Our presenters

Flo started cross stitching when she was 15 after attending a family stitching group. Tired of doing patterns that consisted of animals, flowers and houses, Flo started creating her own cross stitch patterns that were more to her liking. She has created cross stitch patterns that range from musical artists such as David Bowie, to cross-over themed patterns like Goku vs Superman.

With others requesting her patterns, she has set up an Etsy store to sell her patterns worldwide. Flo has taught friends and family how to cross stitch, and has also taught English in China and coached college students in small bore rifle shooting. 

Clay has been part of my life in the past 20 years. Everyday we touch and use objects, when they are made by hand from natural resources it elevates our daily tasks to ritual. I enjoy the meditative wheel throwing production as well as the peaceful hand-building process. I truly believe that using hand-made pottery makes food and drinks taste better. 

I make a wide range of domestic-ware with the focus on an earthy appearance using a matt deep colour expression. I use stoneware clay and mix my own glazes.  

The majority of my hand-built pieces are textured slab vases in a variety of shapes and sizes. The vases offer a unique display for flowers, but also can be used as a piece of art on their own. 

More information about exhibitions and outlets can be found on my website www.galitmaxwell.com or my Facebook page.  My instagram @galitmaxwell is my most up-to-date visual platform.

Ha came to New Zealand in early 2011 to pursue her post-graduate studies in Economics and Statistics after over 15 years as a university lecturer in Vietnam. She is a mother of 2 kids who loves cooking authentic Vietnamese cuisine every day. She has great passion to preserve Vietnamese culture for Vietnamese children in New Zealand.

She founded VietKidsNZ, a program to preserve Vietnamese language and culture, in 2014 and has been the leader so far. https://www.facebook.com/VietKidsNZ.

She used to be a chef for a restaurant in Wellington and was responsible for creating the menus, ordering ingredients and cooking Vietnamese food; a head chef for huge lunar new year parties for over 300 Vietnamese participants organized by Vietnamese embassy in Wellington and a chef for the Vietnamese Food Stall in ASEAN festival in Wellington. 

Helen Vvienne Fletcher is a widely published children’s and young adult author, storyteller and award-winning playwright. She has written an impressive collection of books for everyone from preschoolers to adult readers. Her work has won and been shortlisted for numerous writing competitions, including being named Outstanding New Playwright at the Wellington Theatre Awards, making the shortlist for the Storylines Joy Cowley Award, and the finalist list for the Ngaio Marsh Best First Book Award.

Helen has worked in many jobs, doing everything from theatre stage management to phone counselling. She discovered her passion for writing for young people while working as a youth support worker, and now helps children find their own passion for storytelling through her work as a creative writing tutor and storytime fairy.

 She lives in Wellington with her disability assistance dog, Bindi – a five-year-old, playful Labrador who loves soft toys, cuddles, and can fit three tennis balls in her mouth at once.

 Overall, Helen just loves telling stories and is always excited when people want to read or hear them.

 You can find more about Helen’s children’s classes at www.brainbunny.co.nz and more about her writing at www.helenvfletcher.com 

Hiro moved to New Zealand from Japan in 2017. In his spare time he likes to play computer games as well as learn how to cook new dishes. He has previously volunteered at the New Zealand Blood Service.

Though he is not yet fully fluent in English, he is still studying and tries his best to understand the people around him.

Hiro has experience teaching Japanese to students ranging from 7 years of age to adults. He strives to make his classes interesting and engaging for his students as well as keeping the lessons relevant to student needs and giving fun cultural facts about Japan.

Hi, my name is Iain Watt and I have been a practising artist and designer for over 40 years. I have also been teaching Illustration and many other related art and design subjects both in New Zealand and the UK, I hold a Masters degree in adult education.  Drawing the human figure has been to me, a life times passion.

Jan is a Wellington-based librarian and meditation teacher and makes her living with a mixture of both. She's been teaching meditation since the beginning of 2014 with the local company "mindfulnessworks" and before that occasionally led the meditation and discussion in a local group. 

She came to meditation about 20 years ago through a psychotherapy practice called Psychosynthesis and attended Psychosynthesis Institutes’ courses both in NZ and in the UK.

Like mindfulness practice, Pyschosynthesis uses a modern understanding of psychology coupled with ideas about mindfulness that are ancient.  Jan later used this training as part of a group of peers which met regularly for several years using meditation and other approaches as a way of addressing life’s big challenges.  She now meditates regularly with groups in Wellington and has attended numerous talks and full day retreats with a number of different teachers.

Jan like sthe fact that mindfulness meditation is secular and yet it inevitably directs us to the big questions of ethics, compassion and how we should live in a crowded world

She has found mindfulness and meditation to be a hugely positive and beneficial aspect of her life and is keen to share the simple benefits of mindfulness meditation with others.

Jaye is a te reo Māori tutor who is highly passionate about te reo, teaching, speaking and learning it, and has been teaching at WHSCEC since July 2019.

They are particularly interested in structures in te reo, and communal learning spaces. They have just finished their degree at Victoria university, and are a proud descendant of Ngāti Apa and Ngāto Hauiti.

Jeanette has participated in Scottish dancing from the age of nine, starting her dancing with a junior group in Wellington, and dancing in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Belgium, as well as throughout New Zealand. She has participated in demonstration teams in London, St Andrews, and Wellington.

Jeanette qualified as a teacher of Scottish Country dancing in 1998, through the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. She has been tutor for Island Bay Scottish Country Dance Club for the last 18 years, and guest tutored at other Wellington clubs, as well as teaching at national Summer Schools and regional classes. She has taught all levels of dance performance, from beginners through advanced to teacher training.

Her classes are known for their fun and relaxed informality.