Marineland…..A childhood memory for a lot of New Zealand people that came to Napier with their kids. No one really thought about how the animals were captured or their treatment. It certainly wasn’t natural for a seal to get dressed up in a hat & tie & touted around. There is also something sad about the loss of the fun of Marineland & the show! This oar is a homage to the ‘Stars of Marineland’ & all the animals that spent their lives performing under great duress. With the death of Kelly the last remaining dolphin, the future of Marineland hangs in the hands of the local council. I think it should be a sanctuary for animals & an education centre with a lovely cafe. It should open out onto the waterfront so we can all enjoy it. It should be interactive & give people the opportunity to see these animals whilst in recuperation. Some animals can’t be rehabilitated back into the environment so it needs be upgraded so they can be kept in as natural a habitat as possible. Like a Marineland Te Papa style, a national icon….

What to do on a rainy day…dress up, go wild with styling, hair & makeup & do a photoshoot on the Home Base Collections sheepskin rug & fluffy sheepskin cushions. Brian Culy Photography, Model Billie Culy, Makeup Hair & Clothing Cushla Bower, Stylist Leanne Culy

Inspired by the classic peggy square rug Home Base Collections have created the sheepskin version from 50 pieces of New Zealand grown short clipped wool. Once sewn together the grain runs off in different directions creating a perfect luxurious patchwork effect. Fresh but snuggly the Home Base Collections sheepskin cushions backed with our fabric on one side is the perfect compliment.

Hutchinson’s have been down the road from us since we started printing fabric way back in ‘08. We thought it would be nice to share it with them. We approached them with the samples & their response was overwhelming. They were so excited by it. We left them with a few props, a few cushions, lamp bases & shades, fabric drops & their in house window dresser worked his magic! We have it on good authority he used to be the window dresser for Harrods! We think he definitely has what it takes. When you put Home Base Collections together as a story it looks fantastic & makes us proud.

They are now one piece shafts and the the tall model is reinforced with a steel rod.

Zigzag small with Nature Nurture shade

Zigzag tall with Red Rata shade

Lights on

The story of the Zigzag lamp bases:

Brian’s father David Culy was a Tutor in Cabinet making in the 1950’s, and was himself a master craftsman.

Many a weekend was spent by Brian reluctantly working for his dad in the shed at home, manufacturing lamp bases to sell to places like Kirkcaldie & Stains in Wellington.

So it is ironic that today we have taken a prototype lamp base that brian’s fathers produced in the 1950’s and given it new life.

The original prototype was the Small zigzag table lamp, but by using the internal, proportional calculation of the nautilus shell, brian came up with the a stretched standard version.

So now we have the Zigzag small and the Zigzag tall. They are made from the most sustainable timber we could find , New Zealand renewable pine. turned and totally manufactured in NZ

For more information and prices of our Zigzag bases contact us.

on a beautiful Hawkes Bay winter weekend, we headed out with nature – our inspiration to capture light, textures and the colours of winter

pale peach hoki on coffee coloured hemp with rata and tutu

snuggle into one of Homebase Collections merino sheepskin peggy square wool rugs. Grown and made in NZ

beautiful merino sheepskin wool rugs – 1450 x 2000

extended family on the walk starring Homebase Collections fabric….

Billie Culy – model

Jacobina Culy – assistant styling / photography assistant

Leanne Culy – styling

Brian Culy – photography

Cushla Bower – makeup and hair design

These limited edition, life size reproductions are printed on beautiful photo rag paper.

“These are a few of my favorite oars from my show at Black Barn.

The first one is called ‘Treasure’ and the most prominent image is the White Heron (Kotuku) that is sacred to Maori.

The second oar is called ‘The Heat Is On’. I painted this oar out at the beach in Haumoana and it was extremely hot at the time. I was thinking about Global Warming . We know it is real but try to keep a positive outlook. We don’t do anything because we feel powerless to stop it or maybe we just live in hope. ‘The Heat Is On’ is about running out of time.

The last oar is called ‘Gay Thrush’. It is simply a true story of a gay man and his friendship with a bird. Graham, who has a spectacularly beautiful and humorous garden, has made friends with the Thrush who now eats with him, follows him about the garden and was very happy to pose for me.”