Category Archives: Zen Garage

Zen Garage Leichhardt is now closed for good

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A photo I took when we first inspected the warehouse space in Leichhardt.

ZEN LEICHHARDT STORE IS NOW CLOSED FOR GOOD.

It’s been a few months coming, and we’ve kept it under wraps as best we could but for over a year we’ve been looking for a new venue and sadly we’ve failed to find the right space. Our lease is up (has been up for a while now) and we’ve had to make a very hard decision, one that none of us have taken lightly, but the decision has been made and we’re letting go of our Leichhardt store.

It’s been an amazing 3 years, opening up with a queue of people on day 1, a plethora of events, special guests, many who have become family and let’s not forget our sick Saturday hangs.

We’d like to sincerely thank everyone who dropped by at some point in the last 3 years. It’s been fucking amazing. Zen Garage will live on, our online shop will continue to run and we’ll soon have even more next level Zen products than ever. Of-course expect us to host and participate at even more events now that we’re not chained to the shop!!!

The Zen Crew.
Justin, Robert & Sergio.

On a personal side note, and completely my own observations and opinions: I can’t understand how ANY small businesses in Australia survive. Online, sure, no overheads, no worries, but having a bricks and mortar business? Forget it! Our insurance incase someone hurt themselves in our space was more than our rent!!!!

We’ve said it so many times before, we’re doing it for the love, but when the government takes so much from your business you’ve got to wonder, 3 years in, whether the love could soon run out.

I’m sad, but at the same time SUPER excited about putting the money saved from closing the physical store back into Zen, big time! A quick trip to Japan next month to energise, then I’m going to fucking slay 2015!!!

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BEST OF AUTO – Volume #01

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A couple of weeks ago I put a call out to get Automotive Photographers to submit their images for a feature on Zen in an aim to get more traffic to their web sites and Instagram followers.

I’ve always been a massive supporter of the little guy. Most if not all of the creative projects I’ve birthed have been about encouraging young people to create, and giving them a platform to get their work published, sometimes literally on the very same page as some of the world’s best. That goes a long way, seeing your work published right next to your heroes work.

In regards to photography I’ve seen first hand what a little encouragement can do, some of my fave photographers out there right now weren’t great at all when I first started promoting their work, now they’re fucking amazing.

So I knew there would be some great entries! BEST OF AUTO – Best of Automotive Photography Volume #01 is now live! Thanks and congrats to all photographers who submitted a photo!

Visit: http://www.zengarage.com.au/2014/08/best-of-auto-volume-001/

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American Zen

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I came across an image of this desktop toy set on tumblr. I did a search for “American Zen Day Dreamin’ in the Garage” and managed to find a new unopened one on eBay USA. Had to have it!

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Jasmine x illest

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Another day another shoot?! I shot Jasmine yesterday in some illest gear which we’ve got on sale in our shop. I love the almost voyeuristic shot of Jasmine midnight snacking on the nutella (check the size of that thing!).

More images on my tumblr.

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Jasmine Shoot #3 – Zen x Domo x Zoomer

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Jasmine was so keen to shoot she caught 2 trains from way out West to come in to Zen for some snaps late yesterday afternoon. Our last customer in the shop got a few snaps of Jasmine with his ride, then we closed shop, cranked Zen tunes up and got busy.

It’s so hard to take a great shot in the garage. The big lights give off a green tone and the natural light gives off a blue tone due to blue plastic roof sheets. I thought I’d make it even harder for myself and I grabbed a few of our Bunnings flood lights which give off a very yellow hue.

As usual, you can view higher res pics on my tumblr.

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Zen Bamboo iPhone cases

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Super happy with these Zen Bamboo iPhone cases made by Melbourne based company Natural Aspirations. Each one is different to the other, and lovingly hand made to order. They’re really thin too, and the quality is AMAZING.

I couldn’t sleep last night. At 3AM I was in bed playing with my phone, ran out of things to do on it (lol) so I thought, OK Apple… I’ll fucking update the iOS. I hit that update button and BOOOOM, the phone went into recovery mode instantly. I don’t often have my phone connected to iTunes so I’ve lost a LOT of images, messages, contacts etc as my last back-up was earlier in the year.

At least my iPhone looks hot now with this new case…

Find them in our online shop: http://shop.zengarage.com.au

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CARS ZEN COFFEE

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CARS ZEN COFFEE was an awesome success this morning. The rain held out, there was an amazing assortment of cars on display, great people, coffee, food and the venue (Bella Vista Hotel) was just perfect. I took a few snaps (with the fisheye lens for a change). I’m sure there’ll be many more amazing shots from other snappers to come.

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Royal Shine Detail Day at Zen Garage

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Mark from Royal Shine working on Robbie’s car as Robbie looks on.

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Alain’s horribly sun faded headlights before.

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And just as good as new after.

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Gleaming.

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Time for a cruise to snap some necks!

For more info, visit the full feature on Zen Garage Blog.

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Jasmine

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Another day another shoot! Jasmine (who was really fun to shoot) rocking our brand new Zen Garage Script Crewneck. No concept this time, just a straight out shoot as it’s always nice to try to get our new gear shot (she’s wearing an XS btw). Find the crewneck in our shop.

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Cars Zen Art

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That’s my key! My heart skipped a beat when I first saw this piece by George Nova. The detail is AMAZING.

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James Hunt by Zoran Nova.

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James Jirat x Trent Grubel x Zen Garage.

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Last night we hosted our very first Cars Zen Art show at Zen Garage. Was a great night of great conversations, great music, cold beers and great art. Many more photos on Zen Garage.

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