EVYN Magazine by Devyn Staines

Fashion, Hair Design Awards Wanganui Regional Hairdresser of the year awards

Welcome to the world of Evyn. A Hair, Beauty and Fashion Magazine. On your travels you will also meet some amazing, and different artists from within the Wanganui community.

All content is produced by Devyn Staines, of Tiny Fox Photography, unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved 2015 ÂŠ. No Part of this magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior permission from Devyn Staines. Printed by Wickliffe, 42-48 Cuba Street, Palmerston North. The paintings on Page 3 and 63 were created by Caitlyn Mackley, and the advertisement for Little Minx Boudoir on page 82 was created by Becs Flanagan.

Fleur Wickes 4

Emma Cunningham

Canaan Honey

CONTENTS

Mural city

Hair Fashion Design Awards

Sue Spence

On the cover

Rarotonga

Second hand shopping

Photo: Devyn Staines Hair Stylist: Fleur Devonshire Hair Fashion Design Awards

Contributors

I need to say a special thanks to a few people for making this magazine happen; without any of you this wouldn’t have been possible.

Hello! My name is Devyn Staines, and I was born and raised in Wanganui, New Zealand. I have a great attachment to and love for Wanganui, mainly due to the towns rich art and cultural heritage. This photographic magazine was created not only for its hair, make up and fashion purposes, but also to get to know the artists within the Wanganui community. I believe that there are many wonderful artists that are not being seen or heard.

Get to know ME!

Firstly, a huge thank you to my friends and family who have put up with me over the last three years of study. I have had such a wonderful time, but also some very stressful moments. So thank you for your support through all of that.

Photo by Hannah Mills

My favourite colours?

My favourite musician?

* I have had surgery twice on my right knee.

*I hate being late. * My eyes are my favourite body feature. * I do not have a middle name.

Fleur Wickes Jenna Rei Campbell Sue Spence Emma Cunningham Caitlyn Mackley Lara Hawker Lucy Brickley Morgan Nordin Sarah Browne Stephanie Greig Bailey Sherlock Carol Hayward Jaqui Broughton And all the wonderful models at the Hair, Fashion Awards 2015

5 Random Facts about me:

* I love lizards and would love to own one.

Secondly, thank you to everyone who contributed to the magazine, whether this be through interviews, models, or even just your opinion on what I could do better! So thank you to:

Lana Del Rey

My favourite quote? “Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph” - Andre Kertesz

Paul Brooks Anne Marie MacDonald Layla Papworth Amy Fowler Hannah Mills Mikala Galvin and Becs Flanagan Also, a huge thank you to the lecturers and peers who have helped me through this stressful time, and given me hope that it was achievable to do such a project. I would especially like to thank my Visual Imaging (VI) group, Green Eggs and Ham, who have helped critique my work each week and given me ideas on how to make this magazine even better. Thank you! (P.S Sorry if I have missed anyone out, but you know who you are, so thank you!)

We Love..

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LOVISA With regular sales and already low prices, head along to Lovisa where you get value for your money. This particular piece was a bargain at $12.

Chi Chi nail polish normally $11.99, on sale for $3 FCUK Perfume $29 Freemans face mask $2.99

Body Scrub, normally $12, on sale for $3

CANAAN HONEY Sweeten up your life with a drop of honey! Canaan honey in Wanganui produces their own local honey at an affordable price. With a range from the more pricey Manuka honey to the regular Clover honey, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something for you. Not only can it be used for your breakfast spread but also as a healing and beauty product.

WANGANUI ARTISTS OPEN STUDIOS Experience a world of art at the annual Open Studio event, where the local artists open up their studios for two weekends to allow you to observe their working space. This is a must see event, so schedule this in your diary for March 2016.

house, got married, when you have children things change, and now I love it here. We live out of town (25 minutes out of town), so we have a little rural property with chooks. We have two boys, 8 and 10, who are running around wild and that’s why we are here now, just for the lifestyle. We spent the day at the beach yesterday, you know? It’s hard selling art, but yeah I’m getting there. In the past I have sold work out of town, so I just need to start doing that again as well.

For your jewellery, what type of metal do you use? Most of it is cut out of vintage silverware, so cut out of old silver trays and things like that. I cut it up, sand it, beat it, rib bits together. So most of it is made out of that. I’ve done some brass works as well, brass wire and beaten wire.

Emma Cunningham Meet Emma Cunningham, she is the ‘flying dog’ of Wanganui. How long have you been an artist? Well, I went to art school in Auckland, and I graduated in 1995, so 20 years. I was at art school for 5 years. So yeah, a long time and at art school I majored in printmaking, so that was my main focus. In my final year I started to do big wood cuts, and then I got more interested in the actual cutting of the wood, and the boards, than the actual works on paper. And that’s how I got more interested in the sculptural side of things and mixed media. What influenced you to become an artist, rather than something considered ‘normal’? I don’t know, I should have done something more normal, nah I shouldn’t have. Do you know what, I’ve always wanted to be an artist right from a little kid. I went to Sacred Heart School, here in Wanganui, and one of my reasons for going to that school was because they had a good art teacher, Jane Maxie. She was an amazing teacher. I just had it in my head that that was what I wanted to do. I thought about doing textile design for a while when I was at school but I decided that no, I wanted to do fine art. Since leaving art school, I’ve pretty much been a practising artist but I went overseas for a couple of years, and I worked in retail and that’s what I have done to support myself up until now, doing it full time this year. I’ve also worked in cafes and that sort of thing to support myself.

Do you find that you need a part time job or can you support yourself and your studio? Barely. See this is a work in progression, being full time this year and I’m sort of working up to a point where I can support myself. So, lucky for me, I have a supportive husband so that when I have a slow week or two then I’m still okay. Where are you from? I’m originally from Waverley, and when I finished art school I came back to Waverley. We had to do a solo exhibition out of the school, as our final year, so I did that in an old shop in Waverley, and then I got a commission. I did a public sculpture there in front of the information centre and library. That year I got the commission, I won an award, which is where I got the money to go overseas. Why did you stay in Wanganui? I left school when I was 17, and went to Auckland to go to arts school and I was there about 4 and a half years. I came back to Waverley just to do that exhibition and then I went overseas and I thought I would never come back to this area. I met my husband in London, and we actually ended up coming back to New Zealand and running a furniture business together from Waverley (he’s an engineer). Then we decided to look for a

For your mixed media work, where do you find the items and come up with the ideas? Umm, the ideas just come from nowhere. I don’t know where they come from really. Sometimes I’ve done work, and looked back on them and wondered how did I get to that point. For the work, ‘Hinterland’, for example, that came out of moving out to the Makirikiri Valley, and that’s why it’s called Hinterland. And I did a whole exhibition around that. So the bits and pieces within that work are to do with what I found in a shed. All the materials I put into the work add to the meaning of the work. How did you come up with ‘The Flying Dog’ for the name of your studio? Flying dog motif has been in my work for around 10 years. All sorts of names went through my head, but that kind of stuck. The first flying dog was an angel dog, when my dog died. But I sort of like the idea of it. All my little brooches are things that fly. Except for the deer, they have antlers, but everything else can fly. What is the hardest thing about being an artist? Income, regular income. The rest of it I love. So, I don’t find it hard to come into work, I don’t find it hard getting motivated or, I don’t find it hard coming up with ideas, all that just comes with working everyday, I suppose. But it’s a fine line between making what you want to make, what’s true to yourself, and making something that’s sellable. So I tend to stick to making something that I want to make. Generally if you put your heart into something, someone else will see that. Do you think the arts community in Wanganui has helped you? Yes, I do. It’s a great little community, and even though I’m from around this area, until last year really, I didn’t know a lot of people in the arts community. And everyone is supportive of each other; it’s a nice little network. And I think because we have such a strong network it draws people from out of town as well.

