Rowena Rooney

Ni sa bula Vinaka

I have been mosaicing now for over 20 years. I’m a bit of an art vacuum, always looking for new things to try and when I saw mosaics I knew straight away this was going to be my passion for creating art work. My artwork is largely inspired by my Fijian / Kiwi heritage which is a very passionate, strong part of my life journey.

I am a trained primary school teacher and have also been a Visual Art lecturer at the University of Auckland Faculty of Education. I have taught as a Visual Art Specialist for over 20 years. I am a current full time practicing artist. In 2017, I exhibited as a Fijian artist at the Auckland Museum celebrating the artefacts of Fiji and I have art works in galleries around NZ.

I have been running after school art classes for children and adults in Te Atatu Peninsula called Blue Turtle Design for the last 15 years. I have worked on a variety of large commissions for different purposes both locally and overseas. I create Mosaic surfboards, birdbaths, mirrors and mandala with a Pacific flavour as well as creating made to order requests that clients may have.

I love working with anything that can create the right colour and texture for my artwork from plastic bottle tops to ceramic tiles to glass. I paint as well as create ceramic clay pieces. My artwork represents my respect for nature, keeping things natural and sharing my energy with others to help beautify our surrounding environment. I welcome commissions and you can contact me by private message through my Blue Turtle Design Facebook page or by email Rowena at Blueturtledesign@yahoo.co.

Vinaka vaka levu

Isa Lei: I created this glass mosaic guitar for my sister who is a musician. It is to remind us of our ancestors and where we come from. It is dedicated to our Mum and Aunty who were identical twins that passed away 10 weeks between each other. The picture depicts a beach scene from where our family stems from, Savusavu,(The Hidden Paradise), Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands. The two hibiscus represent our love for our Mum and Aunty. Mum's favourite colour being purple and Aunty's being red. A tapa design wraps the guitar representing our Fijian masi which is a very prestigous taonga. The song "Isa Lei" written in the frets is very special to us and has beautiful lyrics that are traditionally sung for the farewell of a loved one.