Plant-based artists travelling from the US Pacific coast to South Pacific islands
Today in school, we tried this recipe for healthy date balls. In the classroom, I explained the meanings of the words “zest,” “fine,” and “ground,” and we reviewed the abbreviations for grams, teaspoon and tablespoon.
The recipe is straightforward and the kids did everything on their own except operate the blender!
Taveuni is full of inspiration. In our free time, Jack has been picking up the guitar and ukelele and I've been working on watercolors. Here are a couple Taveuni-inspired watercolors.
Today marks our first wedding anniversary! We were engaged in December 2012 and by last January we’d figured out we wanted an outdoor picnic themed wedding. We spent 9 months planning what we hoped would be a creative and casual event. September in the Bay Area is beautiful, full of long sunny days with pleasant weather. We looked around East Bay Regional Parks and decided that Tilden Park would be best. We made bunting banners and pompoms, went thrifting for things like picnic baskets and rented tents, tables and chairs. Jack made weekly trips to our rental picnic site with machete and rakes to work on the grounds so they’d be perfect for the big day. He also built stilt frames for the redwood trees1 so that he could make an art gallery from our large wood pieces and canvases.
My Mom made the (vegan!) cake and cupcakes and Jack’s sister made the bouquet and flower arrangements, incorporating our paintbrushes. Jack’s parents brought sulus, salusalus and favors from Fiji. Our auntie organized muruku for us so that there would be snacks to go with the kava. Jack’s good friend officiated and helped us organize the ceremony. My niece played the intro music.
We found an amazing caterer who created the best Indo-Fijian vegetarian menu. Jack’s former boss, Garvin Tso did the photography.
We had friends and family come in from Fiji, New Zealand (via Europe!), Nevada, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida and it was so exciting to see everyone. The days leading up to wedding were full of fun reunions and beautiful weather.
On the day of the wedding, something that we never expected happened- it started to rain. We were in the middle of setting up and figured it would stop, so we continued, and then it started to pour- a rare sight in the Bay this time of year, especially during the drought. At that point, the wedding was in a couple of hours so my friends and I left to regroup while Jack and the guys stayed to pack up. Somehow, over the next couple of hours, our friends and family pulled together a new venue and coordinated with every vendor and guest. We ended up getting married at the hall of Tribe Church by People’s Park in Berkeley, and nearly every detail was a surprise to us. My dress was crumpled and a little dirty so I wore a different one. My friends blow-dried our soaked décor and decorated the hall with our art and signage by my talented friend Evelina.
In the end, our wedding was more personal and perfect than anything we could have ever planned or even hoped for. It was a good lesson for us in going with the flow and not worrying about anything, as everything to date has worked out just fine. It’s great for us to remember now, since we aren’t sure what’s next after Fiji.
Several days ago, I took photos of my students and told them to do a silly face and include both of their hands in the frame. We did this in between classes and I did not tell them what this was for. I was aiming for images to use for this week’s Gustave Courbet inspired self-portrait.
This week in school, we looked at the history of self-portraiture, and explored visual and narrative techniques employed by old masters and contemporary artists.
I gave the kids the printouts of their black and white photographs and they created a 1” grid. They then worked to recreate their images grid by grid. We had previously done a lesson on gray-scale and they used their gray-scale cutouts to help find the lightest and darkest parts of their photographs, and illustrate highlights and shadows.
The final results were great- really cool compositions that they were proud of!
***I may have helped on one of these.
Yesterday we joined in the festivities of the 2nd annual Tagimoucia Festival in Wairiki. The festival is named for the Tagimoucia flower, which is only found on the island of Taveuni. The community came together to celebrate the culture and to support the conservation, protection and clean up of the Fiji islands.
We joined for the full day yesterday, which catered to the local school children. There were free workshops for dance, music, and visual arts as well as information booths and rides. Last night, they had a mini fashion show and live music. There was an even bigger setup today with more performances going on tonight.
We spent the morning painting faces, and spent the afternoon learning about all of the exciting initiatives happening. It was inspiring to see the local arts, organic farming, recycling, renewable energy, and yoga here on Taveuni and the surrounding islands.
