An award-winning Samoan author has emphasised the importance of working with a good illustrator, and revealed how she collaborated with local artist Nikki Mariner for her book.

Lani Wendt Young, in an interview with the Samoa Observer, talked about her recent project around a children’s book she wrote titled “Halu Bongo”.

She said the book brought out the talent of Apia-based artist and Manamea Art Studio co-founder Nikki Mariner.

"A good illustrator is vital because they work together with the writer to create a picture book, it is very much a duet between writer and artist,” Ms. Young said. 

“I write the story but then the illustrator reimagines it, adds their own beauty and insight to make the story something more.”

While admitting that she has worked with the local artist before, the author said for her recent children’s book project, the team of artists at the Manamea Art Studio submitted samples of their work, and she had to select the piece which she thought best reflected the sort of illustrations she wanted for her book.

"I have worked with Nikki before, she's painted art for my Scarlet Series book covers,” Ms. Young said. 

“But for this project I gave my Halu Bongo story to the team of artists at Manamea Studio, and four of them sketched samples of how they visualised my characters. 

“The samples didn't have names on them. I chose the one that best fit Bella and her dog Bongo and it turns out it was Nikki's art.”

Asked how she felt having illustrations done for a children’s book for the first time, Ms. Mariner said it was “very daunting” at first but it gradually became a nostalgic experience for her.

"Initially, I found it very daunting because I had no idea where to start, and feeling unsure of my ability to draw in a way that connects to children. 

“Children are very honest critics and therefore the most intimidating – also I needed to get on the same wavelength as Lani, so I could create images that matched her vision for the story. “It was daunting because I didn’t want to let Lani down.

"It then became a nostalgic experience as I had to go back to when my sons were small and remember in detail what it was like to read to them on my knee or reading before bedtime. “I’ve always read to my kids as it is an important bonding and talking time as well as wanting to give them the gift of loving books.”

Ms. Mariner said that she imagined a child staring at the pictures as she read the story and while the experience was challenging and rewarding, she approached each illustration as an “actual painting”. 

“In my mind I constructed a whole village where I could literally see the church, school, rugby grounds and Bella's home and family shop,” she said. 

“I got into it and as I painted I imagined a child staring at the pictures while someone was reading them the book.” 

As a self-taught artist and illustrator, Ms. Mariner formulated her own processes on how she creates her drawings and illustrations, which led to her creating a storyboard with “rough images stuck on the wall” like a map to guide her.

“Then I drew detailed rough illustrations for each page and sent it to Lani to check that we were aligned and was relieved that there were only a couple of edits," she said.

With her storyboard providing direction, she would walk back and forth to ensure the pictures had all the same details.

"As I finished each illustration I added it to the wall and kept referring back. 

“For example, if I added a spot to Bongo’s fur, I had to go back and add the spot to each image of Bongo.

"I believe strongly that creatives need to tell their own stories. Create what they know, what they see around them and what they remember. 

“They are speaking for the community they are a part of. It's about authentic representation.”

A strong believer of authentic representations of Samoans, Ms. Mariner said the diaspora have an important story to tell which includes cityscapes, urban experiences and a myriad of settings.

"As creatives based in Samoa, we can represent the physical and current social settings that children in Samoa grow up in.

“Readers all around the world engage in an authentic representation of life in Samoa and that is our gift to the world.

“And it honours all the little children of Samoa to see themselves depicted in libraries everywhere.” 

Illustrations can also act as social historical remnants of Samoa, according to Ms. Mariner.

"The small details of school uniforms, small village shops, everyday family meals, language, roads and buildings, curtains and windows, lavalavas and puletasis, seis and barefoot children are all realistic and accurate,” she said, as she urged the other artists to tell their own story. “It’s what we see every day. It’s like a social history document.

"Tell your own story truthfully rather than looking to copy others, tell what you know and think and see and then you can be sure that you are creating art that is original and has integrity. “This will make your artwork valuable in many ways.

"Nurture a spirit of collaboration rather than competition with other artists, respect their contributions and stories. 

“Being an artist is a lonely job so a community of like minded artists is invaluable.

"Respect and honour clients who believe in your work enough to pay you for it – be reliable, honest, communicative and give them your best.”

Ms. Mariner also urged artists to respect and honour themselves enough to charge fairly for their work. 

“Don’t be greedy and exploit people but also don’t accept prices that don’t fairly represent your talent, experience and expertise. Include the costs of materials, labour and your unique talents." 

Finding a balance between developing one’s skill and original artwork with commercial projects that fund your life as an artist is also important according to the artist. 

“Creating art for others and creating art for yourself are two sides of the same coin that is life as a professional artist. They need to be in balance if you are to survive a career as an artist." 

When asked about the future and what it means for her as an artist, Ms. Mariner said she is happy doing work for Ms. Young. 

"I was happy to paint for Lani because I believe in her work as an author. I love how she writes stories from a Samoa-based perspective and focuses on Samoan female protagonists in her books,” the painter said. 

"In Halu Bongo, I loved the story of a girl and her dog being besties and the lesson of our pets being valuable members of the family. 

"It's an awareness that is slowly growing thanks to the great work of the APS in Samoa but more needs to be done about taking care of dogs. 

“This story teaches children in such a relatable and exciting way so I guess I'm saying that I diverged from my usual work as a painter for an author that I  particularly believe in and for a story that I think is much needed.”

Ms. Mariner was born in Auckland, New Zealand to a Samoan father and pakeha mother and was the eldest in a family of girls. 

She grew up between rural Australia and Auckland, moving for dad's work in publishing for his church, and has two sons after moving to Samoa eight years ago.

Doing remedial massage and aromatherapy for ten year, she studied yoga teaching and has an academic career in literature and gender studies and honours in history. Her other areas of study are Pacific History and Pacific Studies.

She has an art career and is the co-founder of Manamea Art Studio and Gallery has been painting full time since 2016.