2nd Annual Art Extravaganza!
Set in the mountains, just inland from the Costa Tropical, is the gorgeous Kitty Harri sculpture gardens, – home to over 160 large scale pieces of sculpture. The sculpture garden is run by artist and best selling novelist Kitty Harri and her electrical engineer husband, Nick Tasker. Between them both, they organised the 2nd Annual Art Extravaganza. 15 varied artists set up in all corners of the gardens to demonstrate how we make our art. The event was well attended and above all lots of new and old connections were made. It was a pleasure to participate in and the half time sandwiches were delicious!
Did I say it was a beautiful setting?
My friend, ceramicist Fiona Primarolo, and I chose a space to set up next to each other. We set up our art stalls in a little enclosed terrace among some permanent sculptures. The garden is well cared for, with pink bougainvillea and an amazing view down to the sea. It was good to have a friend close by to chat with and support each other. We both sold pieces to passing visitors, who were walking along the little pathways discovering the gardens.
Art Demonstration
First of all I had a work table and my bag of clay and no idea of what I would make. The piece started off life as a Moroccan slipper, then it became a Dutch clog, then it morphed into a kind of viking ship. Maybe I was reflecting my Moorish setting and being with my Dutch and Scandinavian friends? I really wanted to put figures on it at an earlier stage, when I thought it may be some kind of boat but it just never quite wanted to go in that direction. I took just a few photos because as usual, I got engrossed with the art making! Fiona kindly took these photos of me sculpting…
Artists at Work
It was kind of hard to zone out and dive deeply into the creative process, due to us having to be attentive to our audience at the same time. However, I did make sure I got to look around the gardens once or twice myself. I also got to see some of my other artists friends and find out what they were up to.
- Fiona Primarolo
- Linda Roffel
- Roberta Gordon-Smith
- Emma Plunkett
Art on Display
We made displays of our ready made art objects to sell. It’s the first time my octopus bowl has been on display and consequently it attracted a few of it’s own admirers.
The Final Piece of Sculpture
As the day progressed, so did my clay demonstration sculpture. Ultimately it revealed itself to be some kind of a surreal bird! I hate to try and transport brittle dry clay sculptures. The probability of loosing this lovely piece going over a speed bump was not worth the risk. Therefore I have left the final piece of sculpture behind at the gardens for Kitty to biscuit fire.
And here is the fired glazed piece
The piece is now titled Migration, which signifies birds not having to deal with political borders, that they are free to roam and make a home in whatever country they choose to live in. This sculpture is available for sale on my web shop.
The Kitty Harri Sculpture Garden
I thoroughly recommend visiting the gardens if you haven’t already. It makes for a gorgeous day out, with many photo opportunities of the sculptures in stunning views. You can see my previously made sculptures on display in the gardens. I have now also left a whole bunch of new sculptures to be shown in the gallery and outside.
The Kitty Harri Sculpture Garden is a non-profit association, which welcomes visitors every 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month, from 10 to 4pm. There is live classical music, played by The CHAMBER PLAYERS and a glass of wine and some tapas included in the 10€ entrance fee. This is a minimum recommended donation to help with the running costs of the garden.
To arrange a weekday visit please e-mail Kitty (kitty@nullkittyharri.com) or Nick (nick@nullkittyharri.com)
Please note that there is limited accessibility for wheelchairs.
Phone: 639 563 213, 609 706 210
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