Do all your artworks have meanings? Yip, some more than others. And I find some of the meanings quite hard to talk about, again, some more than others. Why did you want a studio? At first this space came about because I needed a bigger space to work from, and also I wanted to exhibit in Open Studios this year. Also because we live so far out of town, down a really windy road that’s hard to access, it was good to have a space in town. And then I decided that I may as well open up the doors and it all sort of changed and I created this little gallery space. So I can work and sell stuff as well. But the studio I had at home was just a little cupboard and I would just take over the house and so, now I have all this space. It also gives me a better work ethic, cause I come into town and drop the kids at school, then come to work everyday. Then I knock off, pick the kids up and go home and i can do that side of my life. Do you think Open Studios gave you more of a reputation? Yes and no. Open Studios was so busy, I couldn’t believe it. Mum helped me out, thank goodness, but we had over 1000 people over the two weekends, so this was just packed the whole time. But there were heaps of people from out of town, so I know that they will come back to Open Studios next year, but I haven’t

seen a lot of them since. As for the locals, they have come back to get bits of jewellery for presents and stuff like that. Did you sell much over Open Studios, or was it more for show? I did quite well, i sold lots of jewellery and I sold quite a lot of little works, and a couple of big ones. I sold a really big one to someone local and I sold a couple medium size to a few from out of town. I think the ones from out of town come to specifically buy work, and they look around all the galleries and they decide what they want to do. Whereas the locals just go around to see what people are doing and yeah maybe buy a little piece. And it was really good being in this area of town. Is the studio long term? No, so the owners are eventually going to do this building up, so I’m here until they decide to do so. But when they decide to do it up, I will move on and I will get myself another studio in town. I’ve always had a studio, no matter where I have lived. Even in pokey little flats overseas, I’ve always had a bit of a space to work from. This is the first studio that I have opened to the public, and I want to continue that.

Do you dislike anything about your own artwork? Ooh, tricky question..ahh well some works I like more than others. But if I’m not happy with something, I won’t hang it, so I will just keep working on it until I do like it. Which could mean scraping it right back to the canvas and starting again. But, no I don’t. Any advice for aspiring artists? Work hard, work sort of comes from work, so if you’re not working at it every day or every couple of days, you sort of lose it a bit. I remember my tutor saying, even if you go into your studio and you just sharpen your pencils, at least you’re thinking about it. It’s always handy to have another way to support yourself, in hindsight, it would have been good for me to go to teachers college, but my art would have been different. I’m almost happy in a way to be doing what I want to do, even though I’m not making a fortune at the moment.

Eloa

The angel of sorrow and compassion. Model: Bailey Sherlock

Mural City 18

Black skinny jeans . $40. Hallensteins. Summer shirt. $20. ASOS.com Sunglasses $34. France Boots. $80. No.8

Black and white shirt. $50. Hallensteins Short sleeve hoodie. $35. Hallensteins Shorts. $30. Vonzipper. Socks. $20. Volcom Skate Shoes. $20. No1 Shoe Warehouse

Tye Dye shirt. $30. Siksik Chinos. $80. Hallensteins Skate Shoes. $20. No1 Shoe Warehouse Volcom cap. $80. Volcom Merchandise.

Black long sleeve dress shirt. $50. Hallensteins Yellow jeans. $40. Hallenst

Wanganui, New Zealand ph: 0279638807 e: devynstaines@gmail.com

Lara Hawker With a quick trip down to Wellington, we met this wonderful lady who is definitely an up and coming artist. So watch her like a hawk. Where are you from and where are you now? I was born in Wellington, New Zealand and raised in Wanganui. A little over a year ago I moved to Auckland to study makeup effects at CutAbove Academy. What qualifications do you have? Diploma of Production Design and Sculpting from my time at CutAbove Academy. I am currently working on finishing up the Basic 3D Makeup Dick Smith course. Do you have an artist models that you follow and gain inspiration from? I draw inspiration from many people, some of my favorite artists are Sofia Bue, Matteo Arfanotti and Jordu Schell. I was lucky enough to assist Sofia at the World Body painting Festival in Austria this year, where she took out first place. Do you pursue a specific theme within your works? I love nature, which is a common theme in nearly all of my work. I try to keep my work as diverse as I can, always trying out new materials and techniques.

How much drawing do you go through to prepare for your body art? A lot! If I’m doing something for a photo shoot or a competition, I will always do a pretty comprehensive plan on paper. This year at Hamilton Armageddon, I only had four hours to complete my Princess Mononoke makeup, which included a full body paint, as well as the paint and application of two prosthetics. Since the time on the day was so short, I actually did two full body paint trials with my model beforehand so I could make time on the day. Have you always wanted to be an artist? I was actually seriously considering going into aeronautical engineering as I did a huge amount of science and maths in high school and really enjoyed it. I decided to take a gap year after completing my education to get a taste of the working world, while giving me a bit of time to sort out my priorities. During this time I found my passion for makeup. What are your other hobbies? If I’m answering honestly, I would have to say that pretty much my entire life is spent doing some form of art at the moment. Between professional work and personal work, I don’t really have time for much else!

Is your working space tidy or messy? Well, I definitely prefer a clean workspace (and I always start with one) but in situations like with an 8-hour body paint, it becomes a little harder to keep everything in pristine order. So despite my best efforts, sometimes it can get a little messy! Do you have any advice to anyone wanting to go down the same career path as you? If you’re only doing it for the money - choose something else. If you want instant results - choose something else. If you want to be in the spotlight - choose something else. Only choose this as a career if you cannot imagine yourself doing anything else. Is it an expensive career? Extremely. I believe that you should always be aiming to do a mixture of self-driven projects as well as professional, paid ones. By expanding your skills in your own time you become more marketable, and by working professionally you gain experience working in the real world. However, self-driven projects come 100% from your own wallet, so you need to be earning enough to finance these too. Many FX artists have secondary jobs to support themselves during dry patches of work, and to finance such projects.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? I would like to be working at Weta Workshop. I want to work with people that are the best in their respective fields. Do you see yourself staying in New Zealand? Having just arrived back from my first trip overseas, I would definitely like to work overseas at some point, especially somewhere like Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. What is the hardest thing about your career option? Making a living off it. Being a successful makeup artist takes more than might first meet the eye. You obviously need to be good at what you are doing to succeed, but a huge part of it is being able to promote yourself and network well. Both of these are skills that need to be developed equally. What is your favourite material to use in your work? While a little old school, I love using foam latex in my prosthetic work. It takes a huge amount of time to sculpt, mold and run the foam, but the final result is incredible and unrivaled when you need something textured and lightweight.

Wanganui Fashion

Hair Design Awards

The 2015 Wanganui Fashion Hair Design Awards were held on Saturday the 1st of August, with a total of 78 entries. This meant tough competition for some, but for Emily Gudopp, she made it look easy, winning three events: The Cut, The Style and The Colour. She was the woman of the night. Emily Gudopp is a hair stylist at JAX hair studio in Wanganui. She is 19 years old and fully qualified. Emily knew at the age of 15 that she wanted to be a hair stylist, and therefore left school to start an apprenticeship, which has obviously worked in her favour. The judges were looking for next generation fashion, so “they were looking for someone that has pushed something a little bit further, not weird, but it’s a hair style or colour that has something new, different and exciting”. - Jaqui Broughton ( president of the Wanganui Fashion Hair Design Awards). Emily Gudopp fulfilled these requirements with a high standard of work, and therefore she was also nominated to be one of the few to enter the NZARH Editorial Stylists Awards.

