The Amerindians referrred to it as Kayryouacou, 'land surrounded by reefs'. Carriacou is an interesting topography of villages tossed by volcanic dances. it is the largest of the Grenadines necklace scattered between St. Vincent and Grenada and is surrounded by an underwater theatre of tropicalk fish and corals rated amongst the best in the world. Its main settlements of Hillsborough, L'Esterre, Harvey Vale,  and Windward are each appealing and unique in location. Wooded hills rise dramaatically against irregular coastlines, smoothed by beautiful sandy beaches.

Carriacouans are mainly of African slave descent, with some Scottish influence. They are renowned for their seafaring and boat-building skills. In Windward or Harvey Vale, many of the wooden fishing sloops and schooners in use today are handmade. The proud boatbuilding tradition inherited from 19th century Scots settling in Windward is the pride and joy of the Carriacou Community. This is evident in the exquisite imagery of Alexis Andrews, who has captured the character of the builders and the art of building Carriacou sloops.

In 1997 he purchased Summer Wind, a hand built Carriacou sloop, in poor condition, having spent time at the bottom of Falmouth Harbour, Antingua. He eventually sailed it to Carriacou with a crew of two, one of whom had no sailing skills whatsoever. His two-volume series, entitled Vanishing Ways and Genesis, capture the thud of caulking mallets as they drum on the wooden hulls of sailing vessels. The wet snapper screams 'fresh fish'. The ballest stones feel rough.

The images detailing the construction of Brilliant Girl, depict he ritual involved in building a sloop from scratch, using many hands tools and generation of experience dating back some 300 years.