A note from the Limited-Edition Designer, Ingrid Manzione…
I moved to the British Virgin Islands, along with my husband, two dogs and two cats in 2012. The plan was to stay for two years; the time needed to remodel Saba Rock. This time allowed me to continue painting and designing, inspired by scenes of the island. In time, I began exhibiting my work exclusively with Saba Rock through their gift shop, predominately producing pieces sized for travel that encapsulated the local landscapes, animals and atmosphere I had come to love.
One day while boating, my husband and I came upon a flamboyance of flamingos. Loving their shape and personality, I soon added them to my repertoire and couldn’t paint these little gems fast enough. My portfolio with Saba Rock successfully expanded to include pieces inspired by the area flamingoes, as well as my larger pieces.
Everything changed with the arrival of Hurricane Irma in September 2017. We had no choice but to hide in the shower with our animals, furniture piled on top of us as the winds circled in on the area. We are thankful we all survived. Shortly after the hurricane, we adopted Saba’s cat, Morgan, and began rebuilding the life we had on the island.
For the first year after the hurricane, it was hard for me to pick up my brushes. It may have been the loss of most of my original artwork, along with all my belongings and long days filled with work to restore the island, that pulled me away from my passion. Once I finally did begin painting again, the first pieces were images of the old Saba Rock.
During the five weeks we were locked down on the island due to COVID-19, I moved into one of the guest rooms and made it my studio. I had space, light and a new-found drive to create. I produced several large pieces—the most exciting and challenging was painting about 70 flamingos sitting in the shallows of Anegada!
It’s been three years now living on this island post-hurricane, and throughout the rebuild, it still remains beautiful. I’ve been privileged to see the sun rise and set, watch the flamingos come and go, follow the migration of the birds, view the sea life mature and listen to the peaceful calm that comes with living in paradise.
