Britt Davies is a talented designer and the founder and director of Davies Studio, a Wānaka based design agency. She is also a Trustee at Three Lakes Cultural Trust, and a welcome addition to the team. 

At a breakfast event for All in for the Arts back in March 2023, Britt shared a kōrero about her experience in the arts. You can watch her speech here, as she shares about the courage it takes to be a creative in New Zealand, and what that really means.

Here’s what Britt shared with the group gathered in Wānaka.

“Kia ora tātou, a big thank you for having me, I am very honoured to be asked to stand here and share my kōrero with you. 

Ko Aotea me Te Arawa me Tainui ōku waka
Ko Ngāpuhi me Te Arawa me Te Atiawa Taranaki ōku iwi
Ko Ngāti Rangiwewehi me Ngāti Pikiao ōku hāpū
Ko Brittany Davies toku ingoa

I’m going to read a whakataukī to start, this one is from Dr Hinemoa Elder’s book, ‘Aroha’—I personally use this book to help me navigate the beginning of a creative process, I find having a guiding whakataukī helps keep the project in alignment to an overarching goal or vision. I think it will help here too.

Ruia taitea, kia tū ko taikākā. Strip away the sapwood, the heartwood remains.

Shed those outer layers and reveal your internal courage. I’m just going to let that simmer for a bit. 

In our current education system on the whole, from my perspective, we have been siloed into thinking that some of us are creative and some of us aren’t. As a kid I had to fight to be a creative in an arts perspective, sadly that’s not unusual as you all know. At high school I was told art and design wouldn’t make me any money, they weren’t real jobs therefore I should pursue economics, science or business. And what seemed like rebellion at the time was actually my passion and need for a creative outlet. It is a part of my wairua, my spirit. In year 13 I consciously decided that I would prove everyone wrong and make a career from my love of the arts. I had no idea If it would work but I was going to try. 

Stubborn? I say courageous. 

Studying at Masey College of Creative Arts, in Whanganui-a-tara, I quickly realised that I loved the practice of Visual Communications Design and that it was a thing I could get a job doing. Massey in a nutshell taught us to flip briefs on their head, how to come at projects from a completely different perspective to what exists, and to understand boundaries to then know how to push them. Moving into industry I realised that Massey had taught us a whole new level of creative thinking, proof that creativity can be taught. At this time I had to find what made me unique, how I could stand out from the crowd to be hired, and then how to bring my flavour to everything that I was doing. I went on to work in-house for a small agency and then onto working at Trade Me in the brand team. 

Lucky? I say courageous. 

Going out on my own was the epitome of terrifying—every time I push a boundary of my own it’s still really scary but in this I found my voice and as we all know growth doesn’t happen in the comfortable. I’m proud to say it has become my job now to validate and foster other people’s creativity—their visions, their entrepreneurship. And with my tool kit I’ve developed, I can help others bring their vision to life so they can share it with the world too. 

Confident? I say courageous. 

At each step of my journey as a 'creative’ I’ve had to face some really tough roadblocks, I’ve become lost, unsure which road to take—but I continued to dig through the layers of the sapwood to reveal the strong inner heartwood, I’m still digging but that’s the beauty in the process. 

I believe to step into our creativity we need to acknowledge three things;

1. Our Perspective—reaching into our unique lived experience, then sharing and connecting through that
2. Our Wairua—connecting to our wairua, listening to what makes you unique, what you are passionate about, what ignites your spirit.
3. And lastly — courage, and therefore vulnerability

I urge you to dig through your own layers and uncover your own inner heartwood. What’s your version of creativity? Find it, nurture it and have the courage to share it.

Ruia taitea, kia tū ko taikākā. Strip away the sapwood, the heartwood remains.

Shed those outer layers and reveal your internal courage.

Kia ora koutou.”

Britt, a huge thank you from the Te Wāhi Toi team for your courage. We say courageous, too.

Have something to share? Get in touch with the Te Wāhi Toi team.