Tracie & her Morph Designs Kiwiana t-shirts
As the Summer sun sets over another set of row after row of perfect waves, the breathtaking colours scintillate on the
smoky sand littered with tiny diamonds.
Welcome to Raglan - a tiny west coast New Zealand town which breeds a kaleidoscope of artists, both musical and visual.
Where the people are quiet, yet proud; and the surf, as the locals will boast is "the best left hand break in the
southern hemisphere"
One such Raglan artist is Tracie, the founder of Morph Designs: original Kiwiana t-shirts, each individually hand
painted one by one, and sold at craft markets around the Waikato as well as a few boutiques around the country and from
her website.
After spending 7 years travelling Europe, Asia and Canada, Tracie said she came to realise she lived in one of the most
beautiful countries in the world. And in returning home 2 years ago she felt inspired to share her love of Aotearoa.
Hence the birth of Morph Designs.
Tracie works from a small home based studio, where she cuts her designs into sheets of myla, and uses the stencil to
paint the design onto each t-shirt individually. It's a long process, but something that keeps Tracie enticed.
"It's so rewarding" she says, "it started as a hobby, but as more and more people asked where I got them from, I began
to think I might be able to sell them" and this she has done - starting with craft markets, and eventually launching her
website: www.morphdesigns.co.nz which has really taken off, with many purchases from overseas as well as New Zealand:
"Homesick Kiwi's seem to be really loving the t-shirts, they're affordable, plus it gives them a little piece of home I
guess"
She also concedes that moving to Raglan has been a big inspiration "the people here are so artistic and laid back, it
makes you believe you can do anything you set your mind to, I love it here" which is not at all hard to understand. For
such a tiny town, it really does have a certain esthetically creative feel to it. With it's asperous coast line you can
certainly see how artistic types get drawn to it, and inspiration follows.
Tracie and her funky tees can be found at many of the markets around the Waikato, as well as icandi Fashions in
Hamilton, The Paua Room in Helensville and by logging onto her website: www.morphdesigns.co.nz
ENDS