Arty touch to recycling palm fronds

New Straits Times: Kuala Lumpur — May 17, 2003

– By Minderjeet Kaur

Nature is filled with wonders and it is up to us to discover its beauty. And this was exactly what Jurema W. Baker, a nature lover and an artist from England, did. She came to Malaysia, visited a friend, and saw several green and fresh palm fronds strewn outside the house, next to the dustbin.

She picked them up, and fell in love at first sight with them.

“I saw their beauty and I wanted them to be hung in homes, not left to rot,” she said. So, she turned them into works of art, now on exhibition at Badan Warisan Malaysia at 2, Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur.

Her show is named after her, Jurema, which means a sacred tree from the Brazilian forest.
Some of the palm fronds have been turned into exquisite napkin holders, fruit bowls and trays.
Baker explained that the fronds were dried, cleaned and smoothened, before being cut into the desired shape and molded to strengthen the shape. The frond is then treated, prior to being lacquered.

“The lacquering process is very time-consuming. Eight layers of varnish is applied and every layer takes about 24 hours to dry. Finally a coat of beeswax is used to enhance the finishing,” she explained.

Some of the fronds have been crafted to look like bananas, mangosteens and even a durian.
The exhibition ends on May 24.