Matthew Wicks found his passion for design at Waitaki Boys' High School in Oamaru.
After living in Christchurch, Dunedin and the United Kingdom, Mr Wicks (28) moved back to his home town in September.
He has set up a studio for his business, Wicksey Design, in the heart of the town's Victorian precinct.
Like many people in their 20s, Mr Wicks moved to the UK in 2012 seeking a bigger city life and overseas adventure.
''Like every kid ... you want to see other parts of the world so I headed over there, got a job in a pub in London working for a couple of Kiwi guys,'' he said.
Mr Wicks established Wicksey Design when he was living in London, starting with doing freelance sign-writing for businesses.
''From that, it sort of snowballed into doing art for people and I thought: `I've always had a passion for art, I may as well give this a go', and it's actually worked out pretty well,'' he said.
After two and a-half years abroad, and starting to feel homesick for New Zealand, he decided to move back.
Moving back to New Zealand was always something he had wanted to do, but not so soon, and Oamaru was not the first place on his list to settle.
''But Oamaru has changed so much since I was here in high school,'' he said.
''You live in a city and you come back here and experience the charm that this town has and it's addictive after a while and I love being back here.''
Mr Wicks was proud to be a part of Oamaru's creative scene and he was always learning something new and being inspired by those around him.
From his studio in the Woolstore Complex, Mr Wicks is doing mostly commissioned pieces.
Some commissions are for people in Oamaru, while others are sent around the country and even to Australia.
He specialises in hand-drawn signage, drawings, painting in a variety of media and graphic design.
