7 Islands Art & Eco Sanctuary offers a forum for discussions of the importance and celebration of artistic endeavour in our lives. A growing connection to place encourages ecological sustainability and environmental practices

Meet your hosts

A life celebrated through art has been the path of Carin and Jenney Wilson, and 7 Islands is the realisation of many years of dreaming, searching, planning, and building a multifunctional facility on a magnificent site on the east coast of Aotearoa New Zealand for the celebration to continue.

Kia Ora and welcome to where I fit in our 7 Islands Sanctuary, I am Jenney Wilson (Jen). My background is in primary school teaching and working in roles where I have supported enterprising people realise their vision. Alongside my work, I have always carried a real interest in design and creativity. Life at our Sanctuary is a constant flow of clever minds, creative ideas, dreams, challenges, initiatives, conversations, successes (and failures) and discovery. I love the regenerating bush, the increasing diversity of bird life, the sound of the sea and the constant awareness that as a caretaker of the environment we are creating I am also designing the future.

I want our centre to function as a visionary hub to present stimulating workshops and forums. Achieving a dream to literally design and build a complex with a creative focus has been full of insights and revelations. The complex we call Pukeruru is also a family home with soul to share with family and friends at the heart of our lives, giving me a chance to express many things I value, including design ideas, a love of certain materials, hand made pieces, all within a less conventional footprint. Challenging and hugely fulfilling.

I love sharing a meal with good company, debating stimulating ideas and especially value a good sense of humour and wit! (Is this my English background?). I love the two safari tents I imported from South Africa to enable a roof over our heads when the land was bare and increase my connection to the land. I love my knitting, sewing, fabrics and textiles, beautiful design, and “thinking outside the box”. I would love more time for movies, reading, the arts, and travel. And yes I also have a real interest in nutrition and health, hence learning how to create a wonderful permaculture garden is now on my “to do” list.

Carin, renowned studio furnituremaker, sculptor and design educator likes to push the boundaries of design and craftsmanship. 7 Island’s backbone is a strong belief in what we can learn from Māori culture, from practices around kaitiakitanga (guarding our environment) to the proficiencies - traditional and contemporary - in art and design. Carin talks in stories, stories of the land, stories of family and place, the need for identity, expression, spirit, beauty, the quest for peace and simplicity.

If you sit with him for a while he’ll tell you a story - because there is always a story - carved in words or wood and more. A story of journeys, of people coming together, as his peoples have come together.

No standard learning or qualification model is designed to match your personal appetite for expression and developing skills. We learned this a while ago as we researched programmes worldwide for a combination of design and skill-building to match our aspirations. By accident as much as design we started mapping out our own learning path and encourage you to think about this. It’s the way you can set the pace. High intensity, your way. Books, magazines, periodicals, youtube, internet: there are resources aplenty. But the one thing none of this offers is the chance to observe how someone who has already walked that learning curve applies their knowledge. The old master-apprentice relationship evolved to match that need. In our view this only needs a light touch, an occasional nudge, encouragement or instruction at the right time.