Emily Gudopp said, “I got my inspiration from researching on the internet for new styles that were a little bit different, but also up with current fashion trends, and to win so many events was crazy because I didn’t expect it at all.” Unfortunately, only three hair salons in Wanganui entered, with the other entries coming from other areas around the Manawatu / Taranaki area. Jaqui Broughton explained that “some people don’t see the value in competitions, and some just don’t know about it, whilst some hairdressers aren’t confident enough. The Wanganui salons that did enter were, Protege, JAX and Chonel and we have been competitors for a long time. We love it. We think its really great training for the students and staff. It profiles people and builds up their confidence, as well as it being so much fun.” Jaqui also mentioned that a lot of effort is put into each hair style, with most hairdressers starting training about 6 to 8 weeks before the competitions, which is where they start to do trend mapping and mood boards. “We like everyone to either get a portfolio together or a mood board and start putting in colours, textures and ideas that they like so that they end up liking one

particular theme”. From these mood boards they pick a theme, for example, an era - 1950s. “ This year I knew that as I started to collect pictures, I wanted to work with feathers, but I also wanted to keep away from the tribal side of things”. - Jaqui Broughton “Once you have picked a theme, you then practise once a week and then that goes on to a couple times a week, then when it comes to a month before, you do 2 to 3 practices a week” - Jaqui Broughton. So as you can see a lot of work goes into these hairstyles, its not just something that you can pull off on the day. The NZARH Editorial Stylists Awards, were held on October the 4th, where out of the 478 images entered, Chonel hairstylist Carol Hayward was one of the top 14 finalists, who also attended the Wanganui Hair, Fashion Design awards. Carol created a short dark ethereal hair style. This hairstyle helped Carol become a regional finalist on the day. Hairdressing is an increasingly popular career choice for young and the more mature women, mainly because you can go into all sorts of things as it is rather varied. Most women choose to continue on and

do a beauty course of some sort. Also because of the qualification you gain at UCOL, you can take this overseas which can be really helpful for the younger students who want to travel. Jaqui admits that she has stuck with hairdressing because, “I think its exciting because its always different. It’s always changing, you meet so many different people. I love it because I really enjoy clients, I think they can make your world such a better place and being creative is fun and everyday is different. So I kind of like that than being in an office everyday”. If you are interested in hairdressing give UCOL a call on 0800 GO UCOL and someone will be able to help you out.

Hair by Carol Hayward

Hair by Emily Gudopp

The Results!! The Cut: Next Generation 1st - Emily Gudopp 2nd - Jessica Petit The Cut: Senior Stylist 1st - Tiffany Spencer 2nd - Kate Watson 3rd - Carol Hayward The Style: Next Generation 1st - Emily Gudopp 2nd - Rachel Austin 3rd - Lia Gillam The Style: Senior Stylist 1st - Robyn Collins 2nd - Fleur Devonshire 3rd - Tiffany Spencer 4th - Jaqui Broughton Novice Styling 1st year: 1st - Samantha Watkin 2nd - Alicia Bakker 3rd - Alexandra Tonkin 4th - Brooke Caird

2nd year: 1st - Cherri Holly 2nd - Ell Lawson 3rd - Alice Monaghan 4th - Kath Smith Colour: Next Generation 1st - Emily Gudopp 2nd - Jessica Petit Colour: Senior Stylist 1st - Tiffany Spencer 2nd - Fleur Devonshire 3rd and 4th - Kate Watson Make Up: 1st - Christiana Cleland Highly Commended - Kas Regan Commended - Haylee Westwood

Caitlyn Mackley Meet Caitlyn Mackley, a recently graduated fine art oil painter. What qualifications do you have? Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Painting. Did you enjoy the course you did at UCOL? For the most part, yes. The environment of the art school was very close-knit and felt like a family. It was always a very warm atmosphere. In the last year or two there were frustrations between the tutors and students based on the future of the school, and what was happening with the change of programme. The stress that the tutors were going through was definitely affecting the students’ experience, and at times was frustrating. In saying that, the Fine Arts programme offered some of the most amazing experiences and chances to figure out exactly what it is you want to achieve as an artist, with a very supportive team behind you. Do you have an artist model that you follow and gain inspiration from? I’ve always had a huge admiration for Gerhard Richter. His whole artistic career inspires me constantly. His quality and manipulation of paint is something that I always try to achieve in my own work. Within photography, which is something I rely on heavily when I am creating compositions, Uta Barth’s images are a continuous source of knowledge when It comes to understanding the formal qualities of a composition.

Do you pursue a specific theme within your works? I always have an idea underpinning what it is that I am trying to achieve with paint. In the last year or so, I have been focusing on ideas of home, and a longing to be a part of something, to belong. And what that really means. Do you see yourself staying in Wanganui? For now yes. I love my home, I have my studio set up and the arts community here is fantastic. Such a nice town to call home. If the right opportunities come I’d love to try living somewhere like Melbourne. What is the best thing about painting? Working with the material. I love the thickness, being messy and being able to control a substance like paint to convey emotion, and create something that people can relate to. How much drawing do you go through to prepare for your painting? When starting a new body of work, drawing and taking photos is all I do for a long time till I’m confident that I have some strong compositions to build from.

What is your ‘style’? I predominately create large scale abstract oil paintings. They generally are very atmospheric and have a thick build up of paint. I enjoy the juxtaposition of light and soft colour against thick, messy paint scraped onto the canvas. Have you always wanted to be an artist? When I was young I wanted to write children’s books and illustrate them. Then I wanted to be a photographer. Then writer. When I figured out how to work oil paint there was no looking back. Any creative outlet and I’m interested. What are your other hobbies? Music has always been a big part of my life. Travelling, road trips. Anything with friends and family. Going to the beach, taking photos, and hanging out with my dog. Is your working space tidy or messy? Both. It’s an organised mess. Best advice anyone has given you? Treat people how you want to be treated. Love yourself. Stay humble.

Most important thing you learnt at UCOL? Art is subjective. Give everything a chance. Experiment, get out of your comfort zone, you might surprise yourself. Were you ready to get into the ‘real world’ when you left UCOL? Definitely! Over the four years of the degree I think you learn a lot of valuable lessons. I was ready to move on. Was UCOL the right choice for you? Yes. Although there were a lot of changes happening to the programme at the time of my study. I still don’t think I would have been able to achieve what I have if I had gone to another art school. The facilities and tutors give you a chance to really experiment and go outside boundaries.

Why you SHOULD shop at second hand stores.

Casual Wear When you think second hand, I bet you automatically assume the clothing is old, stinky and on the budget side of things, but have I got news for you! Second hand clothing is coming back into fashion and no, not everything is ‘old and stinky’, there are some real gems to be found and at a marvellous price too! These outfits shown have all been brought at the Wanganui second hand stores at the budget of $30 or less per outfit, with the most expensive item being the wedding dress. So why would you not want to get such a good deal? It beats paying double, if not triple the price at some ‘popular label store’, and the quality wouldn’t be much better. In fact, the clothing at the second hand stores is most likely made from better products.

BHS chiffon top. $3. St Johns second hand shop. Dark blue jeans. $10. SaveMart. Black shoes. $3. SaveMart

These outfits have been brought for different occasions, to show the diversity of what the second hand shops have to offer, starting from casual and working our way through to something more formal to wear at work. Going out for dinner? We have it sussed! And even the more special events like a wedding, that’s right we have your wedding covered at a budget! Who can say that they got a wedding dress at the second hand store for under $30? when we all know you’re gonna wear it once, and then store it away and never wear it again?

Pull and Bear Green Cardi. $3. St Johns second hand shop. Cream short sleeve top $3. Gonville second hand shop.

Another plus of buying at second hand stores is that most stores contribute their profits to certain charities. So while you’re getting a bargain, you’re helping those in need too! So someone please give me a reason not to shop at the second hand stores.... If you need more encouragement here it is! Not only do they sell clothing, they also sell home ware, so you may as well set aside a whole day and make the most of it! If you take the time, you will find some amazing things, in fact I have found some really awesome products, especially picture frames that I collect and do up. So get your DIY on! What are you waiting for? Get out there and find those bargains!!

