Designed by Tanya Wolfkamp and published by Live Wires NZ, the new ‘He Pepe’ placemat series is in stores now. Pepe or Pepepe is the Maori word for butterflies and moths and this series celebrates the often overlooked New Zealand native moth and their important roll as pollinators in the the NZ ecosystem.
I photographed distressed paint textures and built up complex texture layers in Photoshop as a base for vintage NZ botanical prints, colouring in parts using 2020 Pantone and Resene fashion colours.
Top left: Yellow looper moth Xyridacma alectoraria and Xyridacma veronicae with an unlikely combo, the Marlborough Rock daisy. Top right: The Magpie Moth Nyctemera annulata with Karo Pittosporum crassifolium
Bottom left: Grass moth Orocrambus flexuosellus and and leaf roller Ctenopseustis obliquana with Whau Entelea arborescens. Bottom right: Grass moth Orocrambus flexuosellus with Muehlenbeckia complexa and the berries of Gaultheria antipoda.
Look for the matching coasters, greeting cards and wrapped soaps in this series.
Arriving October 2019 is an additional ‘Chalkboard’ series designed by Tanya Wolfkamp. Sometimes simple is best and this artwork contrasts the intricate details of our more unusual NZ native plants with the subtle charcoal textures of a schoolroom blackboard (which also looks like slate). Top left clockwise the NZ native plants are: Rimu – Dacrydium cupressinum, Exocarpus Bidwillii, Mangrove / Manawa – Avicennia marina, Akatea / Aka / Akatorotoro / Climbing White rata – Metrosideros perforata.
Also available as coasters
Lastly, adding to the very popular ‘Old Master’ placemats series, we have added two new designs to the existing range of four designs. Also available as coasters.
Top left: Kohekohe, cabbage tree flowers, nikau berries and a Puriri moth. Top right: lacebark, tawari, kohekohe pods, kowhai and pohutukawa and a nz native hibiscus flower Hibiscus diversifolius
For all wholesale orders contact Live Wires NZ Ltd and to find a retailer near you visit their handy finder on the Live Wires home page.
Most of these are out of print. Keep an eye out for new designs are released every year.
