Marion grew up in the Dutch countryside and studied human nutrition and dietetics in the 1980s -- the same decade she and Henk started teaching spinning together, with Henk building the wheels and Marion teaching the craft. Every autumn there were eco-dye sessions over open fires in the garden.

In 1992, Marion, Henk and their two-year-old daughter immigrated to New Zealand. The family moved to Garden Valley in 1996, and it wasn't until 2013 -- when Marion reduced her working hours -- that the studio was finally built.

Since then she's learned from textile artists including Anja Schrik, India Flint and Sasha Duerr, whose writing introduced her to the idea of permacouture: using what's local, making it last. It's the same philosophy behind everything taught at Mahoe Hills today.

[Draft note: expand with more detail on the Netherlands years and the studio build -- full material is in the content archive.]