So what second hand stores do you need to check out in Wanganui? SaveMart - 45 Kelvin Street, Aramoho The Order of St Johns - Tawa Street, Gonville St Johns Hospice Shop - 155 Ingestre Street, CBD Wanganui East Hospice - Wakefield Street.

Pull and Bear Green Cardi. $3. St Johns second hand shop. Dark blue jeans. $10. SaveMart.

Floral Dress. $12. SaveMart.

Special Occasions

Office Wear

Katies Long Sleeve Shirt. $3. St Johns second hand shop. Grey skirt. 50 cents. Gonville second hand store.

Wedding

Wedding dress. $25 . SaveMart. Shoes. $5. Wanganui East Hospice Shop

Top left: Pull and Bear Green Cardi. $3. St Johns second hand shop. Dark blue jeans. $10. SaveMart. Bottom left: White chiffon dress. $2. St Johns second hand shop. Right: White chiffon dress. $2 . St Johns second hand shop.

Best Buys

Sue Spence 50

Stitch - it - up;

Garment Alterations

How did you get into the fashion industry? I started in the industry, which is more production, and I still see myself that way, like more producing garments for demand. I don’t produce a range and try to sell it, because I find I would rather work for demand. So when I make something, I already know it’s sold. I then went to study and I have produced a few things for exhibition, my masters and some research. But as far as making a range and trying to sell it, I don’t do that, cause I don’t see the point when I have people coming to me asking for something they want. I know you used to work at UCOL, do you ever see many of your students’ work? I saw a garment that one of my students had made, she has her own company in Auckland; Miss Crab the label is. Someone had brought it into the dry-cleaning where I work, and when I saw it, I said ‘oh that’s one of my student’s labels’. I even had to ask how they wore it as it was quite a loose dress. She was telling me that she could wear it several ways, and that’s quite good cause you can wear it more than one way. So working at UCOL , I would hate to think how many students would have gone through there, more than 200, more like 500. Quite a lot of them have labels in NZ, like Pardon My French, Miss Crab, Penny Sage, that’s off the top of my head. When we get the Wellington paper and see the fashion pages, I can see some of my ex- students’ work, and I’m always looking for it too. Nearly every week there’s something in there. So I quite enjoy that, plus when I was working there I enjoyed the big range for design that would come through. I can keep up to date with a lot of my students on Facebook, and thats all I use it for. Some of them are over in London and some have not continued with fashion, some have gone into the magazine photographic type work, so that’s quite nice to see that as well. Do you have a big enough client base to support yourself? Not yet because I’ve only been doing it for 6 months, but today when the phone rang I’ve had 2 phone calls and I’ve got probably, a couple weeks work built up, and I’m thinking, ‘ooh ya know how am I going to manage this?’ And, I also think I have a contract going to be

drawn up at Pak ’n’ Save. They are about to get a new uniform and they have 270 staff. So that worries me a bit, it worries me because you don’t know when it’s coming, and I’m not in a position to say no to the work. At the moment I keep saying yes, but I keep saying by Christmas I need to decide which one of my 3 jobs am I gonna drop. And it’s quite hard, because I keep thinking I should drop the dry cleaner, but I quite like that as I’m out amongst other people. So I have to think seriously about which one I’m gonna drop. And then there’s the sewing classes, which are starting to build up as well. I really like working with those ladies and its nice to pass on my skills, and I don’t wanna drop that either, but I don’t know how long I can go rotating 3 jobs. But back to the question, I have around 50 clients at the moment, but to work full time I would probably need around 150. Why did you get into the clothing industry? I think right from when I was a young girl, I was interested in making things, I was brought up playing on a sewing machine, and then when I left school, I had 2 choices. I could have had a job at the bank or I could have worked in the clothing industry, but the money was double in the clothing industry so I took it that way. But I’m really pleased I went back to study because just working in this industry you don’t get much money. So going back to study, and then working in education was really worth while, as you got paid more money and I really enjoyed it as well. I enjoyed teaching and the lifestyle with having the holidays off. Is there anything you dislike about the fashion industry? I suppose one thing I do dislike, is that if I go and have a look in shops, everything is made in China, and a lot of it is not well made. So I don’t really buy much myself, because I look at it and think nah, it’s rubbish. Unless you wanna pay a lot of money. And do you wanna pay $500 or $600 for a dress or skirt? And I think, well I can make that, so I do. But overall, in the fashion industry, it is the quality of things that are not well made. Even most of the top designers in New Zealand are having their stuff made in China, because, is cheap, and they can make more money. But if you find products that are actually made in New Zealand, you will find that usually

they are quite well made. But because our labour costs are more expensive, not many designers use the New Zealand industry to make their stuff. When they started to employ garments from China, it must have been in the 80s the industry went straight to there, and a lot of people lost their jobs, (including myself) and that’s one of the reasons I went back to study again because I wanted to do something better.

What percent of your wardrobe is made by yourself? It’s probably around 75 percent. I have to say that if I go away on a holiday or something like that, I will probably buy one good thing, rather than lots of junky things. It’s quite nice sometimes to think, ‘I bought this when I went there’. My last holiday I went to Wellington, and I thought I would shout myself something, but you know what, I couldn’t find anything. I think too that as I get older the market is catering for the young. So it’s harder for me now to find things that I like. Or what I might do when I’m away is, take a sketch pad and I will sketch down things that I see that I like and I will come back and make them.

Is it expensive to make your own clothes? Well, I just worked for a customer and she thought I was really reasonable. She said she thought it was gonna cost her a whole lot more to have her things made, but yeah she said my pricing was reasonable, so that was good to know. But I can work quite quickly because I’ve had all those years of experience, I don’t muck around and I get on with the job. But yeah, I suppose what you’re up against now too is that you have got online sales, in the wedding and ball dress area, it’s usually cheaper to buy online and have it altered if you have to. To make a ball dress and have a pattern made to the picture that you might bring in, and buy the fabric and pay for the make, it could cost $500. And online, the quality isn’t the same, but for most times its just a oneoff wear, same with wedding dresses. Have you seen a decrease in those sales (wedding and ball dresses)? Yeah I think I have actually, especially in the ball dress area, I used to make quite a few. I did make one from scratch this time, and the others I just altered. So yeah, I think there is a decrease. And I think it’s also because we have a shop in town who has all those cheap ball dresses. The other thing is too that if you don’t have an understanding of design, you don’t know from the picture what its going to look like on you. So some people buy something, and have it altered because they can see that that style suits them. I can spend a lot of my time especially with wedding dresses, trying to get the customer to understand the process, because first i have to make it out of something, so I usually make it out of calico which is really horrible. But you have to have something to get shape, so that you can get their body shape and the design so that they can see. But they can’t visualize what it’s going to be like in the real fabric. But I’ve never had anyone that’s

been upset with the final result, but yeah, that can be difficult. And if I have to spend hours trying to convince them, sometimes I think its easier for them to go buy something and then have it altered if it’s not fitting them properly. What’s your most popular service? Altering or making products from scratch? It’s about half and half actually. At the moment I’m doing more from scratch, but I prefer to do the alterations as far as money goes because it’s quicker. An alteration job can take anywhere between 20 minutes to a couple hours, whereas doing something from scratch, it could take around 15 hours. Sometimes if I find it’s taking a long time, I find it hard to cost it out, because I think that the customer won’t wanna pay $300. So sometimes I just have to take the loss. I always talk about wins and losses. Sometimes I win, and sometimes I lose. I try to not lose but, there’s a limit to what someones gonna pay for something. What kind of material do you enjoy using most? I enjoy using natural fibre, so that’s like wool and silks, rather than polyesters. I really try hard to advise customers if they haven’t brought their fabric on what they should make it in. If you get the wrong fabric, the design may not look right. Has the fashion industry changed much from the years that you have worked in it? Yeah, it has got tougher due to the Chinese imports. I think the fashion industry, and the people who do well in it is because they have an inbuilt passion for it. And so, they will always survive, and always able to come up with nice ideas. I think that the people that go into it that aren’t prepared to work hard fail a

