Poppy and Sage founder Anieszka Banks creates her beeswax candles and other treasures with joyous colour and shapes
Aniezka Banks at her home in Karekare
Being creative allows Anieszka Banks to feel most like herself. Whether that’s painstakingly adding tiny wax flowers to candles or carving tiny wooden mushrooms, she says, “It feels like mine and it feels like home.”
At university in Brighton, the English artist specialised in illustration, which led to a flood of freelance commissions that allowed her to travel around Europe and eventually settle down in Auckland, New Zealand. Now she’s started a business, Poppy and Sage, from her house in Karekare – a world full of colour and joyous shapes, from beeswax candles to crayons. “We believe in producing small, hand-made batches of high-quality items,” says Anieszka. “We use good, kind materials that are gentle on the earth, and on our family. Things that we are proud of and can use in our own home.”
Your business is named after your twins, Poppy and Sage, which is such a sweet homage. How do they play a part in your business and its ethos?
Poppy and Sage are the reason the business exists. It started because I was concerned about the crayons they were nibbling on and all of the toxic ingredients that are in standard crayons. So, I tried to make some beeswax crayons, and then I started to look at our home and what was in it in a new light. I guess this is primarily why I started to make things for them, I wanted to know the origin from start to finish. What I make tends to follow them and their interests. Often, they will be playing a game and I’ll be like wow, it would be cool if they had a candle to play with that was safe but had a flame. Voila, the felted candle was born. I think as they move through stages, so will my business.
Anieszka was inspired to create her felt candles for her twins, Poppy and Sage, to have a safe flame to play with. The wood was found on a beach near their home in Karekare and the flames are needle-felted Ashford wool.
What gave you the idea for stacking candles?
My children stacking blocks, I think. I was watching them one day and looking at all of the pleasing colour combinations and I thought, “Hey, I wonder if that would work with candles?” It took some trial and error with a lot of mess — my poor kitchen floor — but we got there. Now one of the things I love about them the most is watching the inner child come out in people as they stack them. They are often shy and reluctant at first, and then they get more confident as they start to discover all the shapes and colour combinations.
Your work is wide-ranging, from illustrations to crayons to felt to woodworking. What’s your favourite medium to work with?
Such an eclectic mix, right? I guess each medium finds its own way of fitting into the chaos of my life at home with twins, so I guess depending on the time of day, where I am, and how much attention I have to give to other things depends on my favourite. I’m sure I’ll find yet another new medium next week.
Illustrating was where I began and what I will always come back to as it feels like home. Felting is great because I can do it anywhere and the wool shades are the most beautiful colours to work with. But then, the woodworking is fun because it’s big, sharp tools, loud noises and heaps of mess. As for the beeswax candles, there are few more relaxing things I’ve found than making them. Melting the wax, blending the colours, de-moulding the candles. The whole thing feels like some kind of magic.
Anieszka took inspiration for her stacking candles from her children’s stacking blocks. The layers are designed to create a beautiful melt of colours and shapes as the candle burns.
What’s something about candles that you want people to know?
They can make the mundane feel magic. I feel that candles can create a moment in time for us to stop, pause and notice beauty, create a tradition, a ritual, celebrate something, mourn someone, whatever it is that you need that moment for, the candle brings us that presence.
Sustainability – both environmentally and creatively – is very important to you. Can you touch on that philosophy?
Creative sustainability is an interesting philosophy as it isn’t something that can be easily obtained, for me anyway. I’ve had to learn to be strict with myself. I learnt the hard way that staying up all night making yet another new shade of candle, makes me pretty useless at being a mum or even a human the next day. Also making sure that I am creating things that are gentle on the earth and can be reclaimed or recycled whenever possible.
We live in a small beach community in West Auckland and have seen first-hand the effects that climate change is having on our environment. It feels important to create things that are going to be cherished and used for years to come. Finding the kinder options for materials, ingredients and processes takes a lot of time, thought and money. This is one of the reasons why I will only ever use beeswax in my candles.
Anieszka’s beeswax flora candles are inspired by the window garden outside her daughter Poppy’s room.
What’s the best bit of advice someone’s given you?
“Those who seek beauty shall find it.” These are the words of one of my dearest friends Zoe, who I have learnt so much from. It reminds me that however dark things can feel, there will always be a glimmer somewhere. By choosing to look for it, you will find more than you ever imagined. Children are a great reminder of this. My kids will spend hours choosing ‘crystals’ from piles of broken rocks, spotting daisies in the lawn and looking for mermaids in rock pools.
Any exciting things or developments in the works?
At the moment I am working on these little wooden celebration rings that can be used for seasonal celebrations, birthdays and countdowns to special things. These little rings have little handmade ornaments that sit in them depending on the occasion. I’ve also been thinking about other things that could be made out of felt and not be too weird. I’m trying to find ways of weaving in my illustration more and blending all of my different skill sets and creative practices more. I’ve started illustrating a range of alphabet cards but gosh, there are more letters in the alphabet than I have patience for this month so I’ll come back to that.
“Melting the wax, blending the colours, demoulding the beeswax candles. The whole thing feels like magic.”
How can people support your gorgeous art?
Maybe the best way you can support my art is by finding something you know someone will fall in love with – and one day just get it for them because you love them. That way there’s a ripple of joy that continues to travel beyond me. I pour it into the products when I’m making them with the hope that they will make the person who ends up with them feel that joy too.
poppyandsage.com
@poppyandsagenz
Text Caroline Moratti Photography Babiche Martens
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