Red tape frustrates glass artists

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 22

Red tape frustrates glass artists

By

JOAN BEGG

Canadian glass artists, Stephen Taylor and Denise Belanger, were amazed at the speed with which they were granted permission to immigrate to New Zealand.

The ease with which the couple and their two young sons entered the country 10 months ago however, did not prepare them for the red tape and non-committal gas suppliers, which have thwarted their attempts to set up a glass studio and start working again. The couple are the first Canadians to enter New Zealand with “entrepreneurial” status. Their application to immigrate was granted on the grounds of their artistic expertise and their proposal to set up a glass studio for production and training.

What they are offering is an approach to glass art which is quite different from anything here. The approach is of inter-

national standard and artistic rather than functional.

Ms Belanger has been glass-blowing sculptures and sand-blasting glass plates for the last 10 years. Her work has been exhibited widely in northern America and West Germany and her market there is established.

Mr Taylor has worked with stained glass since he completed his studies at the Royal College of Art in London in 1964. He has designed and created glass windows for numerous churches and houses in Canada.

Both have taught and lectured in glass art, technique, and design, and for the last few years have worked in their own glass studio near Toronto.

They first visited New Zealand three years ago to see Mr Taylor’s parents who had inunmigrated from England. Ten months ago they came back with the intention of staying. The reasons included family, the landscape, the

gentle pace of life which would be ideal for bringing up children in, and the anti-nuclear policy. “When we arrived the idea was to get Denise set up and producing ... and then I would start pounding the streets canvassing for stained glass work,” said Mr Taylor. Ms Belanger has arrangements to sent most of her work back to her established market in Canada, at least until she has established a strong market here.

But setting up business in New Zealand has been difficult. Since their arrival the couple have clocked up thousands of kilometres on the car’s speedometer looking for a building which could accommodate a glass studio and the family. It sounds simple, but of the six potential places they looked at, zoning requirements have been a major complication. “It has been an eyeopening experience in frustration,” said Mr Tay-

lor. The biggest frustration is the inconsistency in zoning regulations with every district having its own set.

They understood the principle behind zoning regulations was to protect the masses, but all they wanted to do was set up a non-polluting, quiet, twoperson studio, said Ms Belanger.

The couple are considering converting the old dairy factory at Tai Tapu, but even that needs a special application, which could not be processed until February, she said. Another major problem has been ensuring a liquified petroleum gas supply to fuel the $15,000 worth of glass-blowing equipment that Ms Belanger has brought with her. Before arriving in the country they had a very positive response from gas suppliers, said Mr Taylor, but now the suppliers refused to give any firm indication of whether they could supply gas to certain areas or how much

they would charge. The only other glass blower using L.P.G. in the South Island was in Nelson, but on a delivery path. Although Waimea County Council was amenable to the development of artists’ studios the prices of houses were prohibitive, said Mr Taylor. The only places they could afford would be in the "boondocks” where gas suppliers would not deUver. The couple have considered using alternative gas, such as biogas, but to create the nearly 5000 Utres that Ms Belanger uses each month tonnes of manure would need to be converted, said Mr Taylor. “It has got to the point where we are tearing our hair out,” said Mr Taylor. “New Zealand has virtually zero population growth, we came in as entrepreneurs to set up a studio for stained glass and glass blowing with training facilities. We know what we are offering is different from any-

thing else here and yet we seem to have hit against a stone waR.”

But the couple are not letting the frustrations of the past months completely erode their enthusiasm. They love the country and have made the most of this unintentional break from work by treating it as an extended “honeymoon”.

Glass has not been touched. Instead both artists have been painting — landscapes.

The New Zealand countryside has been a draw card for the couple. During their visit three years ago, they took about 2000 photographs of the countryside, and Ms Belanger later created a series of sand-blasted glass plates inspired by New Zealand countryside. Most were exhibited and sold in Canada.

They are excited by the greens, the variety of trees, in particular the raggedy macrocarpa, the

lengthy seasons and the amazing cloud formations. By comparison the Canadian landscape is much the same, rather bleak and brutal, with

temperatures ranging from 40 above to 40 below and spring and autumn seasons that are over in days.

And the future? With

local councU work slowed down over the summer, Stephen Taylor and Denise Belanger have decided to take their sons for a holiday, clear their heads and

decide whether they can face aU the red tape again in their attempts to set up business. The alternative is returning to Canada. .