Jack's been busy in Paradise, working on new designs. He's been creating maps, brochures, technical drawings, and ads for web and print. Here's a glimpse of his latest work:
Taveuni was buzzing last week as the Church of the Holy Cross is hosted the 150th anniversary celebration of Catholicism in Fiji. People from all over Fiji came to celebrate and worship together, sharing in prayer, music, dance and food.
The beautiful church sat as a backdrop to the festivities and the Crucifix that is usually inside is on display outside of the church. The Crucifix was given to Ratu Goleanavanua, Tui Cakau and Patamount Chief of Cakaudrove, Bua, Macuata and the Yatu Lau by the Rev. Laurent Favre (Father Lorosio) in 1862.
The Crucifix inspired the Tui Cakau to defeat the Tongans under Ma’afu led by his warrior Wainiqolo. The people of Cakaudrove converted to Catholocism, crediting the Crucifix and the faith that it represented to have led to their victory.
Following the victory, Ratu Golea gave the crucifix to Tui Tunuloa for safekeeping.
In 1892, the Church of the Holy Cross was built, The beautiful structure is 60 metres high and overlooks a campus and the Pacific Ocean. On September 14, 2005, after 143 years, the Tui Tunuloa, Ratu Igenasio Loaloa returned the Crucifx to the Tui Cakau, Rat Naiqama Lalabalavu, in Wairiki.
The Tui Cakau then traditionally handed it over to His Grace Archbishop Petero Mataca D.D. for safekeeping. His Grace ordered that it be kept in the Church of the Holy Cross, Wairiki for veneration by the people of Cakaudrove.
We joined the celebration on Wednesday, which was a day especially for the children. There was music, dancing and trivia. We went back on Saturday, which was the biggest day, beginning with a church service led by the Archbishop and continuing with dances throughout the day.
Last week, Jack found a small fruit bat (aka flying fox) hanging near our room. He was on a dead coconut branch with his head touching the ground. Jack moved him to a higher branch and fed him some mango using a Fijian sasa (bristle used for a broom). The next day, he was still there, so we checked on him and Jack fed him again. On the third day, we didn’t see him so we’d hoped he flew away to safety. Later that evening, we heard him chirping and followed the sound to a low branch in the Mango tree. We’re not sure if he flew or if someone kindly moved him there. Now, he chirps when he hears our voices and we’ve been feeding him with mango and water. We’re calling him Joey, since he resembles our Zoey. We think he’s very young, and are hoping that he’s flying independently soon.
Jack and I are in our third week of living and working in Fiji, and we’re getting into the swing of things. Teaching only two students presents so many opportunities and I love coming up with creative activities for them. This week, we made cookies as an end of the week treat. It’s a nice way to get the kids to voluntarily read, write, and measure while working as a team.
We managed to successfully make three types of cookies without using any eggs, butter, flour, processed sugar, or grains. We have access to fresh coconut and coconut oil so this inspired our ingredient lists.
I didn’t make cookies often in the States, because I usually found eggless recipes failed to stick together, but all three of the recipes we made today stuck together nicely! And the steps were easy. Enjoy!
Vegan/Paleo Coco-nutty Cookies (10-12 cookies)
2 cups Almond Flour 1 cup Desiccated Coconut ¼ Cup Almonds ¼ Cup Macadamia Nuts ¼ Cup Coconut oil ¼ Cup Agave (or Maple Syrup) 1 Tbs water 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (optional) ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon sea salt (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and preparing our baking sheet with coconut oil.
2. In a food processor or blender, process the almonds and macadamia nuts into small, coarse pieces.
3. Combine the processed nuts, Almond flour, desiccated coconut, baking soda and sea salt into a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the coconut oil, agave and vanilla extract.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing well.
6. Roll the mixture into golf-sized balls and space them evenly on a baking sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes.
