The Holy Family Grouping carved by Sven Ortquist, located in the sanctuary at Holy Family Cathedral.

Sven was looking for teak wood to do artwork for Fatu O Aiga some years back and my family has Teak trees on our land. At first I didn’t want my Dad to give one of the most beautiful teak trees to him, but when the 1991 Hurricane Val made it topple, I said, all right—you can have it. Sven – sensing my sadness for this tree I loved, said to me, “Don’t worry Reggie, I’ll make something really good out of this tree.” And lo and behold, he carved the Holy Family that is in the Cathedral at Fatu o Aiga.

I carved my first upeti under Sven’s direction. He always had a kind word and encouraged others to keep going; learning to think in wood was only accomplished by working with it.