Artist and designer finds fresh inspiration at wharf

Painter-cum-designer Rick Youmans reckons relocating his workplace to Raglan has put his life back on track.

His business, Youmans Capsule, based in an industrial Te Rapa warehouse, in Hamilton, wasn’t getting any through traffic so in a bold move a few months back Rick moved it – along with an impressive selection of his mostly marine-themed art – into the last vacant shop space at Raglan Wharf.

The move “saved my life”, Rick told the Chronicle, after a difficult year in which he experienced the lows of both a marriage break-up and depression.

The keen yachtsman says that being right on the water, with his eight-metre catamaran often moored just beyond the shop frontage, is proving an “inspiring” environment to work in. He likes too that “I have everything around me that I have done, and people in (the shop) all the time”.

He’s had really good feedback since setting up at the wharf, he adds, and is already generating sales.

The good vibe Rick feels at the wharf is reflected in the name he’s chosen for his new showroom-cum-workroom. It’ll go by the unusual name of ‘Inspiration Executed’ just as soon as he gets round to completing the signage.

That’s more of a statement than a phrase, he explains; a simple acknowledgement of creativity and making it happen.

Large oils and watercolours which “in any way, shape or form are about water” create a dramatic backdrop to the stylish, upmarket presentation cases or modules that Rick designs for professionals like architects and engineers who might otherwise have documents spilling out of folders.

The aluminium capsules – technically challenging to manufacture – are made only in Hamilton but have been sold throughout Australasia and Europe to a niche market for three years now.

Despite having travelled the world looking for manufacturers, Rick found his unique design could only become a reality through working alongside some innovative Hamilton and New Zealand companies.

That’s essentially what brought him back to the country recently after 12 years away as a Sydney-based designer.

Hamilton didn’t hold much appeal as a place to live, however, so Rick shifted four years ago to a house perched high on Greenslade Rd. The property has breathtaking views of the harbour and its own steps down to a bay where he also moors his catamaran quite frequently so it gets to “dry out” at low tide.

Rick says he’s glad to be back on New Zealand’s west coast, having grown up and developed his love of sailing at Plimmerton, north of Wellington. From there he went on to Wellington Polytechnic – now a campus of Massey University – where he completed a diploma in graphic design.

With a good representation of his life’s work now more or less in the one place, Rick’s feeling motivated to develop Youmans Capsule further. The company’s been something of a “sleeping tiger” for a while, he says, and he’s keen to consider customised business support through the likes of the Hamilton-based SODA Inc programme.

Meantime, Rick continues to indulge his lifelong passion for painting – which he sells throughout New Zealand, Australia and Singapore – and is ready to tackle new projects now he’s happily ensconced at the wharf.

He’s inspired by English landscape artist William Turner’s way with painting the light, and by British maritime painter Montague Dawson’s “stunning seascapes”, all of which has led Rick to explore the “drama” of the sea in his own work.

Edith Symes

Two Raglan locals and good mates have started a natural pet food company right under our nose. Dave Smith and Frank Bellerby launched ‘Good Noze’ this week and we caught up with them to check it out.

Where did the idea to start a pet food line come from?

Born partly out of frustration really.

Being an owner of some fussy pets and a pantry full of partially eaten pet food I realised that there was potential to come up with a new product to remove the stress and waste from daily feeds.

Turns out, they weren’t fussy at all – I was just feeding them the wrong stuff.

So you were trying to solve a problem?

Pretty much. But I couldn’t solve it on my own because I knew nothing at that stage about animal nutrition. Frank, an animal nutritionist, was already in the animal feeds business and he was up for the challenge and liked the direction for his own business.

We felt there was a gap in the market for a 100% natural and easy to handle product.

Plus we convinced ourselves that it was possible to make pet food more attractive with the right product, packaging and marketing – kind of like how Eco Store transformed the way people looked at cleaning products.

What was the goal in terms of the type of product you produced?

The aim was to produce a sure thing!

A natural product that no dog or cat could resist, but more importantly, one they should and would consistently eat.

Once we discovered the freeze-drying process and understood it, we had our solution and were sold.