Vegan/Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 Cup Almond Flour 1 Cup Coconut Flour ¼ Cup Coconut oil ¼ Cup dark chocolate chips 3 Tbs Agave (or Maple Syrup) 2 Tbs Cocoa Powder (or Cacao Powder) 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon sea salt (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and preparing our baking sheet with coconut oil.
2. Combine the Almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and sea salt into a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the coconut oil, agave and vanilla extract.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing well.
5. Mix in the chocolate chips.
6. Roll the mixture into golf-sized balls and space them evenly on a baking sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes.
Vegan Paleo Cocoa Cookies
1 Cup Almond Flour 1 Cup Coconut Flour ¼ Cup Coconut oil 3 Tbs Agave (or Maple Syrup) 2 Tbs Cocoa Powder (or Cacao Powder) 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon sea salt (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and preparing our baking sheet with coconut oil.
2. Combine the Almond flour, coconut flour, cacao powder, baking soda and sea salt into a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the coconut oil, agave and vanilla extract.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing well.
5. Roll the mixture into golf-sized balls and space them evenly on a baking sheet.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
We’ve just completed our first week of work at Paradise Taveuni! Check out the Paradise blogpost Jack posted here: fijiresort.blogspot.com Paradise Taveuni is located on the Southern Side of Taveuni. We made our first day trip north to Bouma Falls with five kids and a group of resort guests. It took a couple of hours by car, with stops along the way.
Our first stop was the beautiful cathedral, which is celebrating 150 years next week.
Our next stop was at the International Date Line. Here we were able to stand in today and yesterday.
Then we made it to Bouma Falls. There were three waterfall stops and we hiked to the first two. The walks were beautiful and good exercise. The water was very cold, but it felt refreshing after the journey.
On the way back, we stopped at the natural waterslide. The water here was warmer…or maybe we were just acclimated by that point.
It was a nice, full day and the kids were knocked out for the trip back. We’re looking forward to exploring more of this beautiful island!
Bula from Taveuni, Fiji! This week was a long one, full of travel. Sunday, we flew from San Francisco (SFO) to Los Angeles (LAX) then to Nadi, Fiji (NAN). Packing food is always a challenge for us, but luckily we’ve found a go-to gem in LAX. It’s called “Real Food Daily: Organic Plant-Based Cuisine” and it’s in Terminal 4, where American Airlines is.
We stumbled upon it when we were coming back from Fiji last December. They serve large portions of fresh organic vegan meals with toppings like cashew cheese and avocado.
We had the LAX Bowl, the Southwest Salad and a bottle of water and the total came to around $40. It’s definitely steep (airport prices!), but the portions were huge, and held us over through our 11 hour flight.
We arrived in Nadi on Tuesday morning. We caught a bus from Nadi to Suva and spent time with family on both sides. We spent Tuesday night on Jack’s parents’ farm in Naitasiri and then flew out of Nausori (near Suva) airport on Wednesday afternoon. The plane had 7 rows, so we sat right behind the Captain and First officer.
We arrived into Taveuni’s Matei airport late Wednesday afternoon and met our coworker who drove us to the resort. We arrived after dark so we weren’t able to do much exploring.
Thursday morning we woke up and were able to see the beauty of the resort. I’m pretty surprised at how cold it is. Luckily, Jack had me pack a hoodie and a cardigan; otherwise I’d be freezing! We've jumped right into work so we’ll be getting organized and posting more soon!
Today is Jack's last day of work in the States! This is his fourth summer teaching Studio Art and Graphic Design to 8th and 9th graders with the Partners program in Oakland. It's a month long program that always seems to fly by; but this year really zoomed by since we leave for Fiji tomorrow! Today is his students' graduation ceremony, and I think the reality of our trip will hit once he he locks up his classrooms.
We had a full week and we managed to complete a majority of our to-do-list. Our bags are about 70% packed and now we're making final decisions and shopping lists. We are taking two suitcases: one for our clothing and another for our books and art supplies, along with our carry-on bags holding our electronics. Luckily, we won't need much!
In between all of the packing, we're getting some quality time in with Zoey and reminding her we'll be back. Our next post will be from Fiji!
