What about the early stages of your love affair with art, and how has it developed over the years?

When I was a child I suffered from dyslexia, so I tried to make myself understood by painting a picture. I would also dive into my art to get away from the real world. Doing this brought out my passion for colour, opening my mind to the joy it gave me. I decided to paint so more people could have the same enjoyment.

Do you think exploring one’s creativity helps a person to grow, accept themselves as they are, and find peace and unknown resources within one’s self?

I know so. If it wasn’t for my art as a child, I think I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Creativity brings out the emotions we all try to suppress, be it from childhood or the stressful lives we lead. I find the more one is creative the more one can get in touch with their inner child, bringing about the peace we all so badly need.

Was your late great-grandfather really Turner, the famous artist whose work is exhibited in the Tate Gallery, in London? What do you know about him and his life?

Yes, J. M.W. Turner is my great-great-grandfather. This is where my passion for art and colour comes from. I have been told that the spirit of Turner still lives within me. When I was in my early twenties, I started to design and build model boats. I later found out that Turner also built model boats. I love to travel, I love Venice, Naples, the sea, and so did Turner. I always try and feel in depth what it is I want to paint. Turner once tied himself to a sinking ship’s mast, so he could sketch and feel the subject he was about to paint.

How did you become interested in Native American Indian art and traditions and how has it influenced your work?

I have a deep interest in different cultures and their old traditions. I started to study in detail where these people came from and why, to this very day, they are not a free race. My studies took me to Russia where I spent one year in a town called Tula, which sounds just like the Tulan Indians. The reason is because a lot of the Native American tribes came from different parts of Russia, across the White Bearing into Canada while hunting, but when they wanted to return to their homeland the ice had melted, and they spread across America.

One day as I was deep in meditation painting a carpet on Native Americans to the sound of their music, I lifted my head and could not believe my eyes… there in front of me were six old Native Chiefs smoking a pipe around a fire and looking at me. One by one they nodded at me and then vanished.

Has the Balinese lifestyle and culture influenced your interior designs in any way?

Yes it has. The style of interior design I use is called Feng Shui. A lot of people who have heard of this think it is a Chinese method of design, but the fact is it originated in Bali many years before it made its way to China. If one were to visit Bali one would feel the balance on this island. The Balinese people are thankful throughout every day, for all there blessings.

What was your most memorable experience in Bali? Climbing Mount Agung perhaps?

Yes, you are right, climbing the highest mountain in Indonesia and also the most sacred, Mount Agung, challenges every step you take. The guide takes you up at 2am, hoping that you will make it to the top to see the sunrise. I think it is also so one can see where they are climbing. After finding myself literally on top of the clouds, (my childhood dream was to walk in the clouds) I have no fear of heights anymore.

Who is the person or artist that inspires you the most and why?

Turner of course, but the greatest artist of all who really brings out my inspiration is Mother Nature herself. No-one can ever create such vast unique, breathtaking canvases as she can. I wrote a poem about her.

The True Artist – “Mother Nature”

I heard the sound of water flowing in the distance,

My mind created a tremendous waterfall as pictures to my eyes.

For a moment this incredible sight blinded me,

My legs stood motionless, so as not to let my body stumble.

My ears were filled with the music of flowing water,

And my mind was at peace.

The sight was cleared from my eyes,

to enable me to carry on my journey into the unknown.

I staggered on through the dense rain forest,

Knowing that Mother Nature had a surprise awaiting me.

A sudden spray of water hit my face,

with a coolness that was gladly

accepted by my skin.

As I stood in awe at the sight my eyes received,

My entire body went into ecstasy.

The true artist is but one, her name is Mother Nature,

Her gift is a canvas so vast it would take a lifetime to view

And if one were to view in detail,

It would take Eternity.

So why must we destroy that which we can never replace?

When did you start studying Feng Shui and how has it helped you create comfortable designs for everyday living?

I started studying Feng Shui in Russia. I wanted to help my friends there to design better living space. My main challenge was to get rid of the clutter and create storage in a very limited space, at the same time making it spacious.

Which is the biggest mural you’ve ever painted and the most challenging job you’ve ever undertaken?

