Helen Riley-Duddin’s story is deeply rooted in creativity and helping others. From her beautiful 120-year-old home in Ōamaru, she shares an insight into her ‘beautifully chaotic’ life. Words Lucinda Diack, Photos Rachael McKenna.

Helen Riley-Duddin laughs in response to my question as to how she does it all. Five beautiful children, a design store, the mentoring of up-and-coming designers and creators, her own product range … the list goes on. While it might be far from an original question and one she probably gets often, it is certainly valid. Any working mother will tell you that we don’t always do it well and Helen is quick to agree. ‘I always say the “doing it all” is not me, it’s my husband and I. And even then, we’re stumbling through every day, late, forgetting things, it’s a hot mess!’

With a degree in communication design and marketing from the University of Otago, Helen embarked on a career in graphic design, product design and visual communication. ‘Michael and I met in our first year of university and he has always been incredibly supportive of my creative fantasies and dreams,’ she says. ‘Including when I launched my visual communication company tinch Design, to include products nearly 15 years ago when Jemima was one.’

Derived from a made-up word she used to describe intuitive measurement as a child, tinch products were about creating something fun – and reuseable. Magnetic designs for the wall that were inspired by nature in its simplest form; with colour and texture often playing and interacting with each other to achieve something unique and different. ‘I was selling my work online via Etsy and Felt and from there it just kept growing.’

Helen’s artworks were, and continue to be, interactive wallscapes. ‘I didn’t want them to be permanent wall fixtures,’ she explains, ‘but rather playful combinations of colour, pattern and texture that were engaging, storytelling art. Something that was halfway between art and play, that could move or change.’

Where some were three-dimensional, others utilised upcycled or discarded materials, changing their context to allow you to appreciate the beauty of their colours and textures – ‘liberating them from their former garments and associations’.

As demand started to grow for her wallscapes and commissions flooded in, Helen naturally gravitated to other creatives in Dunedin, ultimately co-forming Dunedin Designed Inc – a not-for profit entity of artists and creatives who came together to exhibit, sell and curate their work for public perusal. ‘We were all producing beautiful designs that had a place in retail, but individually we didn’t have the resources for a shopfront.’ Collectively however, they did, so in 2015 they established Guild, a collective design store that is still in operation today. ‘I would curate the pop-up guest designer operation side of the store and undertake all of the marketing and communications, as a voluntary role,’ says Helen.

While her creative outlet was flying, Helen and Michael were facing the deeply personal devastation that is secondary infertility. ‘We had three miscarriages after Jemima and were told we might not be able to have any more children,’ she shares. ‘I felt really alone. People often shy away from having the conversation, and certainly 13–14 years ago, but it is so important to talk about it. We had to come to terms with quite a different reality than we thought we would have.’

Amongst all of this, Helen dedicated a number of years, in and around kids, evolving tinch and co-founding Guild to teaching at the Otago Polytechnic. A role that allowed her to engage with, educate and inspire young creatives.

Nurturing Talent

Those who have met, collaborated or worked with Helen will be all too familiar with her natural affinity to identify a creative talent, nurture it and grow it into something special. This was a role that allowed her to mentor, teach and empower emerging creatives. ‘It was about teaching them to value their skills,’ she enthuses.

During this time not only did the miracle happen that is Rowan (now 11), but Michael – a stock market analyst – was offered a role in Auckland. ‘We had two small children in a small house in Dunedin,’ describes Helen. ‘We knew that moving to Auckland wasn’t for us, but that it was time to do something. We were running out of space for us to both work from home and allow the kids the space they needed to be kids.’

Having grown up on the outskirts of Ōamaru in Kakanui, as a teenager Helen had been desperate to leave the small town and swore she ‘would never come back’.

‘We searched in Dunedin but knew that to get bang for buck we would need to look a little further afield to get everything we were after. We loved our life in Dunedin and I had no intention of leaving – and certainly not to Ōamaru – until I found this house online.’

‘I didn’t want them to be permanent, but rather playful combinations of colour, pattern and texture that were engaging. Something that was halfway between art and play.’

‘This house’ is a 120-year-old villa with a wrap-around balcony that captured Helen’s attention from the moment she saw it. ‘I convinced myself that Ōamaru was essentially the most northern suburb of Dunedin,’ she laughs – not a 90-minute drive.

