MAKER is based on our Lifestyle block in rural Waitao outside Welcome Bay in Tauranga. We're close to town but tucked away at the foot of Kopukairua. As well as our studio and workshop, we grow avocados and graze horses. There’s a lot of stimuli here for creative exploration. Our Lights are made from Radiata ply. We were keen to keep our footprint small, so we sourced a very good manufacturer based near Greymouth who uses New Zealand-grown Radiata trees for their product.
My approach tends to be quite process-driven. In other words, I start making and then the ideas come to me. I play with proportions until I feel they are right, so it’s quite intuitive, but also critical. I like to use the skills I have gained as a craftsman but also apply them in unusual ways to arrive somewhere new. It’s a journey really.
Both my Dad and step-father were huge influences in the early development of my approach both technically and philosophically. Travelling in my twenties and moving to New Zealand in my thirties have all had a significant impact on my values and hopes for a fast-changing world. My designs are all some kind of expression of these factors.
