From his childhood years, when your his mother took him to spend the holidays to old, every summer, Moi remembers with laughter “the heat and the flies”. It had little to do with the tranquility of that a secluded town with whitewashed walls and slopes everywhere with what it is today: the charm remains the same, but those alleys were walked and retraced by neighbors and a little more.
Because Vejer, as he says this Bilbao —almost-vejeriego— based in the south and in love with his motherland, he is fashionable. So fashionable that in recent years its visitors number in the thousands and the opening of restaurants, hotels and unique businesses is assuming a revolution. Effectively, Vejer is not what it was: it is much more.
The most desired white town.
And it turns out that one of those flirtatious businesses we are talking about is precisely Moi's: Eclectic Deco Vejer was born in 2017 willing to offer something different to the old-timer and, above all, to the traveler. A corner dedicated to decoration and design in which space is given local artists, but also to outsiders and even those from outside our borders. Among them, a common detail that at the same time makes them different: they strive to offer original styles, not reminiscent of anything seen before.
A very special souvenir.
THE HOW AND WHY
But let's go back in time a bit: let's know its history. Because Little could Moi imagine during those vacations when he was still a child, that fate had prepared this surprise for him. The years passed, he was growing, in his Bilbao When he was born, he met his partner, of Swedish origin, and they both went to Stockholm to try their luck. It was during those years he spent in Scandinavia —Ten in total—when he discovered that there was a passion that was beating hidden: that of the love for everything related to design and decoration.
Moi was then encouraged to train in Packaging Design, a profession who discovered what it is like to live from what one really loves. After finishing their studies, they made the decision: it was time to move, to change the big city for a more welcoming place. And from the first moment they were clear: why not settle in that postcard town who had seen him grow up?
Vejer is light.
The first local found his place in the new area of Vejer, although only a year later he moved to the heart of the town: Today, in the labyrinth of Vejeriega alleys, next to the Arco de la Villa and sheltered by barred windows and flower pots, this project is full of soul. And few are those who resist taking a look at the treasures hidden inside.
CERAMICS AND ILLUSTRATION: ITS TWO BASTIONS
When one crosses the entrance door to Ecléctica —although it is moving now and will soon have another, slightly larger one in the adjoining premises—, the first thing that strikes one is that its walls and shelves are full, full, of art. Illustrations everywhere after which the eyes go and that tell stories: their own, that of those who created them. but also ceramics there and there, decorative objects and even unique crockery. But what wonder is this?
After, after assimilating the artistic tsunami, probably one realizes that behind the small counter is Moi. It will not be strange that the protagonist of this story is immersed in the preparation of the packaging of a piece that someone has bought in your online store from the other end of Spain. Or maybe he's scouring the internet for talented new artists to collaborate with: the most surprising works always have their place in Eclectic Deco Vejer.
A name that obviously describes the essence of the store: a bit of everything, but with very good taste. In fact, they are 22 the artists with whom he is currently working. Among them, the Catalan illustrator sonia allins, whose works starring women are truly marvelous, or Ana Jaren, the Sevillian who has been giving so much to talk about with her colorful drawings.
One of the most successful assures Moi, it is Dr Lapi, an Utrera living in Vejer who years ago had the brilliant idea of recreate vintage film and propaganda billboards with details from Vejer himself: could there be a more original souvenir? Some of its sheets They hang outside the business and serve, as expected, as a claim: the one that shows the parts of the tuna simulating Anatomy of a Murder is one of the best-selling, although the local nosferatu there is no waste either.
The man from Bilbao comments that social networks are often used to find great treasures and new artists with whom to work, although on other occasions it is the illustrators themselves who contact him. Sometimes, and he recognizes that it is what he likes the most, he discovers new names thanks to the clients themselves, that They give you amazing ideas.
Because yes: there is no one who ventures to enter the store that does not end chatting about the mundane and the divine with Moi, but above all about art: contact with the client is precisely one of the aspects that he loves most about his work. There it is created, as he himself says, “a symbiosis of decoration and art”.
Dr. Lapi's posters among the best sellers.
MORE ART, MORE VARIETY
And if we have to continue talking about those who make up the great “family” of this unique space – things get interesting. Starting by Neil Pascual, from Granada who found her place in Vejer years ago and who, Although she has her own store, she also shows off her illustrations on the walls of Ecléctica Deco Vejer. His work of hers? Also eclectic, like the business itself: its fish based collection is beautiful to rage, although the lighthouses that dot the Cadiz coast have also had a place among her drawings. Flamingos, bathers, and one of the most unique themes: the elderly woman Dressed in traditional shelter clothes, she is quite a temptation for the clients.
He is also from Granada daniel strains, that pulls the childhood memories to shape the illustrations of it. And just a little further north, in Badajoz, was born RunFatiRun, that he finds in feminine and intimate speech his point of inspiration. She came to this little piece of the south years ago and here she decided to stay — her workshop is today a caravan parked in the garden of her house by the sea—and Moi had no hesitation in picking up her work at the store. Assisi Percales, that play with the grotesque and the bizarre in his drawings, or contraption, they add even more creativity, if possible, to the Ecléctica offer.
And next to all those illustrations, hanging, they show off the most unique tiles. Some are from Surrealejos, one of those brands that the Bilbao native discovered by chance thanks to a client: pure and hard fantasy behind which is Luca Colapietro, Italian artist who was impressed by the beauty of Portuguese tiles and decided to combine them with a touch of surrealism. But there is more, much more. Like the Portuguese pottery represented in the beautiful tableware of Bordallo Pinheiro, classic where they exist, or the original proposals of Laboratory d-Estórias. All are welcome here.
However, the thing does not stop there this temple to the art of the heart of Vejer. Beyond offering the most varied proposals, Moi has been encouraged on occasion with the decoration of businesses and private homes in the area, but also, even, to try his own creations. Collages in which he combines watercolor with digital drawing and that are already exhibited in Ecléctica Deco Vejer: living surrounded by inspiration is what it has.
And impregnate yourself with it, either by taking a piece home, or paying him a visit and enjoying a simple chat, one more experience than living in Vejer. Afterwards, there will be time to get lost in its streets and slopes and walls and arches. But the art, yes, we will have already tasted it. And it will have been great.