The product is nothing but real meat that has been freeze dried, so the nutrients and taste remain, just the water is removed and with it the smell, refrigeration and handling issues.

How long has it taken you to develop the product?

From the genesis of an idea it’s taken us just over two years to craft, refine and test the product to the point where we know its totally pukka for pets.

Your packaging is really cool, especially for pet food. How did you come up with the idea?

We decided to ask our dear friend and artist Hayley Hamilton to create some characters that we could use. Hayley went totally above and beyond the brief. She provided a series of sketched images to choose from, then fleshed out characters, before finally delivering hand painted works of art.

I recognise a few Raglan locations and locals on the website. Who did your website?

Actually Maki from Raglan Ink designed our website… she’s awesome to work with.

We wanted to showcase Raglan with all it’s beauty and character. Turns out Raglan was the perfect backdrop when trying to capture people and their pets hanging out together. Local Leanne Roughton, the photographer, was fantastic to work with in terms of interpreting our vision and nailing the shoots quickly. Huge thanks to Karamea of Raglan Ink, Ray at Raglan Barber, Steve and Candide of Raglan Kayak, Rach from The Social Club and Sarah at Rockit for helping us out.

We have more photo shoots planned so the website is a work in progress.

What are the benefits of the product?

Speaking from experience, it really is the most convenient product to use. It’s natural, light and dry with minimal smell yet with all the nutritional goodness of raw meat. The tastiness means dogs don’t get sick of it and because it’s 100% natural you know you are feeding your pet only the good stuff.

Any other products in the pipeline?

Yes, we have also just launched another product. It’s called Dogs All Day Breakfast – a fusion of meat-bix and our freeze-dried product.

Plus we have a freeze-dried product and an All Day Breakfast for cats on the way.

Where can you buy it?

Raglan Supervalue, Raglan Four Square and The Herbal Dispensary.

And hopefully, in time, all Natural Foods stores up and down the country.

Check out the website: www.goodnoze.co.nz

Two Raglan locals and good mates have started a natural pet food company right under our nose. Dave Smith and Frank Bellerby launched ‘Good Noze’ this week and we caught up with them to check it out.

Where did the idea to start a pet food line come from?

Born partly out of frustration really.

Being an owner of some fussy pets and a pantry full of partially eaten pet food I realised that there was potential to come up with a new product to remove the stress and waste from daily feeds.

Turns out, they weren’t fussy at all – I was just feeding them the wrong stuff.

So you were trying to solve a problem?

Pretty much. But I couldn’t solve it on my own because I knew nothing at that stage about animal nutrition. Frank, an animal nutritionist, was already in the animal feeds business and he was up for the challenge and liked the direction for his own business.

We felt there was a gap in the market for a 100% natural and easy to handle product.

Plus we convinced ourselves that it was possible to make pet food more attractive with the right product, packaging and marketing – kind of like how Eco Store transformed the way people looked at cleaning products.

What was the goal in terms of the type of product you produced?

The aim was to produce a sure thing!

A natural product that no dog or cat could resist, but more importantly, one they should and would consistently eat.

Once we discovered the freeze-drying process and understood it, we had our solution and were sold.

The product is nothing but real meat that has been freeze dried, so the nutrients and taste remain, just the water is removed and with it the smell, refrigeration and handling issues.

How long has it taken you to develop the product?

From the genesis of an idea it’s taken us just over two years to craft, refine and test the product to the point where we know its totally pukka for pets.

Your packaging is really cool, especially for pet food. How did you come up with the idea?

We decided to ask our dear friend and artist Hayley Hamilton to create some characters that we could use. Hayley went totally above and beyond the brief. She provided a series of sketched images to choose from, then fleshed out characters, before finally delivering hand painted works of art.

I recognise a few Raglan locations and locals on the website. Who did your website?

Actually Maki from Raglan Ink designed our website… she’s awesome to work with.

We wanted to showcase Raglan with all it’s beauty and character. Turns out Raglan was the perfect backdrop when trying to capture people and their pets hanging out together. Local Leanne Roughton, the photographer, was fantastic to work with in terms of interpreting our vision and nailing the shoots quickly. Huge thanks to Karamea of Raglan Ink, Ray at Raglan Barber, Steve and Candide of Raglan Kayak, Rach from The Social Club and Sarah at Rockit for helping us out.

