Far North Swim
Far North Swim - Image: Craig 'PhotoCPL' Levers
Like many of us I am drawn to the ocean; and always captivated the colour and the light, no matter what the weather.
When I first saw the water photos from Craig Levers surfing photo-shoot in the Far North I was keen to include some of them in my first round of digital printing, onto linen for tea-towels and curtains, as so i did. The Far North Swim image (above) didn't print as great as I would have liked, however it also became my inspiration for the colours used in my first collection; and as you will see I used a deep ocean green as the base-colour for the first run of waxed canvas pillow protectors and mini-squabs, alongside the use of golds inspired by the dunes (below).
Watercolour inspo
There are a number of incredible beaches you can access here, some with silica white sand, and others where the sand appears pink from the many broken down shells. This was the final piece of inspo to complete our first range of LUX Pillow Protectors, which use incredibly good quality outdoor velvets and marine canvas - which we have aptly named Shell and Sand. 
If you haven't been to New Zealand's far north eastern beaches then you must go; and If you have a 4WD camper you can easily drive onto the beach here and set-up for the day and enjoy some pristine water-front living. Oh, and if you are partial to pies... then i would highly recommend the Paua Pie in Pukenui - a real treat!
To read Craig's original blog from this trip and to see more photos from Craig Levers visit PhotoCPL
An in-depth story on this location involving multiple trips here can be seen in the book NZ Surf: The Collection Vol 2