bit because sometimes you can put a lot of time into things, and you have to be prepared to see it through. The actual industry itself, they have deadlines. I also have deadlines here, but nothing like an industry where you have more of a mass production, and you have to have things out on a special day, otherwise they will just cancel their order. So there is a lot of pressure. But as far as it changing, a lot of the designers will work around a theme, and so it can be quite fun, or whatever they are thinking. Each season they might develop around a theme or a fabric, so it’s changing. But to be honest, I don’t think thats there’s so much a fashion at the moment. Whereas people just like nice clothes. Some people like nice clothes, while others may follow a label. As you get older, you do realise that you don’t need all the frills and extra added fabric, but it’s a hard one. If you looked at Wanganui for instance, I don’t see any fashion here, people just get around; they don’t dress very well. And I’ve just been to Wellington, and to be honest, I didn’t see it down there either, and I suppose if you go out then people make more of an effort, but not many people make an effort any more. It’s kind of hard to see where it’s all going to end up. I think a lot of the big labels, like Zambesi, and even Karen Walker and some of those, if you have a look at their clothes, a lot of them you can wear in the day and night, so I think that thats a really good thing; to be able to wear your clothes whenever. I believe if you’ve got your clothes, just wear them, don’t leave them hanging in the wardrobe. When I was brought up, we had our good clothes and they stayed in the wardrobe until you went somewhere, and half the time they hardly got worn. So I think you should just wear your clothes anyway.

Do you have a favourite clothing item? I try to not leave something to the side that I haven’t worn, I try to wear things quite regularly. If I see I haven’t worn that in a while I will try and pull it out. Have you got any advice for others wanting to get into the fashion industry? One thing I would say is that you really need a passion for it, because its quite demanding. I would suggest to go and work for a big company first, so you get to see how things run, as mistakes can be made really easily. By going to work for someone else, you can see the repercussions of that. So if you were then to go on and do your own label, you would be more aware of what could happen; cause it does happen. If you’re working in industry and you’ve got lots of people working there, someone’s gonna make a mistake, and one mistake can cost the company a lot of money. When you’re talking to me about this now, I’m all those years down the track, and I’ve learnt lots over the time. A lot of the things I’ve learnt are ingrained in me, and although I try and share as much as i can think of at the time, sometimes the very basic things, I think people should know. So I have to really unwind and go all the way back to the very beginning and teach people the very basic things, because some of them don’t know anything.

Fleur Wickes You have GOT to meet Fleur, she is one of the most coolest people I have ever met!

What’s it like being in your studio? It’s beautiful and it’s fantastic. It’s amazing having being in a studio, when I haven’t worked in a studio outside my house, so it’s very exciting to have worked here. This is great. How do you come up with the sayings in your artwork? They actually just come to me, I know that must sound cliche, but like with any writing or any artistic thing, you have to be there thinking about it and actually let it come. I also often misread or mishear what people say, and I’ll think they say one thing and they have actually said something else, and what I thought they said is what I like. Then I’ll read something in a book and I will think ‘aww’ and I will write down that thing. Do you go to anything in particular for inspiration? I really like Ilse Crawford, she is an interior designer / architect. I really like her as she’s into being human. I google her and listen to her all the time. There’s also Facebook, and I like Yellow Trace, it’s like a design page. I’m into interior design. There is this one page NITCH which is on Instagram, all it is, is a photograph of a famous person maybe once or twice a day and something they have said, and it’s just really cool. I get inspiration from everywhere. How long have you been doing this art? If you include study it will be 26 years. What do you like or dislike about the art world? First off, I don’t really consider myself in the art world; like IN IT. In fact I would say I’m kinda outside it. But what I like about the art world, the only thing I like is that there’s incredible artists making incredible work in this country, you know like Anne Noble, John Reynolds

and Ralph Hotere. I’m really into artists who make work that’s human and authentic. What I really don’t like about the art world is the intellectual standpoint which a lot of people make work and they write an essay before they even make the work. That drives me crazy, and this kind of art with a capital a, and capital i for important. I hate it, and I think it’s bollocks. People like Sarah Van Pick and Fiona Pardington, there’s so many people making incredible work but, what’s the word... There’s these ‘gate keepers’. These people who wanna make work so important and it makes me sick. I steer away from that quite strongly. It’s just the art world is like a business, like the rest of the world. And really a lot of that ‘gate keeping stuff’ has made people want to make a business of their work. There’s nothing wrong with that but I just think it’s bollocks. Not the business, the ‘gatekeeping’. Is there anything you dislike about your own art? God yes, absolutely, where do I start? When I was a young woman (I consider myself gloriously middle aged now) but I used to beat myself up all the time like nothing was ever good enough, I was such a perfectionist and it was awful, the way I used to beat myself up. I don’t have that anymore, but you know.

No, I still worry that my work is superficial and I worry it’s not good enough. I worry I haven’t gone deep enough too, yet. Sometimes I worry it’s boring, sometimes I worry it’s middle of the road. Shall I continue? Nah I think what I’m dong is mine. After a long time I think there is, like I do think I’m doing something that is authentically mine but theres so far to go. How long do you spend on a piece of artwork? Well, the kind of nature that I am is that if it doesn’t happen quickly, it doesn’t happen. So in terms of the kind of creation of the work, like this is if I’m making a photograph or making a drawing it actually happens really quickly. A photoshoot might take an hour and the same with all of this drawing work. An hour would be the maximum. But then after that, there is the photoshop in both aspects. So my drawing work is photographic, its not printmaking. And so, I will spend quite a lot of time in photoshop, if it’s a photograph or drawing retouching. So if I was doing a commission, that may be 30 hours. I do a lot of re- photographing photos and scanning. I will draw the work onto paper and then scan and sometimes, it can be 7 different layers of pictures. In the end, it takes a while but the initial source is quick.

Has your client base improved having your studio in the centre of town? My client base is all around the county and even overseas so it’s not so much, although I have sold quite a bit of work to people in Wanganui. Although having a studio in town and showing that online has definitely increased my visibility. And moving into the world, which is what having the studio was all about, it has meant I’ve moved more into the world. And so, I’m showing myself more. So, yes it has. I’ve made quite a lot of connections with people coming into the studio doors for Open Studios. The thing is that you have to balance the thing of getting interrupted a lot, which is why I don’t open all the time. Because I like to talk to people, but I also need to balance it with doing work. When are your studio opening hours? Friday and Saturday from 10am to 2pm at the moment. And by appointment, like if someone rings me, thats fine. What are the positives for you, having your studio? The positives are that this is quite a big place and it’s allowed me to fully do really big work. Because I’m interested in the context, and how work is just shown

in a gallery and you just have the work and it’s like woo! But I’m really interested in showing work in the opposite way, which is the context of which it’s come in. And I’m interested in interiors in the human kind of way, not a perfect kind of way. So that’s whats given me a studio. I’m a really private person actually, and I don’t really like people in a work context coming to my house, so being able to have people here is really great, cause it means its completely separate. Plus it means I can smash this on social media, but it’s not showing my life, ya know? So that’s been really good. Just being able to make work, yeah it’s given me a lot of freedom in some ways. I’ve always wanted a place I could do this. It’s been really exciting. Do you find that you can split your work life from home? I do work every day between 5 and 7 in the morning at home. That’s where I do my written work for 2 hours, every morning. I’m very rarely switched off, it’s like being in business and being an artist. In fact, I went for a walk the other day and I was thinking about this art work, and I quickly wrote down the words, so yeah I don’t switch