Looking back, it might have been a monumental decision to move, but it is one the couple have never regretted. ‘Now Ōamaru is our everything,’ she smiles.

For 18 months, Helen commuted a day a week to Dunedin around the demands of a growing young family – with Sylvie (now eight) and then Claude (now six) defying the odds and granting Helen and Michael their wish for a large family. ‘After baby number four I made the decision to step aside from the Dunedin project that was Guild, continue designing and producing tinch at home, and opting to focus on being a mum.

‘After a while I realised I had lost myself in that voluntary role. I had a disconnect and needed to work so I set out to find a paid job – of which I lasted one day!’ Helen laughs that it took less than eight hours for her to realise that working for someone else, within the tight parameters of a job description, would crush her creativity.

‘I had my experience with Guild and I had initiated and managed a couple of little pop-up shops in Ōamaru and that gave me the confidence to know that I had something to offer,’ she says. ‘So I got on the phone to some of the artists and creatives I had collaborated with in the past and asked if I could represent their work in a concept store.’

A Concept Store Reality

The front room of the grand old villa, originally the formal lounge, was large enough to allow Helen a space in which to operate a shopfront. ‘I had fantasised about what a tinch shop might look like for well over a decade,’ she explains, ‘and I thought it might be bonkers, but why not give it a go?’

Taking the ‘heart of tinch’, Helen named the shop Inc and filled the space with works from independent artists, designers and creators, curating them in a way that allowed visitors to truly experience the pieces and connect with them in a home environment. For two years, Helen and Michael opened their home for people to come and shop. ‘It was real-life beautiful chaos during the week and then on a Thursday night we’d tidy up and remind ourselves not to burn the toast in the morning because the shop would be open,’ she laughs. ‘It was intense, but fabulous. ‘It was a true concept store and everything I dreamed of – telling the story of beautiful New Zealand-made artisan wares.’

With the arrival of Covid in New Zealand, Michael and Helen made the decision to move the store out of home. ‘It had grown from the front room into the lounge and we felt a bit vulnerable letting people into our home when there was so much unknown.’

While the online store ticked along, it felt like the storefront needed its own real space – but Covid posed so much unpredictability. ‘I shifted my focus and put my energy into working more collaboratively with designers on limited collections; telling their stories and selling online, mentoring and nurturing their creative outlets during a really strange period of unknown. I loved watching some of the special editions that came out of that period – they spoke, and continue to speak, to such a unique time in history.’

‘It was real-life beautiful chaos during the week and then on a Thursday night we’d tidy up and remind ourselves not to burn the toast in the morning cos the shop would be open.’

Then an opportunity arose in an unlikely space, to lease a council-owned heritage building on Itchen Street. ‘It needed a lot of work, but I was able to consult on the interior and the moment I saw the fireplaces similar to those at home, I knew it was Inc’s new home.’

Stepping inside the store now, it is homage to Helen’s career of collaborating, supporting, promoting and showcasing local designers. Every corner unveils something different and the space has been beautifully curated so as to feel like a home environment. In fact, visitors could be forgiven for thinking it is a home – often jokingly asking to move in.

While the arrival of number five, Eddie (two) forced Helen to take the plunge and employ staff, she now doesn’t know how she did it without them. ‘It made me realise Inc wasn’t a side hustle any more – I had to trust other people … and I am so grateful to each and every one of them.’ 

When asked what is next, Helen laughs that perhaps this year could bring some more sleep. But most importantly she is hoping it brings more exciting collaborations and creative problem-solving. With the odd little fantasy thrown in there as well.

Helen’s Top Spots to Visit

I always suggest people come to Ōamaru with no expectations and stay on foot. Experience the buildings and be prepared for the unlikely. You never know what is going to be open or on at any given time.

• Take time down by the harbour. Between the Steampunk area, the Farmers’ Market or the bike track, there is always something happening.
• Eat at Cucina on Tee Street, or at Del Mar down by the Blue Penguin Colony.
• Wander the Botanic Gardens – stop to smell the roses.
• Throw stones in the river or at the beach in Kakanui – 15 minutes out of town.
• Explore the Elephant Rocks – a fossil-rich limestone prehistoric playground.