I'm Christall Lowe (nee Rata). I simply love beautiful things. My main work "Hapene", a net-like flax textile, came about a number of years ago now, when I was in my grandparent's backyard attempting to make a giftwrap for my cousin's 21st birthday present. I wanted to create something distinctive, stunning and innovative, and so began tinkering with a Harakeke leaf. I decided to put the leaf through an unusual process, and remarkably, the sacred Harakeke leaf was transformed into an object of rare beauty and Hapene was conceived.

I'm somewhat obsessed with harakeke. I have a few hundred flax plants, and I never tire of the aroma of freshly picked and processed flax. It's a scent that can't be bottled, you enjoy it while it lasts. My passion is creating beautiful things from nature, and more recently 'upcycling' - I LOVE vintage objects, and I find immense pleasure in bringing these items, usually gathering dust in someone's old shed, back to life.

I'm a mother to two very active boys, Enosh (3) and Asher (not yet 1), and wife to an incredible husband, Layton. I always have far too many ideas at once, and not enough time to implement them all, but I try my best! In the middle of all the mayhem, I procrastinate doing such stuff as accounts by baking and painting and playing with the kids. And my latest newfound 'philosophy' (which I heard off Britain's Got Talent) is "Chase the Dream, not the competition". So here I am continuing to chase my dream.