off in that way, but home is also domestic. Like I don’t have any of my artwork at home now. Do you see any negatives in having a studio? Yeah, financially it’s hard, very hard. And it is really tough on the work because it’s not just the rent. It’s the overheads like rent, power and insurance. It’s a big weight on the work and heavy pressure on me. So, it’s pretty hard. Do you find that Wanganui’s art community helps you? I’m starting to get a little more involved because I’m opening myself up to the world a bit more. There’s certain people in this arts community that are amazing. Like Sarah at Space Studio and Gallery, so yes, it does help me. There are a lot of aspects, like if I wanted to learn printmaking, I could probably go and learn lt from Marty (Vreede). And so the atmosphere being set up for artists in a way is really helpful. It’s just that kind of tradition, like someone came into the studio the other day and she had seen the town documentary (on tv)

and she was like, I’ve seen this guy on there and he looked like he was having so much fun and do you hang out with him? And so when I think arts community I give that. What I really hate are openings, I really hate this kind of whining and moaning, complaining and getting pissed, and um that kind of art fun, as I’m kind of a nana, really boring in that kind of way. I don’t get out much. I get up at 5am and I do my work and look after my son. So in the actual art side of it, Wanganui’s amazing, but I’m just not. Sorry to sound so negative. I sorta just pick and choose who I surround myself with I suppose. Where do you print your work? The archival stuff (the big stuff) in Wellington. I use Hanton and Anderson in Wanganui to print for some things, but you know, it’s not set up for archival. So for the big pictures the prices are great, their services are good. I’ve used them for 5 or 6 years now. I would love to use somewhere local, but they can’t do the archival. What are your goals for the future? Ooh, my goals for the future are to deepen my commitment to my work, to let go of the business side of making art and give that job to someone else. To travel with my work and be the best mum I can be. And just keep pushing myself artistically every day as far as I can go, and just get heaps better. Do you see the studio being long term? No, I’ve actually just made the decision, I’m giving the studio up. The figures, just to give you an idea... To earn $50,000 a year, which is sort of an average income, I have to turn over $200,000. Well, that’s what the figures say. So business wise, I’ve given it a real go and

what I’ve realised is that after 25 years of really trying to do the business end, I just don’t care about it enough (the business end) and I always thought I did. This is really recent where this is coming from, like I didn’t feel this way when we set this appointment up. But all these little things have happened, in the last couple of weeks and to be honest, I’m not even sure if it can be done. I was at point where I was really beating myself up where I wasn’t good enough about business. And what I mean about that is being able to turn over $200,000. When I was in portraiture I was selling like $5000 each week, so that wasn’t so that far out of the way. But with artwork and it’s because I’m by myself, bringing up my son. When I was married and had a husband with a good income, even income, I used to bring in a lot of money and then not, and then a lot, and trying to make this happen on my own with limited amount of time. I cannot earn $200,000. So, no it’s not long term, but my art work is. What I need to make this space work, isn’t happening. That’s not what I expected to be telling you, but I’m really excited. Where I’m at now is letting the business side go, not because I can’t do business, but because I don’t want to. By business I mean, I know how to sell work, but there’s a difference between being a business person, and I massively respect business people unbelievably. You might see me at Foursquare, I am just gonna do my work and be a mum. I will get a part time work and I’m excited. I haven’t had an actual job in 16 years. I was 30 when I had my last job. I’m just like beside myself about it. Not leaving this, cause this is beautiful, but this decision to let the business go.

Tied Up

Thistles Sweet Shop The ‘sweetest’ shop in many ways. Words by Paul Brooks

The Thistle Sweet Shop turns 80 this year. Owned by Sharlene and Roger Millar, the shop has a long and fascinating history. Founded by a Scotsman and named after a prickly plant, the Thistle Sweet Shop was established in Guyton St in 1935 by Gordon Douglas Duncan, with the help of his daughter, Helen. Mr Duncan was a confectioner, making his own stock for what would one day be called “The Sweetest Shop in Town”. It still lives up to that reputation, stocking sweets from New Zealand and around the world. Until 2009, the shop remained in the family, owned by Dale King, Helen’s niece. Now, six years and two owners later, the shop continues its sweet tradition. “We have had it for about two years,” says Sharlene, and like their predecessors, they make on site the delicious varieties of fudge the shop is famous for. Flavours like Baileys, jellytip, creme brulee, red velvet, passionfruit and so much more. “We make all the fudges ourselves and the lollies are all brought in,” she says. Since taking over the shop, Sharlene says she has seen an increase in trade. “We are getting a lot more people in, especially because of the cake and baking materials, as we have a lot more supplies in that area for the customers. We do get a lot of out of town people, especially those who came here as children. When they come back to Wanganui, they want to come to the Thistle.”

Being in Victoria Ave is an advantage, says Sharlene. “You definitely get foot traffic; people always come in and have a look at what we have got.” And everyone has their favourite sweet. “I like the Bon Bon myself, but our fudge is a pretty big seller,” says Sharlene. A browse around the shelves is like a trip around the world, with sweet scents and colourful packaging from exotic locales. In the display case beneath the fudges are individual filled chocolates – light, dark and white – all tempting and obviously delicious. “We get a lot of English and American lollies,” says Sharlene, “Oh, and also Dutch, for the liquorice.” It’s all about variety. The Thistle stocks a range of products you’ll never find in a dairy or supermarket and it’s all high quality. Trying to count every lolly and every bar of chocolate would be a stocktaking nightmare. “We have 120 jars behind the counter and we don’t have all our lollies in the jars. We have all the loose ones over in the pick and mix, so there would be hundreds. There are about 1200 items that have barcodes and none of the loose lollies are included in that, so yes, we have a lot of different products,” says Sharlene. And what’s popular at the moment? “Jelly Tip and Salted Caramel seem to be the in flavours for people,” she says. Sharlene says there are definite seasonal trends in lolly buying, with customers going for the more fruity flavours in summer and chocolates coming to the fore in the colder months.

Self Conscious

What is the perfect body? Size 8, tall, blonde hair and blue eyes? Well if you don’t have it, it’s now easier to grasp than ever. Thailand and Korea seem to be the place to go, it’s affordable, you get a holiday and they do produce a high standard of work due to their huge client base. It’s no wonder that many Australians and New Zealanders are heading overseas to get ‘made over’. There is always something that you won’t like about your body. Whether it be that extra roll on your stomach, the scar that you got when you were little, or even something caused by a medical issue. However, as plastic surgery is becoming increasingly popular, whether you like the idea or not, these ‘imperfections’ are now easily changeable. But what we need to ask ourselves is are we meant to be perfect? Why do we want to change what we look like? Shouldn’t we be happy within our own skin. So why do we have the perception that we are not perfect the way we are? The fact that most magazines and any kind of clothing advertisement give the idea that both women and men should be a certain size and shape, by using models that are a size 6 or smaller to portray the perfect person is ridiculous. Not only does this shapes our own view of what we ‘should’ aim to look like, but makes most of our population unhappy with ourseleves and they way we look, resulting in the idea of plastic surgery. In saying this, you should still

look after your body; not just phsically but also what you put into your body. You should aim to be healthy, not skinny. Along with many other things in life, plastic surgery goes through trends. At the moment, Korea especially is seeing a lot of people, mainly women, having their noses and eyes retouched, so that they look more ‘european’. But my question is, what happens in a couple years time when the trend of today changes? Do those who have already had the sugery go back for more? And at what point do the surgeons realise that enough is enough, as there are many celebrities who have had surgery which has gone wrong, or it’s overdone. I suppose it’s the same sort of issue as tattoos, you seem hapy enough when you first get them done but somewhere along the track you may want it to be changed or taken away, but unfortunately you will never get your body back to the original. My advice to anyone who is looking into getting plastic surgery is, have a real think about what you may look like in 10 or 20 years time. Will you still be happy with your body? And is it worth that amount of money to change something that is fine the way it is?

