Linda Najinga

This bottle which Linda made is from Pandanus leaves, which are collected from the Pandanus tree that are all over the island. Linda then striped the leaves into thin strands. These strands are then boiled in ‘colour’. The yellow and orange colours are from the roots of the medicine tree, as is the brown which was left soaking longer to change the colour from yellow to brown, the mauve is from small berries, the green from pandanus ashes, the red from coconuts and the white is the natural stripped colour of pandanus. The stripped leaves and the colours are boiled in drums over the fire to absorb all the pigment then left hanging to dry, after this the weaving process begins. Linda really enjoys making bottles, and they are starting to become her trademark. She finds them very practical, saying, ‘It is a very useful bottle that would be good to put my tea bags in, or anything, even fake flowers.’ Linda also makes beautiful baskets and wall hangings, but, has begun creating new works from pandanus, including these fabulous bottles along with an accessory and jewellery range.