Sadie's Hotels in American Samoa produced a 2012 calendar using images of my paintings that is available for sale at the Sadie’s Gift Shop, several stores in American Samoa and by mail order.
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| images inside |
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$8.95 each with priority mail cost of $4.95 which covers any quantity!
Re-sellers please send an e-mail for a wholesale price list.
Pay via PAYPAL to: sales@sadieshotels.com VISA, MC or AMEX are also accepted.
info@sadieshotels.com
Sadie's Hotels
P.O. Box 3222
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799
Phone: (684) 633-5981
Fax: (684) 633-5982
The paintings in the calendar are of my friends and neighbors, the stunning scenery and flowers growing outside my door in American Samoa. I used to own a thrift store in Nu’uuli and lived alone for many years on the side of a mountain in a quiet village surrounded by beautiful gardens.
To keep the store going I often returned from traveling with my suitcase stuffed to capacity with tubes of paint and last minute items I found at yard sales. On one return trip my ongoing flight was cancelled so I checked into a hostel in Honolulu. I was given the last bed left in a room filled with drunken teenagers. When I swung my overloaded old suitcase onto the bunk it unfortunately burst open. Cake pans, talking Teletubbies, art supplies, size 14 loafers, a dozen Barbie dolls, 6X bras, men's underpants and handfuls of Happy Meal toys flew across the floor. I didn't have my own clothes with me, just the random stuff now laid out at the feet of some flabbergasted guys from Wisconsin on a bender in the islands. Their empty beer cans and ant covered pizza boxes didn't look quite so trashy anymore. We stared at each other in mute silence until the cake pans stopped rolling around. I felt like I just blurted out my most bizarre dream during a job interview. One guy recovered a little faster than the others offering, "Cool, can I buy you a beer?" Being peculiar was apparently an effective ice breaker with inebriated Midwestern teenagers.
I've never intentionally repeated the technique, although in every culture there are ways to achieve similar results. Giving food in American Samoa is always appreciated, but it’s not cool to make a big deal about it. I never could pronounce the name of the village I lived in. Tafeta seems so easy, but there are stresses on the vowels I could never hear or repeat, but I would try at least five different ways before people laughed and gave up on me. My Mom never minded embarrassing herself, although she used to make me want to run and hide when I was a teenager and my sister refuses to be embarrassed, which is an asset while traveling, because it’s going to happen. I might have been amusing to my neighbors in American Samoa, like I was for the guys in the hostel, but I was warmly tolerated, often included and loved living there. These paintings were done in that spirit.
Many of the originals are on display at Sadie's by the Sea. Reproductions on canvas are available from any of the paintings, produced by printthatimage.com, an exceptional fine art printer. Please write to me if you are interested at cb2c@yahoo.com.
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