We have more photo shoots planned so the website is a work in progress.

What are the benefits of the product?

Speaking from experience, it really is the most convenient product to use. It’s natural, light and dry with minimal smell yet with all the nutritional goodness of raw meat. The tastiness means dogs don’t get sick of it and because it’s 100% natural you know you are feeding your pet only the good stuff.

Any other products in the pipeline?

Yes, we have also just launched another product. It’s called Dogs All Day Breakfast – a fusion of meat-bix and our freeze-dried product.

Plus we have a freeze-dried product and an All Day Breakfast for cats on the way.

Where can you buy it?

Raglan Supervalue, Raglan Four Square and The Herbal Dispensary.

And hopefully, in time, all Natural Foods stores up and down the country.

Check out the website: www.goodnoze.co.nz

Two Raglan locals and good mates have started a natural pet food company right under our nose. Dave Smith and Frank Bellerby launched ‘Good Noze’ this week and we caught up with them to check it out.

Where did the idea to start a pet food line come from?

Born partly out of frustration really.

Being an owner of some fussy pets and a pantry full of partially eaten pet food I realised that there was potential to come up with a new product to remove the stress and waste from daily feeds.

Turns out, they weren’t fussy at all – I was just feeding them the wrong stuff.

So you were trying to solve a problem?

Pretty much. But I couldn’t solve it on my own because I knew nothing at that stage about animal nutrition. Frank, an animal nutritionist, was already in the animal feeds business and he was up for the challenge and liked the direction for his own business.

We felt there was a gap in the market for a 100% natural and easy to handle product.

Plus we convinced ourselves that it was possible to make pet food more attractive with the right product, packaging and marketing – kind of like how Eco Store transformed the way people looked at cleaning products.

What was the goal in terms of the type of product you produced?

The aim was to produce a sure thing!

A natural product that no dog or cat could resist, but more importantly, one they should and would consistently eat.

Once we discovered the freeze-drying process and understood it, we had our solution and were sold.

The product is nothing but real meat that has been freeze dried, so the nutrients and taste remain, just the water is removed and with it the smell, refrigeration and handling issues.

How long has it taken you to develop the product?

From the genesis of an idea it’s taken us just over two years to craft, refine and test the product to the point where we know its totally pukka for pets.

Your packaging is really cool, especially for pet food. How did you come up with the idea?

We decided to ask our dear friend and artist Hayley Hamilton to create some characters that we could use. Hayley went totally above and beyond the brief. She provided a series of sketched images to choose from, then fleshed out characters, before finally delivering hand painted works of art.

I recognise a few Raglan locations and locals on the website. Who did your website?

Actually Maki from Raglan Ink designed our website… she’s awesome to work with.

We wanted to showcase Raglan with all it’s beauty and character. Turns out Raglan was the perfect backdrop when trying to capture people and their pets hanging out together. Local Leanne Roughton, the photographer, was fantastic to work with in terms of interpreting our vision and nailing the shoots quickly. Huge thanks to Karamea of Raglan Ink, Ray at Raglan Barber, Steve and Candide of Raglan Kayak, Rach from The Social Club and Sarah at Rockit for helping us out.

We have more photo shoots planned so the website is a work in progress.

What are the benefits of the product?

Speaking from experience, it really is the most convenient product to use. It’s natural, light and dry with minimal smell yet with all the nutritional goodness of raw meat. The tastiness means dogs don’t get sick of it and because it’s 100% natural you know you are feeding your pet only the good stuff.

Any other products in the pipeline?

Yes, we have also just launched another product. It’s called Dogs All Day Breakfast – a fusion of meat-bix and our freeze-dried product.

Plus we have a freeze-dried product and an All Day Breakfast for cats on the way.

Where can you buy it?

Raglan Supervalue, Raglan Four Square and The Herbal Dispensary.

And hopefully, in time, all Natural Foods stores up and down the country.

Check out the website: www.goodnoze.co.nz