Phoebe Walker

Phoebe Walker says she felt incredibly lucky to be able to explore her passions for photography and painting at St Andrew’s, spending hours in the darkroom learning about film photography and lots of time in the Art room, drawing, painting, and developing ideas. It was Art teacher, Michelle Lawrence, who gave Phoebe the confidence to explore her talents beyond the College and study Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. Phoebe says she enjoyed Michelle’s wonderful, quiet, critical way of teaching which was non-prescriptive and encouraged her to experiment, setting her up well for the largely self-directed studio environment of art school.

After graduating, Phoebe became an Art teacher herself for several years, and after having children is now in her third year running her own business, Flowers by Phoebe, growing flowers in her seasonal flower field in Greymouth and selling them locally. She says her creative background has been key in the development of her business, especially when it comes to design principles and aesthetics in her studio work. Other transferable skills include conceptualising and producing her own products, problem-solving, and using creative storytelling to communicate her brand story.

She also draws on her Art education background to teach creative seasonal flower workshops, still paints occasionally, and is working on some illustration collaborations with a couple of other businesses. Phoebe’s future goals are to grow her business in a creative, social, seasonal, and sustainable way around her young family.