4 minute read
DAVID HARTNELL: ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW
LOCAL NEWS DAVID HARTNELL: ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW WITH JULIE STEVENS
Julie Stevens first opened her shop, Moa, 35 years ago in Grey Lynn.
Tell us about your designs. I am inspired by fabrics - their movement colours and patterns. I design what I would like would to wear, timeless garments that traverse activities and occasions, amplify significant events and feelings through life's ups and downs.
What is the best thing working in Grey Lynn? Knowing that I can walk from home, across the Grey Lynn park to work, passing beautiful villas and tree lined streets, and being able to say hi to those I encounter. Being based in the West Lynn Village working in Moa means that many locals come past the shop and it is easy to connect and converse about what’s happening around the neighbourhood - catching up with people's lives. Working in the shop on Sundays especially, we see such a diverse range of people and cultures in our neighbourhood - from local teens congregating, seeing the way women from Pacifica churches style their wrapped woven garments , locals visiting the markets, and of course the comings and goings of the Grey Lynn RSC!
How have you survived the pandemic? Making sure I have a backup supply of basics in the pantry, becoming more fluent and active with the digital world to grow our business on line, embracing opportunities to celebrate and spending time with family and friends, more tuning in with the natural cycles of life - life style and work style balance.
What was your childhood like? Growing up in the Manawatu, weekends were often spent on my grandparents farm hanging out in the sheds and barns, making Russian fudge, watching movies all day on their colour telly. I remember roaming the street with the neighbours, roller skating and biking a lot in to headwinds, walking the Square on a Friday night.
Being involved with hand making crafts in the 70s we hung out in the garage with Mum and Dad where they would make leather bags and belts. I would make leather jewellery with the offcuts. It was always a chilled out time on a Sunday afternoon listening to Casey Kasem and American Top 40.
We had a stall at the local market where we sold the leather work, amongst other stalls of enamelled copper, hand-spun knitting, glass ships in bottles, plant terrariums, macrame and an art gallery with endless Kona coffee. Shops weren’t allowed to open on weekends, so Dad spent quite some time at the local council to get a permit so the market could trade on Saturday mornings. I was very lucky to come from a crafty family that set me up for becoming a maker and creator.
What would be your dream holiday? Somewhere on a gentle coastline, with simple local produce, happy locals with artisan studios and galleries to visit. Spain, Croatia, some lake in Italy, a tropical island.
Your bucket list? Create a garden full of dahlia and gladioli, take a year off and travel the entire coastline of New Zealand, canoe the Wanganui River, learn another language, learn how to play Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No. 1 on the piano. having a laugh with old and new friends. Actually I’m already doing that a bit...
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? On a porch overlooking a valley of native forest, listening to nature, with binoculars and a good coffee or glass of red. Bantering and If you were reincarnated what would you be? An adored feline or a free flying falcon.
What is something that you disapprove of? Mispronunciation of Maori names and places, the disrepair and crumbling state of the iconic 130 year old Carlile House in Grey Lynn. It would be an amazing community resource.
Favorite time of the day? The sunset hour. Popping down to Pt Chev to watch the sunset, especially on a moody stormy grey day when the sky change lasts for ages. Over the years this beach, with all its nooks and crannies has provided time to think, laugh, share kai, celebrate matariki, pretending to be in the Mediterranean when diving off the clay rocks at high tide and the location of many Moa photo shoots.
What are you insecure about? Wondering if the piles on the old villa I live in are actually slowly moving down the hill.
Comfort food? Dad's homemade bread, Mum's marmalade and muesli, anything my sister cooks, my partner's Fijian curry, my son's coffee, my goddaughter's one pot wonders.
If you could change one law or policy in New Zealand, what would it be? Where do I start… stopping the chopping down of 50+ year old native trees by developers. (DAVID HARTNELL, MNZM) PN
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