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The Northern Advocate spoke to innovative Northlanders etching out successful careers despite all the noise.
Kerikeri’s Ben Flynn creates unique jewellery from precious metals like silver, gold and platinum, and coloured gemstones.
Ben Flynn
Kerikeri’s Ben Flynn always knew he wanted to create beautiful jewellery.
As a kid he had the opportunity to spend time in a jeweller’s workshop, and during his travels to Indonesia in his 20s he hung out with jewellers.
“I came home and wanted to buy a ring and couldn’t find one I liked.
“So I bought some tools and equipment.
“I made a couple of rings, and made a couple more, and it snowballed from there.”
Then a family friend, jeweller Roy Mason, was having an exhibition, and included some of Flynn’s new work.
It was snapped up by Kobi Bosshard, a Swiss-born Kiwi artist widely recognised as the grandfather of contemporary New Zealand jewellery.
“Then I had a whole lot of shops asking to supply them around the country.”
In 1998, Flynn opened Royal Jewellery Studio in Auckland.
These days the self-taught artist works from his Kerikeri studio, Ben Flynn Jewellery Design, and his work also features at studios and galleries in Wellington and Whangārei.
Ben Flynn works from his Kerikeri studio and his jewellery also features in studios in Auckland, Wellington and Whangārei.
Flynn creates earrings, wedding and engagement rings, Pacifica-themed rings, and pendants using precious metals like silver, gold and platinum, and coloured gemstones.
He also makes memento mori, pieces of jewellery, usually skulls, “that are reminders to celebrate life as we must die”.
“I love creating things that will outlast my lifetime,” he said.
“I love the personal connection people have with their jewellery and the often-hidden meaning they have for people.
“Despite all the bad stuff that’s going on in the world, people tell me, when they’re staring at this beautiful ring on their finger, everything feels okay.”
Flynn’s workshop at 3 Homestead Rd, Kerikeri also features local pounamu carver Te Ua Hamuera, and Dan Millet from Whangārei, who makes pounamu and silver jewellery.
Vicki Comrie-Moore’s quirky work features in local art galleries.
Vicki Comrie-Moore
Vicki Comrie-Moore’s passion for creating things with clay began early on, as a child.
But it wasn’t until later, during a change of career in adulthood, that she decided to make a living out of it.
Comrie-Moore stopped her job as a flight attendant, moved to Piopio in the King Country to help manage a farm and train horses, and started her quirky ceramics work.
“I’ve always been drawn to it,” she said.
“As a kid I used to play with Play-Doh and air-dried clay all the time.
“As a child that was all I wanted to do.”
The self-taught artist’s whimsical ceramic sculptures include her iconic “party people” garden stakes, pot plant holders and candle holders.
Her latest creations include long-necked 1950s women bathers, wall hangings of flowers on boards and cave drawings of ponies, and Māori-themed kete.
Comrie-Moore said the ideas for her creations “pop into my head”.
“It makes people smile and happy,” she said.
“I’m doing lots of colours for the party people, which also puts a smile on their gardens.”
Comrie-Moore’s work is featured in several Northland galleries, including Little Black Gallery in Kerikeri, Helena Bay Gallery, Burning Issues Gallery in Whangārei and at The Providor’s Gallery on Urupukapuka Island.
She’s a regular participant in the Koast Tai Tokerau Art Trail, and her work has also featured at the Ellerslie Flower Show and on Maggie’s Garden Show, hosted by media personality and politician Maggie Barry.
Helena Bay Gallery owner Pete Brown with his beloved Saint Bernard dog Leo.
Pete Brown
Having been born and raised on a farm, Helena Bay Gallery owner Pete Brown was meant to take over, as he was the oldest son.
But creativity also ran in the family, so after he’d worked overseas for 20-odd years shearing sheep, he returned to New Zealand.
Brown moved to Northland in 1995, where he began to carve the wooden furniture pieces and bowls he’d seen during his travels.
The following year, he began transforming the Helena Bay property from a bare site into a vibrant hub of art and design.
“I wanted to recreate what you’d see in Bali with the gardens … initially it would have been an upmarket wood gallery, and it developed into this.”
The gallery opened in 2003 and consists of four open-plan rooms, along with the surrounding garden, which is filled with sculptures and outdoor artworks.
It features a wide-ranging selection of Kiwi art by over 150 artists, including many from Northland.
There’s jewellery and ceramics, paintings and sculptures, steel art, prints, photographs, and bespoke furniture made from wood such as ancient kauri.
The adjoining cafe boasts views of the valley and native bush all the way to the bay.
To Brown, it’s paradise.
“It’s a destination because of the garden, the view, the gallery, and cafe, which is hard to recreate anywhere else.
“We’ve got something for everybody, of all ages and wallet sizes.”
The gallery’s other attractions are Brown’s giant dogs.
Brown has previously had three Newfoundlands: Bjorn, Wolfie and Picasso.
His newest canine companion is Leonardo the St Bernard, who loves greeting visitors.
“You’re not going to be greeted anywhere else by a beautiful dog like Leo.”
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.