your personal favourite?

An impossible question to answer, sir! Each piece in my house is a story and a memory and so each one thrills me in a different way. What really excites me is when these pieces speak to other people as much as they speak to me.


TOL you must have travelled to a great many places to acquire your collection. Tell us about your travels. Which places did you find most eccentric and what did you get from there?

You might expect me to be rather jaded from a lifetime of travelling, but I am constantly surprised by the world. Wanderlust runs in my family, and I often cross paths with family members (both distant and close) in the oddest corners. For instance, I inexplicably ran into my Cousin Cate in Tasmania where she pressed a small talisman into my hand before heading to Greenland. I am a great lover of the world and enjoy my time exploring castles in Scotland as much as I enjoy traversing Morocco by camel (Bubo might have a different opinion since she does not care for camels at all). A morning in Nova Scotia is just as exotic and eccentric as a morning in Budapest, in my opinion. As old as I am, I try to remain un-jaded and to find the wonder in each tiny crevice of this planet. I will tell you that owls do not enjoy airports and neither do I. But one makes sacrifices to travel near and far.





























What other activities do you enjoy? What do you do to relax yourself?

Obviously, I love to travel and explore, but I find it incredibly important to slow down as well (especially at my age). I enjoy nothing more than a good walk. I am constantly surprised when I take a walk in my neighborhood in Brooklyn – there are always new things to see, smell, and hear even along a familiar route. I am a voracious reader and enjoy settling into my chair with a book and a hot cup of tea. Gardening and botany are also favorite pastimes of mine. I’ve been known to soak in a hot bath whilst listening to jazz after particularly stressful days, though I don’t go in for candles and heavily scented bath salts. And nothing beats a drink with good friends. My brother and I recently went roller-skating. That was hugely entertaining but we’re still recovering from our bruises.

What are your future plans for the store? Do you plan on expanding the repertoire of products that you sell?

I am always on the look out for new art and artists, and am constantly expanding the collection of pieces. In fact, I have recently acquired a pygmy yeti! I think there is room for many more pieces and I keep my eyes peeled for art and artisans whose work and aesthetic compliment the collection I already have.

What advice would The Odd Luminary like to give to people who collect quirky/odd stuff?

You can never have too many odd objects in your house. A home is like a personality; it develops and evolves just like we do, and our art collections should reflect our changing appreciation for the world around us. There are no wrong answers in outré art.


You can see his wondrous, strange products and read more about The Odd Luminary at:

Website
Twitter