Hi, this is a bit about us

Ruru Artisans is a craft-based workshop that includes letterpress, art print, book making, linen items, and nature inspired wood crafts. We have been involved in the creative industries for over three decades and continue to find ways to produce quality pieces, exploring how materials and technologies can be put to work.

The Ruru Artisans Project

Ruru Artisans continues a vision of making beautiful things for you to have nearby.

The Ruru is the endemic New Zealand owl but in te reo Māori, the word also has the meaning of a handshake as though finding agreement rather than in greeting. Thus the Ruru Artisans Project brings together others who share the vision, to find expression in the beauty of the environment we share.

Situated in a unique and fascinating ecology, filled with endemic and native bird, animal, and plant life, these elements form the basis of your works in letterpress, art print, book making, linen items, nature inspired and wood crafts. Pieces are limited edition or one-off items and will do commissioned works.

If you want to join us, let us know from here.

We are makers

As makers, we experiment in a wide range of media in our studio in which we make beautiful prints and homewares. We have three operational presses, the newest of which is the Korrex Berlin Hand letterpress from 1976. The oldest is our Squintani Model 5 treadle letterpress, circa 1886. The middle is the TH Pullan & Sons proofing press, from the turn of the 19th to 20th century (no date on that one, yet).

We also have a book binding workshop where we hand make products such as books, mainly stitching sections together and forming covers with book cloth or possum leather over boards. For additional limited runs we use hand made paper and soft covers from locally sourced materials. An area of interest is the making of one off art books that combine old and new technologies. Some of our pieces are lodged permanently around the world, in University of Washington Seattle USA, UNHCR Canberra Australia, Puke Ariki New Plymouth NZ, Sir George Grey Collection Auckland NZ and other private collections.

Our Place

Ruru Artisans is based in the Oruru Valley, in the Far North of New Zealand. The region has a long history of artisan workshops that have produced beautiful pottery, stained glass, leather goods, artist paintings, and more.

The 22km long Oruru Valley opens to Taipā and the Taipā estuary, the landing place of the great Polynesian explorer, Kupe. In the 18th century, it is estimated that the valley supported up to 8000 people and the Oruru Valley has many pre-European archeological sites. The Oruru river terraces supported many garden sites, and on the valley ridge line were 57 Pā (defended fortresses), each with food storage and settlement terraces.

Today, the valley is home to mainly farms and offers a peaceful rural environment and is spoken of by all visitors to be a beautifully inspiring place to live and work.