Biography

After spending a 'no frills' childhood on a farm in a tiny village north of London I was keen to get out of school early and start work. Being an accountant for 10 years made me independent, but it was only when I decided to stop and leave England to travel I started to be happy. It was the first time in my life that I was doing something because I really wanted it. I just told myself: ‘Ok, let’s see what happens.’

I travelled in South America for 10 months and it was great, having time to be alone with myself, it was one of the best things I ever did. I met amazing people on my journey including my future husband. I spent a further 2 years in New Zealand and Australia, falling in love with the kiwi lifestyle, the openness and curiosity of the people and the laid back attitude.

Next I worked as a tour guide in India for two years, an incredibly rewarding but also intense experience. The guy I met in Bolivia was still in contact… again I followed my destiny and moved to Switzerland where we married and I learned Swiss-German! Shortly afterwards I was given the chance to start a career in international Human Resources where my English skills were a great advantage.

I moved from Switzerland to Whangarei in 2006. When I saw some woven blades on a flax bush it ignited my curiosity, I was instantly attracted to harakeke (New Zealand flax) as a renewable resource with which I could create useful and beautiful objects from the start. I started my Iearning from books and friends and was curious that flax growing everywhere could be woven!

With only basic knowledge from books ('Fun with Flax' by Mick Pendergrast and Ali Brown's book on weaving flax flowers) I joined my first weaving wananga (place of learning) at a marae (Maori meeting house) - Pa Te Aroha in Whirinaki, Hokianga - in Nov 2010, where other weavers kindly shared their knowledge with me. I started learning traditional weaving and was hooked when I learnt how to weave parou and kete. Since then I went to any weaving wananga I could and have attended all national weaving hui (meeting) since Kawerau and meet other keen weavers every few weeks to try out new techniques, colours, finishes etc.

I also decided to study Maori carving and design to broaden my depth and understanding of Te Ao Maori (the Maori world view), dedicating myself for the first time to discovering my inner artist. I learnt to search out and understand the stories of whakapapa, that designs used are significant and need to be used in the correct environment. As a weaver my muka producing skills are in demand for the bindings and lashings on traditional instruments and carvings.

I love still learning about the Maori tikanga (protocol) around the usage of flax and am continually surprised at how versatile this humble plant is. I hope to weave for many years to come and I thoroughly enjoy producing beautiful things from something that grows in my garden.