The one I can think of offhand is my Vivaldi in the Vivaldi Hotel. I don’t really like painting portraits, and this one had to look like an old Renaissance painting. My challenges were that some workers kept coming over every few minutes to ask if he was a woman and, no matter how many times I answered, they just would not stop. In the end I had to erect a screen, to hide myself and my work from them.

What inspired you to create “Challenge”, the first board game ever to deal with the Maltese temples and ruins? Was getting it printed a challenge in itself?

For many years, as I visited the ruins of different civilisations, it fascinated me to see how different human beings lived and the importance of the design work carried out in these historic structures. For most people these places are just a pile of old stones, which are of no importance or significance to them or their lives.

Children find history lessons boring, so “Challenge” is a way to bring the knowledge to them in a fun way.

Yes it was a challenge to print the game. We had to go all the way to Bali for this, as the printing could not be done here.

What about the game itself and what it means to you?

“Challenge” is the first ever, Maltese boardgame based on pre-history, the temples and so on with a few questions based on the Christian era. It's a most interesting, stimulating family game. Some say it is a thinkers' snakes and ladders. Why? Because the players, and there can be up to five, or multiples if teams are involved, throw the dice and if the “counter”, which is in the form of a relic or temple structure, lands on an “instructive” square, it can be moved forward – or quite a long way back!! Counters may also fall on harmless blank squares. There are also several Question Cards.

Failure to answer is not entirely dramatic, the next turn is simply missed. Should a counter fall on a “chance” square the player has the choice of accepting or ignoring it. Six Bonus Cards “sugar the pill” as they are shuffled into the Question Pack and when they appear they can be used twice by the lucky player/team before being returned to the Question Pack. The first counter to reach the end square wins.

What about your most recent creation – the Angel Cards. Are they based on the Angels we are familiar with in Catholicism?

Do you believe in Angels? Well if you don’t, by the time you have used these cards, you will.

The pack is made up of seven Archangel Cards and 30 Angel Cards.

To play with the 30 Angel Cards you choose a card from the pack that represents the energy related to the question you wish to have answered. Shuffle the pack of cards and think of the question. Place the chosen card that represents your question in the centre to do a five-card spread. Read your answer. Enjoy your messages from the angels.

What was your intention when you created these cards and how can they help people deal with their personal issues?

People always have problems they want the answers to but don’t know where to get them from. I believe we have the answers to all our questions, we just don’t know how to listen to ourselves. This is why I created the Angel Cards – for people to get in touch with their angels or spirit guides.

Do you think that respect for “Mother Earth” and other cultures and religions have an important role to play even in a small predominantly Catholic island such as Malta?

I think if everyone had to respect other cultures as they respect their own, wars would not even start. Is it really so important what one wears on one’s head? Is it more important than a human life? I don’t think so. Whatever religion or culture you come from it’s OK. It is who you are. In the end we are all of one race, the human race. And as the human race we must respect “Mother Earth”. She is home to us all and without her we will not exist. Us westerners take her for granted, and where has it got us? Nowhere. We should learn from one another and not try to control each other.

Do you think Maltese people have a long way to go before they learn to embrace a more conscious, holistic and perhaps ‘spiritual’ way of life, or can you see some positive changes already happening in our people and culture?

I have seen positive changes happening in the last few years, but it is too slow. Time is running out for some, and lessons are not being learnt. A lot of the culture is being lost here and in many parts of the world, and I feel this is wrong. I have made this the topic of my article in the Design and Décor autumn issue. Without your culture your roots are lost.

What are the main changes you would like to see on the island when it comes to the environment, the general way of life, and the preservation of our rich history?

I would love to see more trees planted, more lessons on the environment in schools. and more respect for the environment in general. I would also like to see more people take the time to walk around the islands and understand how rich in history they are. I would love to see a much cleaner place, and if each of us had to start caring it would happen.

Nikita Arnett is a professional interior designer who furthered her studies in the art of Feng Shui Interior Design and Environmental Space Cleaning. A Reiki Master, Crystal Reiki therapist and designer, she is a consultant /practitioner for the Holistical Living Centre, Malta Europe. You can contact her on 9985 8914.