Canaan Honey Shop Meet your local honey suppliers, John and Janice Brandon Honey is a bit like wine, says John Brandon of Canaan Honey. When people drop in to the shop at their apiaries in Mosston Rd and just ask for honey, he has to tell some of them that there are as many varieties as there are uses. “There are different flavours and different characteristics of honey that have to match what you want to do with it,” he says. John and Janice Brandon have been in the business for more than three decades. “My work has always involved agriculture,” says John. “I was brought up on a farm, trained at university and became a consultant with the Ministry of Agriculture, so my job was to advise farmers, bring science to the farm and apply researched results to the farm for the benefit of the farmer. I did that for 16 or 17 years and I finished up at an agriculture training place training students in practical farming. One day I invited a beekeeper to talk to the group and I got really enthused about what he said. I got a couple of hives as a hobby and that’s where it all started with us.” When the Ministry of Agriculture contract ended, they went beekeeping. “We made sure we learnt all we could so we could make our livelihood in bees. So for 33 years we have

been based here at Mosston Road. Our family were a big part of all the labour, the business, making of the hives, building up the hive numbers and getting established,” he says. Keeping it as a small family business, they produce the honey from hive to pot and sell directly to their customers, not through other retailers. “The family have now left home with jobs and families of their own and it’s left us holding fort,” says John. “Our customers won’t let us retire so our shop is now open two days a month instead of every day of the week and our customers are still coming in impressive numbers. “We have customers that have been coming for more than 25 years, so we have quite a lot of loyalty.” The Canaan beehives are all in the Wanganui district, with some in town and some within five kilometres of the edge of town for easy access. “I also have eight sets of hives further out,” says John. “It takes me half an hour to travel to them but it means I can get different honeys. I get clover honey from our hives in the Whangaehu and Turakina Valleys and the Westmere areas. Our manuka honey comes from the Whanganui River Road where the manuka is growing in the hills.”

The most common honey bought from their shop is the clover variety, because people are more aware of it and they like the price. Being a mild flavoured honey, it suits people who can’t tolerate the acquired taste of the stronger bush and Manuka honeys. Customers learn about the different honeys, the differences in colour and flavour, and realise it’s because the bees have collected from different flowers. Then they train their palate and get used to something with a bit more flavour and start to appreciate it. “Manuka honey is at the top end of the scale; it’s more expensive because of its medicinal value and it’s graded differently as well. A low grade manuka honey has only a small amount of the ingredient in it that makes it better for healing, whereas a top grade has a large amount of that ingredient. That’s not something that we put into the honey, that’s a naturally occurring thing,” says John. Some antibiotics are proving ineffective where manuka honey seems to work, which is amazing, he says. “So honey has got a higher and higher profile these days, not only as a food item but as a health item as well.

“People come here because they appreciate dealing with someone who has actually handled the honey right from the field, the farms where the honey is produced,” says John. “We can talk to you about the use of honey, whereas if you go to a supermarket, all you do is walk down the aisles and pick up a pot of honey and put it in your basket. You’re not talking to anybody about where does this honey come from? What can I use it for? Is it suitable for a wound dressing? Is it suitable for table use? Can I braise meat with it?” John compares it to the old days of specialist bakers and butchers who know the product intimately. “We like to talk to people about honey. It’s more personal. And my wife talks about different uses of honey, recipes and things like that.” This time of year the hives have to be checked every three weeks. The queen is busy laying eggs and the hive rearing bees, so that August to November are four crucial months in beekeeping. John and Janice appreciate the benefits of honey themselves. “People are becoming more aware of honey being a healthy food and are using it to replace sugar. They are using it in their hot drinks, for breakfast spreads and in their cooking. We ourselves hardly buy sugar and it

DIY beauty using honey

Face Masks Pore CleanserStir 1 tablespoon of honey with 2 tablespoons of Jojoba oil or coconut oil until it is a spreadable consistency. Apply to clean, dry skin and massage gently in a circular motion, avoiding the eyes. Rinse with warm water. Moisturising MaskSpread 1 teaspoon of honey on clean dry skin and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water. Acne TreatmentApply a dab of honey to affected areas and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes and rinse well. becomes a talking point for our customers. Honey is not a refined product like sugar and so it’s got a lot of nutrients in it that sugar doesn’t. It’s a sweetness our bodies can deal with a lot better.” Janice has a nursing background and recalls an incident in the hospital from about 30 years ago. “We had a patient who had a leg ulcer. She had been in hospital for five months and they had been trying to heal it with ordinary methods. I plucked up the courage to ask if we could put honey on it, because we had read about honey being good at healing. It wasn’t manuka honey because in those days it wasn’t talked about. I dressed it with clover honey and in five days she was

home and it had healed.” Beeswax candles are also part of the Canaan Honey stock. “The biggest advantage would be that it’s a much purer wax, so natural beeswax candles are much healthier than regular candles,” says Janice. They are not as cheap but they are healthier. The health benefits of honey in its various forms are manifold and John and Janice can advise on its uses as a preventative or treatment. And honey tastes great too!

Honey and Coconut Face MaskMix one tablespoon of honey with half a teaspoon of cinnamon and coconut oil. Massage the mixture onto your face in a circular motion and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water.

Hair Masks Body Scrubs Honey Almond ScrubMix together 3 teaspoons of honey, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 6 and a half tablespoons of finely crushed almonds. Rub the exfoliating scrub onto your face gently and rinse with warm water. Gentle ExfoliatorMix 2 tablespoons of honey with 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Splash your skin with water, then gently rub the concoction onto your face and body in a circular motion. Rinse well. Brown Sugar and Honey ExfoliatorMix brown sugar, honey, and lemon juice until at a spreadable consistency. Apply it your body or face for about 30 seconds in a circular motion and then rinse off.

Hair ConditionerMix half a cup of honey with one quarter of a cup of olive oil or coconut oil. Work a small amount through your hair until coated. Cover hair with a shower cap and let this sit for 30 minutes. Shampoo as normal and rinse well. Honey and Apple Cider Hair MaskMix one quarter of a cup of honey with 10 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Apply as you would shampoo to damp hair, and let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse out with warm water. Hair MaskMix one quarter of a cup of honey with 3 tablespoons of warmed olive oil or coconut oil. Work into damp hair. Let sit for 10 minutes and then rinse with warm water. Natural yoghurt and Honey Hair maskMix 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of honey and one quarter of a teaspoon of coconut oil together. Work the mask into your hair, from the scalp to the ends. Leave to sit for 15 to 20 minutes and then wash as normal.

Grab Your Passport!

Want a relaxing holiday? Well Rarotonga is the way to go!

White sand, good weather and a drink in hand; what more could you ask for? Rarotonga was definatley the best choice for a get away holiday. Turning off my phone was the best option. No one to disturb me and a week away from the world.

this is what made me feel like I was at home. Although, they were saying that 75% of their tourists come from New Zealand, and therefore they are most likely used to our culture and constant sarcasm. Either way this was definitely a highlight of my trip.

The morning wake up of the crowing of the roosters was definitely unexpected, yet still enjoyable as it got you out of bed, ready for the wonderful day ahead. The sun shining and the breeze cool, meant that August was a great choice for weather.

Where to stay?