Today marks two weeks until we fly to Fiji. I have one more week of work left, and Jack will be working until July 19th- the day before we fly! I’m making lists and brainstorming on things we’ll need and I’ll be in full-on packing mode next week.
This weekend we made many of our favorite dishes and spent time with family. Summertime markets in the Bay area bring a colorful, beautiful assortment of fruits and veggies, so we’re enjoying it all while we can. This weekend we had lots of fresh berries, apricots, peaches, plums, pluots, veggie skewers (mushrooms + pineapples +red onions + yellow, orange, green, and PURPLE bell peppers), coconut + mustard seed spicy cabbage, creamy red lentils, chickpea burgers, pea + potato curry, brown rice, cucumber salad, carrot salad, lettuce + kale + +tomato + sweet potato salad, roti, tamarind + date chutney, berry pie.
Last week, my friend Brittany, asked me about pet portraits because she’d been looking around on Etsy and wanted a portrait of her adorable Westie, Fender. I love the concept and we’ve done many sketches and paintings of our pup, Zoey. We put our Etsy shop on vacation because we’re working on packing, storing and selling items locally as we prepare to head to Fiji. Pet portraits have been something we’d love to add to our East Rand repertoire.
I’ve known Brittany since we were in first grade, and we were always creating together. She has always been an exceptional writer and story teller, so I thought it’d be great to portray her pup, Fender as a writer, with a typewriter and crumpled (in Fender’s case, half-eaten) paper.
Brittany’s husband Andrew is a saxophone player, so I added a sax to Fender’s “office.” Brittany and Andrew have another dog, Cami who is a sweet and shy Shiba Inu, so I added her glamour shot to the wall. I’m excited to get the final product to them!
This weekend marks over one month in our new space and less than one month until we head to Fiji! We haven’t started packing just yet, and most of our focus is on what we’re doing and where we’re living now. We have been spending free time in the garden, getting it in good shape before we leave.
Our biggest challenges are low quality soil, water restrictions, and heat. Jack has been working in new soil and mulch, but we imagine it will take some time to become rich. Our compost heap is going, so this time next year, we’ll be able to harvest soil from our recycled fruits and veggies. We’re being water conscience- recycling the cold water from our shower and the rinse water from our dishes. Hopefully, as the plants grow, they can help shade each other from the intense valley sun.
We are growing rainbow chard, kale, eggplant, tomatoes, six different types of peppers, okra, spinach, string beans, fava beans, celery, arugula, bell peppers, beets, cilantro, rosemary, lavender, sage, oregano, thyme, basil, mint, fenugreek, lemon balm, parsley, strawberries, watermelon, and cantaloupe. We also have two pomegranate trees that were here when we moved in. Today, Jack added some dalo (taro) that our family gave us.
Our dream is to one day be self-sufficient, knowing exactly where our food comes from and being a part of the process with intention and love.
In 2011, not long after we met, Jack was working on a design project for Pacific Mambo Orchestra (PMO), a 19-Piece Latin Big Band from San Francisco. A few months prior, a friend invited Jack to see PMO perform in San Francisco. He took his sketchbook and pencil, and did a sketch of the band, representing all 19 members and the lively energy of their music. They loved it and stayed in touch.
When they were working on their self-produced album, PMO contacted Jack for a logo and used his sketch and designs for their album artwork. 
Last year, we were super excited to hear PMO was nominated for a Grammy. Their album was featured on the homepage of iTunes, and we enjoyed seeing both PMO's music and Jack's artwork spread. They won the Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album!
In Friday's mail, Jack received a certificate of recognition for being a part of the Grammy Award-winning album. PMO has already contacted Jack for future artwork, so there will be more to come!
A few weeks ago, we went to Bryant Terry's book signing for his latest book, Afro-Vegan at Whole Foods in Oakland. We already had his book he The Inspired Vegan and we bought Dad Vegan Soul Kitchen; so we were collectively eyeing this latest book. Vegan Soul Kitchen inspired Dad to modify our New Year's collard greens and black eyed peas with delicious mustard seed and coconut flavors, and add Spicy Smothered Green Cabbage to our meal. It was fantastic, as were the other recipes we've tried from these books.
We weren't sure what to expect from his talk and book signing, but we all left feeling really inspired. He spoke about his experience and food activism, and we related on so many levels. Also, we were able to sample his Tofu Curry with Mustard Greens recipe and it was phenomenal. Visually speaking, the book is stunning, with a clean layout brightened with color and texture.
It's watermelon season in California so we picked up a beautiful one last week. We remembered that there were a few watermelon recipes in Afro-Vegan, including one for the rinds-Sweet Pickled Watermelon Rinds and Jalepeños. Normally we just toss our rinds in the compost so we were pleasantly surprised to find a use for them. His recipe for Pickled Watermelon Rinds seemed right up our alley.
We still have dozens of jars left from our wedding, even after putting many to use in our kitchen, for storing our legumes, nuts, seeds, spice mixes and salad dressings. Pickling has been on our to do list!
We followed the recipe in the book, except we substituted white vinegar for Apple Cider Vinegar and cane sugar for coconut sugar.
After refrigerating them overnight, the result is delicious! We're going to enjoy some on the chickpea burgers that we'll make tonight.
In preparation for the big move, we have moved in with our folks. We're working to find recipes that all four of us can enjoy. I've made this pie a few times, using different fruits, nuts and seeds and it's been a hit every time! I found the original recipe (along with a bunch of other delicious recipes) in Talya Lutzker's Ayurvedic Vegan Kitchen.
I stopped by the Whole Foods near my office on Friday and was excited to see giant organic strawberries. I also found some beautiful organic pluots, apricots and peaches.
I found the original recipe to be great, but here is my adapted version, based on what we had in the pantry.
Crust 1 tablespoon coconut oil 1/4 cup flaxseeds 1/2 cup raw almonds or walnuts 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds 1/2 cup medjool dates (or dried figs, raisins, apricots, etc.) 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
Filling 1 apricot, diced 1 pluot, diced 1 peach, diced 1/2 cup strawberries, diced 1/2 cup blueberries 2 tablespoons coconut sugar 2 teaspoons brown rice flour Juice 1/2 lemon 1 teaspoon fresh cardamon seeds
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. To make the crust, combine the ingredients except the coconut oil and dried fruit in a food processor. Process until ground to a coarse meal. Add the coconut oil and fruit and process again. Transfer the crust mixture to a pie pan and press it evenly into the bottom and sides.
To make the filling, mix all of the ingredients into a large bowl. Transfer the filling mixture into the crust. Bake for 15 minutes.
The book identifies this as a balancing recipe for all three doshas: vata pitta, and kapha. Try it out--it's easy to make and easy to eat!
Bula family and friends! We're excited to announce that we will temporarily be moving to the island of Taveuni in Fiji!
We will both be working and living at Paradise Taveuni, a resort on the Southern side of Taveuni. Taveuni is the third largest island in Fiji, known as the Garden Island for its flora. Jack will be working as a web developer, and Alise will be teaching the resort owners' children. We could not have dreamed up a more fitting opportunity!
In our free time, we plan to explore vegan food options and growing and composting in Taveuni. We plan to create art, inspired by our experiences. We also plan to do a good bit of exploring, swimming and diving. And of course, we will take heaps of photos and journal along the way so that we can keep this updated.
We'll be taking a break from our Etsy shop but our art and jewelry will still be available in a few locations. Contact us for more details!
With new opportunities come uncertainty, and we’ve been consistently working to embrace the changes and transform our fears into loving situations. We’re blessed to have such a strong support system of family and friends. Alise’s parents are caring for our pup Zoey in California and Jack’s parents are looking out for us in Fiji.
We fly out in July. Until then, we are living and working in the East Bay, getting Zoey settled in with Alise's parents. Stay tuned for updates!
Love, light, and lolomas!
We were admiring the beautifully designed October-November 2013 issue and found a spread on our friend Jo Mesake Nacola and his Mes Fidji collection! Stunning work, Mesake!
