Making Their Mark: Bernice Fielding

Long before lockdown, WATG and Wimberly Interiors’ global network of designers, makers and creators have looked beyond their every day to inspire ideas and innovations. In this new series, Making Their Mark, we shine a spotlight on our team members and creative associates, and the passion projects they pursue outside of 9–5 – not only for their personal mental health, well-being and growth, but for the benefit of their clients, projects and colleagues. Fostering a spirit of creativity, innovation, individualism and imagination among our ‘ohana’ (family) has been central to our firm since its founding seventy-five years ago, and we are proud to support one another not only at work, but externally as well.

For many people, lockdown offered (or, in some places, offers) a moment to reconnect with nature and reconsider our relationship with food, flora, fauna and the planet more broadly. Some even fled for greener pastures (our solution for which you can read about here). In the case of horticulturalists or self-confessed ‘Serious Plant Nerds’ like Bernice Fielding, this passion and curiosity for the environment is always present – developing a deep understanding of the importance of plants in placemaking, and a profound respect for resilient, self-sufficient, cultural practices. Since working from home, Bernice has engaged with her surroundings in new ways – striking up conversations with her immediate community about the many edible species in her 150-square-foot garden, and sharing plant-based meals and recipes with her neighbors.

Bernice, tell us a little bit about your career and what a ‘normal’ day looks like for you.

A normal day for me is that there is no normal ‘schedule’ – every day is different and that’s the most exciting part of my job as it keeps me on my toes and challenged all the time. My job title at WATG is Project Manager for the Honolulu Landscape Architecture studio, but because I am a horticulturist that focuses on sustainability and ethnobotany (plants and their connection to people and places), I work on softscape landscape plans. My role is to work with the team, ensuring that each project celebrates a sense of place and connects the landscape design to its specific location, and the people that live and visit there. When I’m not working, I find my inspiration and peace of mind in cooking, gardening, being in the ocean, or hiking in the mountains my husband and two dogs.

When I’m not working, I find my inspiration and peace of mind in cooking, gardening, being in the ocean, or hiking in the mountains my husband and two dogs.

In isolation we’ve been forced to find new outlets for entertainment and inspiration. Talk us through your side project(s). What is it and how did it begin?

As a horticulturist, aka ‘Serious Plant Nerd’, I truly find peace in my garden. It’s a small space, only around 150-square-feet, but it is amazing how many plants I have managed to squeeze into this tiny plot of land. Being in isolation has reminded me how much I love growing my own food and reimagining it in fresh, healthy, plant-based recipes. It’s a ‘mini farm to table’: I have mangoes, limes, meyer lemons, calamansi, passionfruit and dragon fruit, as well as all the herbs you can think of, including lemon grass, kaffir lime and Thai basil.

As a horticulturist, aka ‘Serious Plant Nerd’, I truly find peace in my garden.

Working from home, I am around more and have the opportunity to meet my neighbours as they do their daily walks around the community. When they walk by my house, many of them stop and comment on the garden. When we get talking, I mention all the fun recipes that I’m creating from the plants that they were admiring. Some of my elderly neighbours mentioned how they wished they knew how to cook healthier plant-based meals because of their illnesses or weight, and since I always make too much, I started sharing some of the meals I had made with them. Next thing you know, I’m the ‘go-to’ person for providing healthy, local plant-packed meals and recipes to an elderly group within my community. When they walk by now, we still talk about the garden and plants but, now, they also tell me how much better they feel, how good plant-based meals are, and what recipes they are going to make next.

Have you found the process to be cathartic or challenging?

The challenging part about this project is to consistently create new fresh recipes from basically the same ingredients that are in my garden. I’ve learned even more about the crossover of ingredients in different cultures and how each culture creates an entirely different experience through their recipes but with similar ingredients. An example of this is cilantro, used heavily in both Vietnamese and Mexican cooking, yet the outcome of the meal tastes completely different. As someone who has had a plant-based diet for over thirty years, it was challenging to find vegan and vegetarian recipes that are flavorful and fulfilling but, what surprised me once I started making my own meals, was how many people are truly intrigued by it. Although many may not want to go fully vegan or vegetarian, most people are very interested in preserving their health. When they try my meals and recipes they seem to thoroughly enjoy them, which in turn is often surprising for both of us!

Although many may not want to go fully vegan or vegetarian, most people are very interested in preserving their health.

How has being creative outside of work positively impacted your outcomes at work?

Being creative is in my soul and has been since I was a kid. While I’m cooking, I’m not just thinking about the ingredients that I’m working with – I am thinking about the plants from which the food came, and how they could be incorporated into landscape plans and master plans to create sustainable and environmentally conscious landscapes with longevity and social and cultural benefits entire communities.

Tell us a little bit about a maker or creator who has inspired you, and why.

This is a difficult question because I feel that, as a creative person, I see inspiration everywhere and in everyone. If I have to choose, I’d say that the most inspirational people for me are my parents. When I was younger, we moved around the world and lived in multiple fascinating international places. My parents were big on understanding and respecting the community in which we were living, and so we learned the cultural ways – including eating all the local food.

My father loved to garden and always had a huge vegetable plot from which we would harvest our food. He taught me about respecting the ‘aina’ through natural gardening and caring for the soil, as well as how much and when to harvest our food. My mother is an exceptional cook and would make recipes from ingredients and spices from all the places around the world that we had lived. As a kid I would watch her whip up amazing meals from the foods in our garden and transform them into masterpieces. She inspired me to learn to cook and, as I expanded my skills, I gained even more appreciation for natural, fresh whole foods and spices that provide their own individual experiences as you eat them.

Although I was not raised in a vegetarian home (in fact, quite the opposite), the inspiration from my parents for both nature and cooking made me curious about blending the two. That, paired with experiencing different foods during my continued worldly travels, is what inspired has me to become an amateur vegan cook and I think my neighbors appreciate it!

Bernice’s favorite plant-based recipes are included below:

• Lazy Cat Kitchen green summer rolls with mango miso sauce
• Well Vegan banh mi bowls with lemongrass tofu
• Veggie Society vegan zuppa toscana recipe
• This Savory Vegan crispy avocado bites with cilantro jalapeno vinaigrette
• Vegan Baking raw chocolate hazelnut cheesecake