May I say that Rarotonga definitely reminded me of home, but I was still glad to get back when I did, there’s definitely something about being in New Zealand. However, we are talking about Rarotonga. The nature and cultural atmosphere is what really caught my attention. The mountains and hills were a beautiful sight and I could have sat there and admired this from afar the whole trip, however I had things to do! The people were a – mazing! They were so kind and helpful and had the same sense of humour that us Kiwis do. It felt like they were part of our culture and I think

We stayed in the Coral Sands Apartments which is in the Arorangi District, this meant that we were a 10 minute drive to town and also a 10 minute drive the other way to what we found to be the perfect swimming and snorkeling area. Coral Sands was owned by Bob who was the perfect host, he advised us to hire a car, of which we didn’t plan on doing, but ended up being the best idea. This meant that we could quickly nip to and from places, especially to our swimming area, as the beach that was at the front of our apartments definitely lived up to the name ‘coral sands’. Although Rarotonga is only 45 minutes drive around the whole island, I didn’t really fancy walking the whole way around it, especially in the heat of the sun. Bob also advised

us on the best things to do and how to get there, and what food places that we needed to try. He definitely went the extra mile and this also showed in the way the apartments were looked after. The towels were replaced everyday, and there was a complimentary cellphone to be used if needed to contact your family, as it was rather expensive to use your own phone. The smaller things that you don’t really think of made the real difference here. The only thing that really let it down was that there was no restaurant attached, so you had to go to another resort to buy food if you were to eat out, otherwise you could have used the supplied BBQ. All in all, I would fully recommend these apartments, not only are they well looked after but they are more private than the other resorts as there were only 6 apartments, so the pool area was nearly almost free.

Where to eat? We planned ahead and brought our own BBQ meat from New Zealand over to Rarotonga, so this meant that we only ate out half of the nights we were there. However we were recommended a few places. The Kikau Hut RestaurantThis was our first dinner out, and boy it was good! I think a restaurant definitely speaks for itself when you walk in and it’s already got many tables full. The service was amazing, the food was out fast and definitely was one of the best meals that I had the whole trip. I had a stuffed chicken breast meal and I must say that the sauces were one of a kind, I found myself finishing off the whole dish. And it wasn’t just me that thought this way / the whole table had empty plates. Castaway Restaurant and BarAlthough I did not have a full meal here, their desserts are amazing and their entertainment is one of a kind. It is a relaxing atmosphere and we found ourselves

coming back to this bar a few more times than we probably should have, by the end of our trip they knew where we were from and our names. Every night they change up their menu and have a different theme along with their entertainment. This meant that you could pick and choose which nights were the better nights for you, depending on your taste of food. I highly recommend this bar and it’s one you NEED to check out! And the prices are good too!

The Spaghetti HouseThis was our last meal out for the trip and it definitely left some memories. We were lucky enough to get there early as most tables were booked out. The things that stood out for myself were the table cloths, if you wanna call them that. They had placed down paper onto the table and left crayons in the middle so that each table could draw their own designs, not sure if this was to entertain the kids or the adults more? This was definitely a cool idea. The food was yet again amazing, although the service was a bit slow, however they were rather busy so we can give them that.

What to do? First of all you NEED to go snorkeling, I don’t care if you have been already in New Zealand or anywhere else for that matter, this is an amazing experience that you won’t forget! You can either hire gear or if your hotel is organized like Coral Sands was, they had some supplied along with coral shoes. You will see many different types of fish of all sorts of colours and if you take some bread with you to feed the fish, this attracts them and you may be able to get a closer look. What are you waiting for? Go try this! The Saturday MarketsYou need to head down to the markets, make this your day to buy any gifts and souviners as it is all in one place and you don’t need to go around the whole island looking for the best deals, as they are not the cheapest things to buy! This is how they make their money remember! You can also buy food, so if you want to cook from your apartment and have a BBQ, this is the place to stock up on fresh food. I think the most ‘touristy’ thing you can buy there, and yes I did this too... is buying a coconut with a drink in it! Now, please tell me who wouldn’t want one of these! Raro Buggy tourThis is a cool experience, you get to drive your own buggy, whether you can drive manual or automatic it doesn’t matter! You get a 2 to 3 hour tour of the island going into the mountain areas, visiting the waterfall which was unfortunately dried up due to the shortage of water on the island at the time. You also visit the famous ‘Rito’ which is a coconut oil supplier. The tour guide shows you how to easily open a coconut and the process that ‘Rito’ goes through to get

their end products, and of course a taste tester as well. Whilst driving through the more country areas you get to a pig farm, of which I have never seen a pig so huge! And if that wasn’t enough to amaze you, one of the pigs of which was tied up by the foot, walked into the middle of the road and I would have hate to have stood up next to it. Once the tour guides have finished with the formal tour, you then get to go a bit crazy and zoom around and even go through a few dips and up hills. You may want to cover up any valuables as it gets a bit wet! Matutu Brewery TourIf you’re into beer, then this is the tour for you! You get to taste 3 different types of their local beer that they produce in their small brewery and you will be amazed at what they produce in such a small shed! You get to learn how they do it and what goes into your beer; you will be glad to hear it’s all natural. After the tour you can then ask any questions one on one with the owners and even buy the beer or their merchandise. Well I don’t know what you’re doing still reading this article, go online and book your tickets! Don’t worry about the money as they accept New Zealand dollars. It will be the most relaxing holiday of your life.

Jenna Rei Campbell Do you have a name for your small business? Yes, it’s called Lula Beauty Room. What age are your clients: Right from 15 up to 85. What got you started in beauty as a career? I wasn’t actually, I studied health science, I was going to do nursing. That was what I planned on doing. The same year I started health science they (UCOL) started beauty therapy, and there is a lot of biology and physiology involved in beauty therapy so that’s one big reason I did that. Probably the biggest reason was the thought of working in nursing and working with people who don’t want to be there. They are sick, so yeah. Whereas beauty therapy they really want to be here, they choose to be here. Do you have a big enough client base to support yourself? Yes. It took me a year to build it up. 12 months exactly of hard yakka, working 11 hours, 6 days a week. I just went hard out, but now I have knocked it down to 5 days a week so, Tuesday to Saturday. Also, every third Monday I go up to Taranaki and work with the kaumatua

Experience a huge range of beauty services with Jenna, which include her ever so famous eyelash extensions. groups, and I do pedicures up there. So I do toenails, exfoliation, massages and give them a really good soak, it’s good for their feet. I do it as it’s a good opportunity for me to have a look to see if they need to go to a podiatrist. Do you enjoy running your own business? Yeah I love it. It’s exciting and really challenging. It’s not quite what I expected, because it doesn’t stop. You finish work, but you don’t finish ‘work’. You finish with your clients for your day and you have another couple hours, sorting out what you have done that day and what you’re doing the next day. But no, I really do, I find it really rewarding.

What is your favourite service to do? Definitely eyebrows and eyelashes; I have an obsession with eyebrows. What do you find most difficult about having your own business? Probably separating work from home, you have to draw a line. When you work for someone else you finish work at 5 o’clock and that’s it, you forget about it and come back in the morning. Whereas I don’t really get that. Do you like working from home? Oh yeah, I love it. I love it in the way you can pop out and hang out your washing between clients, that type of thing. Yeah I do, you can have everything exactly how you want it. You set your standard on how you wanna run your business.

How do most people hear about you? Word of mouth. I have one person in and next week I will have the rest of the work place in. Yeah word of mouth is definitely the best source of advertising for me. Facebook is also great as you can put pictures up and people can see what you’re doing. It’s really good. Do you ever wish you set up somewhere else rather than Wanganui? No, I love Wanganui. I live for Wanganui. It’s a beautiful city and I love giving to the community and will do anything I can to help. Were you brought up here? Yes I was, born and bred. I spent some time in Melbourne but its just too fast for me. I feel comfortable here. I love the people here. I’m not interested in moving away again. I’ve had a taste of it and I’m not interested. It’s not for me,

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? I see myself in town. Although I love working from home, my big plan is to move to town and employ people. I would love to get in some new graduates from UCOL finding it hard to break into the industry. Threading vs Waxing? Threading doesn’t upset the skin opposed to waxing. It’s a cleaner finish as you can pick up tiny hairs that wax just couldn’t. Threading is not as fast and a little more painful than waxing. It’s really up to your personal preference.

Lulaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Beauty Room by Jena Rei Campbell