books I am reading or loved

  • among the cannibals
  • extreme birds
  • pacific patterns

Friday, March 23, 2007

A day of pottery

We met a lovely woman at the fiji museum and her and her mom make pottery. We asked if they would teach us how they make pottery in fiji, and they we happy to teach us at their village. The village is about 1/2 hour by car from Suva, before the airport. They collect the clay from the river bank of the Rewa River, and make all sorts of traditional pots and little pigs, ducks and bura's to sell at the museum. I made a little pig and Josie made a little pot. We had a great day and feel very inspired to do our own pottery here at the house.

day of pottery


day of pottery

The latest version of the dolls

She has changed again...

newer version

I love random photos

here are some photos that show life here in fiji

I love random photos

Being creative

I don't remember how this creative endeavor started but this is just a sampling of what we are doing:

creating


I remember now, we went to an outdoor craft market and decided that it would be fun to do a table, and since it is only one Sunday a month it is not a huge commitment. We have now decided we won't do the craft market, too unpredictable with the weather, so we are currently looking for other venues.

gifts and valentines day

Stan and I went out with Josie and the family for valentines day! We went to Stan's favorite restaurant.... McDonald's, thats right McDonald's for Valentines day dinner. Look at photo to understand...

gifts and valentines day

Getting use to the heat and the military

Well we are now back home in Suva and getting use to the humidity again. Here are some random photos. It is interesting that while I was taking a movie with my camera of the pot holes and a military check point my camera died!

getting back into the groove!

March 24th

Well I have great news, Josie has lent me her old camera and my dad is sending me his old underwater camera! So soon I will be taking tons of pictures again. Also I am home today working on the computer writing up my labs that I did yesterday for class, so I can work on the blog at the same time! The internet connection has been very slow so it has been near impossible to down load the pictures, but today it seems to be working. So finally! drum roll please... PICTURES:

denarau weekend

Friday, March 09, 2007

March 10th 2007

March 10, 2007

I am sorry for not working on the blog, several things have happened that have stopped me. The worst is that my camera has gone on strike!!! It will turn on but it refuses to take any pictures! I think it is the humidity. I tried to find a place to get it repaired but it seems they have to ship it to Japan and it will cost me hundreds of dollars. So I will take a hairdryer to it and see if that will help. A piece of advise to anyone buying a camera, if you plan on taking the camera to a really humid place for an extended amount of time buy a underwater camera even if it never enters water.

The other reasons I have not worked on the blog is that I have started school!!!!! I am two weeks into the program and loving it. I am taking textiles and apparel, I have 3 classes; the first is the apparel class which is learning to make garments and sewing. The class final project will be a fashion show, where the students will have to model there originally designed evening wear. My second class is an art fundamentals class it is a total blast, tons of homework that I love, and again a huge finally project. This project is to explore a major theme like death, birth, and or ritual and apply it to a medium that you enjoy working in with a pacific flair. I have not decided what I am going to do yet, but I do have a few ideas’ floating in my head. My last class is the textiles course, basically the chemistry of fibre’s. This class is a distance class so I have to be very motivate to stay on track and stick to the time line. I have 7 labs to do for this class, like burning fabric and pour acid on it and things like that. And again a final project! On Masi, which is fibre cloth that is made and used in many Fijian ceremonies, it is the same as ngatu in Tonga. I am really enjoying this project since I feel somewhat comfortable with the process of making Masi after watching Stan’s mom make it. I am glad I took so many pictures of her working through the various stages of making Masi; they will come in handy with the paper.

Very exciting news Stan’s sister and youngest Tua ofa has joined us. Ana is taking a double major in English and geography and will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts. Well that has you up to date with my life. I do have pictures to down load and I promise I will get to it in the next week. Josie has kindly lent me her camera so that will be a lifesaver. We are off to a village about 1 hour from Suva to spend the day with a local potter; she is going to take us through the whole process of pottery in Fiji. From digging the clay to firing the pieces, I am totally excited. More news and pictures soon!!!

Jay