REFUGE

I thought I had lost this small painting, entitled "REFUGE" when a fire at our local arts center last month turned beautiful works of art, valuable equipment, hard-earned resources, our pottery library, and files full of important records into smouldering heaps of ash.  It is still hard to come to terms with the destruction of a place my husband and I had worked so hard to build up, along with many of our fellow artists and art-lovers.

As I walked through the gutted rooms of the Arts Centre the day after the fire, I discovered "REFUGE", along with several other original works of art, still safe and sound in the corner of a room that had escaped major damage from both flames and fireman's hose.  A small bright spot in the middle of a dark day...

"REFUGE" was painted in acrylics on traditional Fijian masi, a thick, cloth-like paper made from the inner bark of tropical mulberry trees.  I mounted the painting on a 15 x 15 inch board which was covered in scraps of recycled masi to create an organic texture, then painted white.

 

Here's what I wrote about "REFUGE":

While not exactly the idyllic white sandy beaches the tourists are after, the mangrove swamps that fringe Fiji’s coast in many areas are vital to the well being of our ecosystems.  Tangles of tall, arching aerial roots provide a natural refuge for breeding fish, crabs, and other marine organisms that are part of the local food chain.  Mangroves also protect coastal land from wave and storm surge erosion.  Yet in many parts of Fiji, developers are clearing away these vital natural habitats to make way for yet another hotel or factory!  “Refuge” was painted as a reminder that our planet will only continue to be a safe haven for all of us if ‘progress’ means respecting and caring for our natural environment.

Happily, "REFUGE" was only back in our studio for a couple of weeks before it caught the eye of a visiting art buyer.  Now that the original has left our shores, I have made this work of art available as a museum-quality art print through my page on Fine Art America.  Click on the link below for details...

SEE PRINT AND GREETING CARD OPTIONS

CREATIVE JUICES FLOW DURING LIBRARY WEEK!

Spent an interesting afternoon assisting as a judge for an art competition staged in our town hall as part of National Library Week celebrations today...  Small teams of children from Nadi’s various primary schools took part in creating works of art made from found objects and recycled materials.  Each entry had to portray, in some way, the theme of this year’s Library Week, which is “Reading Unlocks the Future”.  The children were given two hours to complete their project from start to finish.  They had to bring all their own materials with them, so the exercise required quite a bit of planning ahead on their part!

Fellow judges Aseri Yabakivou and Akosita Lovodua and I were kept busy moving from table to table, observing the thirteen teams in action.  We were very impressed with the level of creativity we saw all around the room!  Most children around here have little access to standard art materials, and the teaching of the arts is not given much attention in our local schools.  Yet here they were, making the most of what they had, and coming up with some quirky, original concepts!

 

 

Well done to all these budding young artists - you made our day!!

 

 

JOURNEY OF THE VAKA I, II, & III

This set of three silk paintings, introduced in my previous post, was created as a tribute to the seven Pacific Voyager vaka or double hulled sailing canoes, which have just completed an epic journey across the Pacific Ocean.

"Journey of the Vaka I"

 

 

"Journey of the Vaka II"

 

 

 

 

"Journey of the Vaka III"

The vaka project has seen indigenous people from island nations across the Pacific collaborate to revive traditional navigation methods, while spawning new interest in the preservation of cultural practices and respect for our ocean environment.   Using the power of wind and sun to sail through the Pacific archipelagos and across to North America and back, our vaka sailing crews have become local heroes – bringing marine conservation, and pride in traditional customs, into the headlines of our mainstream media, and into the conversations of island people across all generational and cultural divides.

“Journey of the Vaka” features key navigational methods used by our voyaging ancestors – and by the vaka crews of today:  Charting the stars, observing the positions of sun and moon, noting the direction of prevailing winds, currents, and swells...  Watching for significant cloud formations, reading clues in the presence of plant debris floating by, observing the flight paths of birds and migration patterns of ocean wildlife, while drawing on the vast knowledge and guidance of sea-faring elders; all this coupled with the self-reliance and survival skills still found in many of Fiji’s outer islands were the forerunners of modern day GPS in the Pacific...

A humpback whale with calf swim through the middle painting—the patterns created by spectrographs of their haunting songs forming part of my design.  The effect that the increasing noise pollution in our oceans has on whales and other wildlife was one of the issues highlighted in the Pacific Voyagers environmental campaign.

And what of the small family in “Journey of the Vaka I”? Will they be torn apart by the call of the ocean?  What will the future hold for the child of the Pacific, nestled in the arms of a mother who tries instinctively to shield it from the winds of change blowing through all our lives....

Spread across the three paintings are the forms of seven vaka, their twin, triangular sails filled with wind.  Six of the canoes, each representing a specific island nation, have rust-coloured sails, while the sails of the seventh vessel, with its international, pan-Pacific crew, are white.  By portraying the forces of nature with dynamic movement of shape and line, I have tried to reflect both the vulnerability of the vaka, and their sense of purpose as they spread their uniquely Pacific message of ocean conservation to the rest of the world. 

CREATING "JOURNEY OF THE VAKA"

Some shots of my latest painting in the making...

With the triptych you see evolving here, I continue to explore a theme inspired by the Pacific Voyagers vaka project - a fleet of seven double-hulled canoes representing various Pacific island nations, creating history this past year by sailing across the Pacific using wind and solar power.  While their adventures have revived an interest in ancient Pacific navigation methods, visits by the resilient vaka crews have touched the lives of many islanders, sparking a new awareness about ocean conservation and pride in our local cultures.

My silk paintings always start out with pencil sketches on paper, which eventually become the ink-line masters drawings that will be traced onto white silk. 
I will have to paint lots more kasaqa (frigate birds) before I can get them out of my system!  As they do not have water-resistant oil protecting their feathers and can therefore not fly far from dry land, these wonderful seabirds, with their jagged wings and forked tails, signify to the sea-weary sailor that solid ground is not far away... 

My master-drawing has been transferred onto the silk, and outlined in metallic-gold resist.  Now comes the fun part- applying the dyes!  Here, color is added to the twin sails of my vaka fleet.

The middle of three paintings evolves, late one night when the rest of our busy household is asleep, and the only noise is from my radio, as BBC World Service broadcasts bring me up to date with news from other corners of the planet!

"Journey of the Vaka III" takes shape: a reflection of the age-old navigation methods used by Pacific sailors...

Floating vegetation was amongst the many navigational cues used by our Pacific ancestors,  who would note the direction it came from and the condition it was in as a way of envisioning what lay beyond the horizon...

A mother and child feature in "Journey of the Vaka I".
Yes, I know, the colors I use can be somewhat unorthodox!

Nearby, my late night studio companion lends his moral support to the "Journey of the Vaka" triptych project - KitKat does not realize that we spent several hours washing and cleaning these pieces of  masi vula (white barkcloth) earlier today!

 

Sneak preview of the finished pieces - more to come on my next blog!

AUTHENTIC FIJIAN - WITH A LICENSE TO BOOT!

Sigavou Studios has just been accredited as a licensed producer with the new “Fijian Made” and “Buy Fijian” campaign launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade here in Fiji.  We are now authorised to display the official “Fijian Made” logo on all art and craft we produce, supporting the move to promote local productivity and reduce the flood of imports into our small island nation.

My son Eremasi and I were amongst twenty four certificate recipients who attended an official “Fijian Made” function in our capital city last month.  Here’s the group, with a collective display of products made by the companies that were represented.  Spot the Sigavou Studios artwork in the foreground!