Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
Box of Light is not all surf and long days at the beach. Last week I had the privilege to work with an inspiring team of creatives as we shot some new imagery for Artemis – a real Dunedin success story in natural organic healthcare. The Artemis range is the brainchild of Sandra Clair, who started the company in 1998 with a goal to promote, inform and empower people to proactively maintain their health.
Sandra is a registered medical herbalist with an extensive list of qualifications in medical anthropology and health science from Swiss, Australian and New Zealand universities. She's basically an alchemist – combining plants and herbs to make a multitude of remedies for everything from flu to muscle pain, and pregnancy to allergies and more.
During a short stroll around her beautiful garden on the sunny side of Harbour Cone, she points to various plants and explains their magic to me. From native plants to traditional herbs she's a walking encyclopedia of the natural world and the benefits the various plants contain.
She collects her ingredients each season as they the plants hit their harvesting peak – she talks excitedly about a trip to Alexandra for "the thyme harvest" – a twinkle never far from her eye. Each formula is made from the freshest ingredients so her harvest is crucial to each season's final product. She shows me an incredibly old book that she has been entrusted with: it's called Materia Medica – a rare renaissance medical book written by German pharmacist and medical doctor Jacobus Theodorus Tabernaemontanus in the 16th century (1588). Its aged and delicate pages are filled with descriptions, sketches and annotations. It weighs 6kg and it is this wisdom, combined with Sandra's own comprehensive research, that conjurs the magic from the plants and herbs in her annual harvest list.
Sandra's garden is like an oasis on Otago Peninsula and it's fitting that she has chosen to name the company after the Greek goddess of nature and wildernesss – she's surrounded by it.
You can check out the Artemis range right here. Or check it out at your local pharmacy.
Artemis hasn't been the only god at work – Tangaroa has been serving up some beautiful waves for everyone. Here's this week's bounty.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Got your tickets to Band of Magicians yet? Don't leave it too late – this is one international act that you don't want to miss. Think of the movie Now You See Me ... but you won't have your bank accounts drained. Check out this clip to find out why they are so popular in the US and Australia.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: