First Art Exhibition at Mangere Arts Centre: 27 May to 4 June...

Canvases for 'Sina and the Tuna' that will feature at the exhibition.

It's a real blessing to announce my first art exhibition with workshops that has been possible through the support of the local Mangere Otahuhu local boards. It will be during Samoan language week celebrations of: 26 May to 4 June.

This is a dream come true since primary school and even younger, I've always loved art, be it colouring in or painting etc. Even to the extent of enjoying handicrafts through the creativity shared with me by my amazing mum who was a streamstress, knitter, crocheter extraordinaire and whom I watch creating lovely garments that I and many of our family would get to wear.

So it started at primary school in being singled out as one of two 'artists' in the class whom other kids would ask to draw pictures or borders for title pages.

It then continued to high school where I took art as a subject and all the way through to senior high school and passed my senior year Bursary art course but it wasn't enough to get into art school and the rest, I guess, is history.

But it wasn't over because then a couple of year's ago when I first started thinking about self publishing books, I considered different artists to approach but then decided that I needed to look no further than the mirror (ha ha). Anyway, the first book showed promise but since then it's gone from strength to strength.

The exhibition is of the artworks that I have used for the first 10 books. It also features artworks that I collaborated with other artists to come about and I will be holding workshops during the week for local schools to come share in the journey that I've taken from dreams to reality.

Really looking forward to this event to hopefully pay forward to a local students who have dreams to keep going for them no matter what...