Hsinchu firefighter and artist Harjie Deilo, an Atayal, has recently created a children’s book titled Let’s Learn About Firefighting (認識消防) for the Hsinchu County Fire Bureau, with illustrations inspired by traditional Atayal art and a story set in his childhood village.
Let’s Learn About Firefighting was commissioned by the Hsinchu County Government’s Fire Bureau to teach children basic fire safety, how to recognize fire trucks and ambulances and the need to yield the road to those vehicles, written and illustrated by Deilo of the bureau’s Second Corps.
The self-taught artist is a 47-year-old firefighter from the Atayal community of Hsiujuan Village (秀巒) in Hsinchu’s Jianshih Township (尖石), and has been a firefighter since 1991.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
A burly, square-jawed man who looks every bit the veteran firefighter, Deilo said his passion for art came from his mother, a lover of watercolor painting and his childhood mentor.
Growing up surrounded by nature, he said he painted on rocks and made paper and woodcarvings to amuse himself, pursuits that he kept to this day.
In his spare time, he said he taught himself computer-generated art on Visio, using the software to make illustrations for firefighter manuals, as well as instant messaging icons based on Atayal totems, hunters, warriors and traditional activities.
The hero of his children’s book, a firefighter owl that has featured prominently in his many works, was inspired by a log on a truck he saw, Deilo said.
The black color of the rotted wood reminded him of the big eyes of an owl, and he later made a wood and bamboo owl sculpture at home that still perches on a fruit tree by his house, he added.
Deilo has created many art installations, home decorations and illustrations that have been popular with his fire corps and beyond, and he has applied to copyright the icons he designed for Line.
“I am thinking about making installation art for the village when I retire,” Deilo said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS