Leap of faith pays off for furniture maker

MARION VAN DIJK/Nelson Mail

IN THE GROOVE: Louise Fuller works on a wine barrel deckchair at NW Design.

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Working with wood is Louise Fuller's "happy place", and she has given up her old life in her homeland to follow her dreams in Nelson.

The 28-year-old ditched everything in her native Berkshire, England to advance her career as a furniture designer and maker, which she has found to be easier here than in Britain.

Ms Fuller is now working as a bespoke furniture maker for Nigel Whitton of NW Designs, based at Port Nelson. Mr Whitton is a fine furniture maker and a traditionally trained shipwright and boat builder.

Bespoke furniture is an item custom-made to the buyer's specification.

Ms Fuller is employed fulltime and has aspirations of a more senior involvement with the firm. She is currently managing the Vickerman St workshop.

"I love it here in Nelson. I have an amazing group of friends, and people who come here are like-minded in that they love life," she said while working through the intricacies of constructing 12 wine barrel deckchairs to a deadline.

Ms Fuller originally intended to be an artist, but designing and making a toy box in her last year of school triggered a shift in career choice.

She said it was the creation of something useful that helped to change her mind. "It had a purpose, and the addiction started."

She has an honours degree in furniture design and craftsmanship, and worked as a furniture maker in Guildford before moving to New Zealand in 2006 with the aim of becoming a self-employed furniture maker.

She then spent four years as a technician in the workshop of Wanganui Collegiate, designing and making her own creations in her spare time.

In October 2008, another turning point happened when Ms Fuller did a furniture internship at Nelson's Centre for Fine Woodworking. She said working on her own project for four weeks sparked the transition back to fulltime furniture making, which led to a job designing and making furniture on commission for NW Designs.

Ms Fuller said she had discovered some new woods in New Zealand, such as saligna (red gum), which she enjoyed working with, but most of her clients requested oak.

She said New Zealand was a lot more open-minded about women in professional woodworking careers.

"It's a lot more welcoming here, but it's a much smaller market and there's not the same amount of disposable income."

She draws inspiration from Nelson's Miyazu Japanese Garden, where she can often be found with a sketch book.

"I tend to go back to nature when I design."