Brightley Palsis is an artist and designer from Kosrae who has built an impressive portfolio and is embarking on his next adventure. Enjoy this week’s Micronesian Monday Feature.

When he was in school, Brightley Palsis took some graphics and arts and print classes that sparked what would become a lifelong art discipline.

“My ultimate goal is to just live free and do arts and crafts in peace. Hopefully, through the arts, I can make that happen. People make art and art sometimes make the people,” Brightley said. 

Brightley, who was born and raised in Hawai’i, is from Kosrae, one of the states of the Federated States of Micronesia. The 27-year-old has partnered with Green Banana Paper, the vegan banana-fiber production in Kosrae that makes wallets, passport holders, business cards, and more.

“Green Banana Paper reached out to me for a design feature. When they reached out I was totally excited because I always wanted to have the wallets but I told myself I wasn't going to get it until I make a design with them,” Brightley said. 

Brightley jumped on the opportunity and made two designs for the company, the Bright Floral and Bright Paisley designs. 

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A post shared by @brightdonyo

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It’s just one of the many projects Brightley has worked on. Among his favorite things to create are digital collages. 

“I like to cut and paste random pictures to create something totally ridiculous like hip hop album covers and club promotion covers,” he said. 

In his designs, Brightley also incorporates tribal tattoo designs and local plants, elements with which Pacific Islanders everywhere connect.

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Brightley said over the years he’s been fortunate to meet a lot of people and make good connections. He’s designed all kinds of products from pens to cloth masks to shoes but he said he mostly designs clothing. He’s worked with clients for custom apparel and bolstered his skills working at print shops in Hawai’i. 

“I was inspired to start designing because I was a big fan of graffiti art and tattoos, I always thought it was cool so I start drawing in elementary then I learned about graphic arts and printing in high school,” he said. “I was hooked knowing I can design and make my own clothes. But in 2017 is when I finally mastered graphic designing. I'm still learning though, trying to get better at my crafts.”

As he continued to hone his skills, he became partners with Printing Source and created his enterprise, Bright Future. He said he hopes to use his platform to show his art and keep art culture alive.

Last year Brightley’s mom passed away. He recalled feeling like he didn’t want to deal with anything or anyone after the devastating loss. 

“ I needed some space to reevaluate my whole life,” he said. “So I took time off from doing any production work and only did minimum design work this year.”

It’ll be one year since his mother’s passing soon. As he marks this somber occasion, Brightley also is looking ahead to commemorate major milestones. 

“I'm currently working on my own clothing brand and an online store. I will be releasing early next year or late this year. And I will also continue to do custom clothing production and more,” he said.  “It's clear and safe to say I fell off and took a loss but knowing what I know my bounce back will be crazy. It’s a Bright Future, my friend.” ◉

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Curious about more creators? Here’s who Brightley’s endorses: 

• Aki a singer

• Ozeki a singer

• Jun noda a singer

• Flava691 a rapper

• Melly4SM a barber

• Tsunami Joseph a jewelry designer/model

• Calvin apis a photographer

• Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner a poet/activist

• ValleyBaby a rapper

• Juno june a rapper

• Dlos a rapper

• Kngdom Klothing a clothing Brand

Brightley adds, “I have a long list can't think of all right now but anything that my people do is a favorite for me because I see that as great art and progress. It's nice to see our people doing what they are good at and what they love to do. I think it's cool.”

Thank you Bright for taking the time to share your journey.

Follow Brightley on Facebook and Instagram here and here. Share and support his work!

The more and more creators we get to learn about, the more in awe I am at all of the talent born out of Micronesia and roaming the earth. I can’t thank you guys enough for sharing your work and sharing parts of your lives. 

Thanks for reading everyone. 

Be well!

-Jasmine 

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