Happy Esther!

Instead of letting your friends overdose on chocolate this Easter, give them a gorgeous Esther Diamond tea towel instead.

All images supplied by Esther Diamond. March 2009.

It's a beautiful range that includes designs by well known Hawke's Bay artists Martin Poppelwell, Dick Frizzell and Leanne Culy. I gave a friend an Esther Diamond tea towel recently and she's declared it 'far too lovely to dry dishes with' and it's about to meet the framer. That's typical of just about everything in the Esther Diamond range - and you can check out the products by clicking on http://www.estherdiamond.com/ I've also written about them several times previously and you only need to click on any of the index labels in the line below this post to read those.

Artist Studios - 8

Leanne Culy. Napier, June 2008. Ajr

Leanne Culy spent most of her working life in Wellington as a graphic designer and stylist in the film industry. Now she works out of a fabulous studio in her Napier home creating her artworks on old oars. She has a passion for nostalgia, the way things were and much of her imagery is based around familiar New Zealand icons – the tiki, flax, shells, plants lace and teapots. She loves to mix European and ethnic symbols and colours. More recently she has also created Home Base Collections, a range of fabrics printed with her designs. www.homebasecollections.co.nz

Soft Landings

June 2008. Ajr This is just a tiny taste of the terrific cushions from the Esther Diamond Collection. Top: two from nationally acclaimed artist, Dick Frizzell; Bottom left; a witty offering from Napier-based Martin Poppelwell; Bottom right: a new take on the stag’s head from Napier artist, Leanne Culy. You can see a whole lot more of this creative take on household comforts by tuning in to: www.estherdiamond.com or www.eon.co.nz