It was Mother's Day here in New Zealand on Sunday. Now, I know that many people will argue that it's just a day that greetings card companies and retailers have cleverly cashed in on. Maybe, by celebrating mothers and fathers on days that were designated somewhere back in the mists of time, we are falling willing victims to this cynical ploy. But frankly, I don't really mind that. It seems to me that creating an excuse to celebrate another person is always a good thing. Granted we should make sure that we don't take the people in our lives for granted the rest of the year! I had been mentioning for several days beforehand that Sunday would be a lovely day for a photo shoot. The plan was to head over to one of our favourite local spots on the East Coast. The "East Coast Sandstone" skirt and "Briny" top that won the Creative Fibre Contemporary Fashion Award last week was a bit of a last minute entry and so I hadn't had a chance to photograph it beforehand.

So, when I returned home on Saturday afternoon to find that my model had spent the last hour painting an extremely elaborate design down her right thigh, I was speechless. Her first suggestion was "Thin Lizzy" - she'd seen the ads. I was unconvinced. But then I really looked at it. So detailed, it was beautiful. THEN I remembered that, like me, my children were created creative and I was looking at the expression of her gift. I loved that I could do a shoot that featured a beautiful blend of our separate creative works.

Set against the backdrop of textural rock, with the setting sun glittering on the water, the rippling hemline of the "Briny" top laps against the "East Coast Sandstone" skirt which is inspired by the layered sandstone cliffs that are found around Auckland's east coast. And the undulating hemline of the skirt reveals just a glimpse of the model's own artwork.