\u201cBuying NZ-made means you get local service, trusted quality, and the satisfaction of knowing your purchase directly supports other Kiwis.\u201d <\/p>\n
While technically starting on November 28 and lasting through to Cyber Monday on December 1, advertising for Black Friday, the American tradition of Thanksgiving sales, started ramping up around November 10. <\/p>\n
The Northern Advocate spoke to innovative Northlanders etching out successful careers despite all the noise. <\/p>\n
Kerikeri’s Ben Flynn creates unique jewellery from precious metals like silver, gold and platinum, and coloured gemstones.<\/p>\n
Ben Flynn <\/p>\n
Kerikeri\u2019s Ben Flynn always knew he wanted to create beautiful jewellery. <\/p>\n
As a kid he had the opportunity to spend time in a jeweller\u2019s workshop, and during his travels to Indonesia in his 20s he hung out with jewellers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came home and wanted to buy a ring and couldn\u2019t find one I liked. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo I bought some tools and equipment. <\/p>\n
\u201cI made a couple of rings, and made a couple more, and it snowballed from there.\u201d <\/p>\n
Then a family friend, jeweller Roy Mason, was having an exhibition, and included some of Flynn\u2019s new work. <\/p>\n
It was snapped up by Kobi Bosshard, a Swiss-born Kiwi artist widely recognised as the grandfather of contemporary New Zealand jewellery. <\/p>\n
\u201cThen I had a whole lot of shops asking to supply them around the country.\u201d <\/p>\n
In 1998, Flynn opened Royal Jewellery Studio in Auckland. <\/p>\n
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 Whang\u0101rei. <\/p>\n
Ben Flynn works from his Kerikeri studio and his jewellery also features in studios in Auckland, Wellington and Whang\u0101rei.<\/p>\n
Flynn creates earrings, wedding and engagement rings, Pacifica-themed rings, and pendants using precious metals like silver, gold and platinum, and coloured gemstones. <\/p>\n
He also makes memento mori, pieces of jewellery, usually skulls, \u201cthat are reminders to celebrate life as we must die\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love creating things that will outlast my lifetime,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love the personal connection people have with their jewellery and the often-hidden meaning they have for people. <\/p>\n
\u201cDespite all the bad stuff that\u2019s going on in the world, people tell me, when they\u2019re staring at this beautiful ring on their finger, everything feels okay.\u201d <\/p>\n
Flynn\u2019s workshop at 3 Homestead Rd, Kerikeri also features local pounamu carver Te Ua Hamuera, and Dan Millet from Whang\u0101rei, who makes pounamu and silver jewellery. <\/p>\n
Vicki Comrie-Moore’s quirky work features in local art galleries.<\/p>\n
Vicki Comrie-Moore <\/p>\n
Vicki Comrie-Moore\u2019s passion for creating things with clay began early on, as a child. <\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t until later, during a change of career in adulthood, that she decided to make a living out of it. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been drawn to it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a kid I used to play with Play-Doh and air-dried clay all the time. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a child that was all I wanted to do.\u201d <\/p>\n
The self-taught artist\u2019s whimsical ceramic sculptures include her iconic \u201cparty people\u201d garden stakes, pot plant holders and candle holders. <\/p>\n
Her latest creations include long-necked 1950s women bathers, wall hangings of flowers on boards and cave drawings of ponies, and M\u0101ori-themed kete. <\/p>\n
Comrie-Moore said the ideas for her creations \u201cpop into my head\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes people smile and happy,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m doing lots of colours for the party people, which also puts a smile on their gardens.\u201d <\/p>\n
Comrie-Moore\u2019s work is featured in several Northland galleries, including Little Black Gallery in Kerikeri, Helena Bay Gallery, Burning Issues Gallery in Whang\u0101rei and at The Providor\u2019s Gallery on Urupukapuka Island.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s a regular participant in the Koast Tai Tokerau Art Trail, and her work has also featured at the Ellerslie Flower Show and on Maggie\u2019s Garden Show, hosted by media personality and politician Maggie Barry. <\/p>\n
Helena Bay Gallery owner Pete Brown with his beloved Saint Bernard dog Leo.<\/p>\n
Pete Brown<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
But creativity also ran in the family, so after he\u2019d worked overseas for 20-odd years shearing sheep, he returned to New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Brown moved to Northland in 1995, where he began to carve the wooden furniture pieces and bowls he\u2019d seen during his travels. <\/p>\n
The following year, he began transforming the Helena Bay property from a bare site into a vibrant hub of art and design. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to recreate what you\u2019d see in Bali with the gardens … initially it would have been an upmarket wood gallery, and it developed into this.\u201d <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
It features a wide-ranging selection of Kiwi art by over 150 artists, including many from Northland. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s jewellery and ceramics, paintings and sculptures, steel art, prints, photographs, and bespoke furniture made from wood such as ancient kauri. <\/p>\n
The adjoining cafe boasts views of the valley and native bush all the way to the bay. <\/p>\n
To Brown, it\u2019s paradise. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a destination because of the garden, the view, the gallery, and cafe, which is hard to recreate anywhere else. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got something for everybody, of all ages and wallet sizes.\u201d <\/p>\n
The gallery\u2019s other attractions are Brown\u2019s giant dogs. <\/p>\n
Brown has previously had three Newfoundlands: Bjorn, Wolfie and Picasso. <\/p>\n
His newest canine companion is Leonardo the St Bernard, who loves greeting visitors. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not going to be greeted anywhere else by a beautiful dog like Leo.\u201d <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBuying NZ-made means you get local service, trusted quality, and the satisfaction of knowing your purchase directly supports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[534,4914,1863,84604,9218,7022,138,3167,3043,1738,18399,2837,89498,4999,45613,194,440,35145,1362,111,139,1067,69,384,3383,667,1326,61,3055],"class_list":["post-156829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-amid","tag-artists","tag-back","tag-bargains","tag-before","tag-black","tag-business","tag-buy","tag-call","tag-campaign","tag-christmas","tag-during","tag-frenzy","tag-friday","tag-imported","tag-kiwi","tag-local","tag-locally","tag-made","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-people","tag-products","tag-sales","tag-shop","tag-to","tag-urging"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}