When Art Speaks

I bought this at Pacific Harbour.  About 45 minutes from Suva, the capital of Fiji.  The young vendor said, 'It is a sulu (a wrap around).  It was hand painted and brought (much) larger than life frangipani-the sweet smelling flowers of Fiji, that came in about 4-6 colors, to life. The fabric was a thick cotton and so, not as soft nor as supple to be wrapped around one's body.  But more importantly, using it as a sulu will not show it for it is.  A beautiful piece of art.  I saved it in Fiji, bringing it out only on special occasions using it as a table cloth, with a clear plastic covering on it.

Here in Sweden, I used it as a back cover for my couch.  

But over a month ago, a friend of mine, who is a successful designer/ artist and who has been helping me set up my house, with curtains and shelves etc, said, 'How about we hang this, you will see it more and it will brighten that little area.

I agreed. 

It did made the blank wall jump with joy!!  But more importantly, it made me think of the young man who I bought it from.  He does not know how many years I have kept his simple art with me, as a reminder of one sunday after noon at Pac Harbor, as a reminder of the relief that frangipani brought us on a sweaty Fiji day, which were plenty, and as a reminder of how much art speaks of people who make them.  

It is true, with all the issues that world knows it by, with all the problems that happen where ever there are people, Fiji, like many pacific countries, remains the country of smiles and frangipanis. 

I remember how friends always said to me that I was living in paradise.  While I agreed and was  happy to get much needed dose of dear sun, it was really too hot for me. Especially with a decade of Pennsylvania behind me.  But I also know the joy I felt at seeing the bald frangipani trees come alive with flowers as spring came.  And walking under those blooming trees brought a fragrant breath, that brought a fleeting relief from summer sweats!! We would pick up the flowers from the ground and stick them behind our ears to carry their beauty and fragrance with us.  Frangipanis are not the flowers to be put in a bouquet. They remain on the trees and are a delight for our eyes and noses!!

This is not an expensive piece of art, that people put in their houses.  But it is more valuable.  The hand painted sulu now speaks to me of simplicity and sweetness of frangipanis.  It reminds of sunny Fiji days and how nature lives as art in all of us, especially those who have not been corrupted by formal education.  :) 

May art live and may it travel!!