Hello!

Welcome to 2012! We hope that you had a splendid New Year celebration and lots of fun. The first week of the year is always extremely busy so we needed a bit of time to organize everything in our professional careers. Now that all matters are finally settled and on the right course, we can concentrate on doing what we love: creating, promoting art and blog writing! There are several bits and ends left that need to be tight together to finally summarize and close 2011. Please read on, to learn more about next chapter in our Earth Garden saga. This episode is dedicated to Holistic and Ethnic Market.

If the Art Square is the heart of the festival, then the market can easily be called the true essence and the soul of the Earth Garden. Artworks are catching the eye, but it is the community and the people that are binding things together. The Market as usually was organized next to the main square. It was separated from the open air gallery just by a narrow park sidewalk. While Malicia was guarding our installation by the Tree of Art, on the other side of the road, nearly 400 meters away, Rita displayed her little empire of crafts.  Surrounded by trees and live music, she operated the art stall, selling her cats and other abstract artworks.

Rita’s stall was not the only one of course. Before we decided on a place where to set up out little “ethnic” shop, we took a stroll around the whole area, trying to see what other makers have been offering. And it was a quite a sight! Everything you ever wanted and dreamed of – it was there. From hand painted flower pots called “Hotsie Potsie” run by excellent Francesca Wilde, to designer clothes, paintings, figures, and handbags…a real heaven for shopaholics! The goods were made by local artists, using only ecological materials; several of them were members of the Fair Trade movement. Malicia took many pictures in a hurry so we do not know all names of the artists or their works we photographed. If  you recognize anyone here, please contact us and we will give them proper credits. Thanks in advance!

The colorful hand bags you can see on the picture above were made from felt. Felt accessories like bracelets, jewelry and hats were marked by “Cosmopolitan” magazine as the next big thing for the Summer 2012. Who says you cannot wear Haute Couture while dressing at your local market? Think twice, Earth Garden creators are always on time : D  Talking about the fashion. Our neighbor, a jewelry maker Renée Hurray, set up a truly impressive stall with her hand made masterpieces: earrings, bracelets, hair ornaments, necklaces, metal medallions, beads and glass pendants- she had them all! The collection was one of the biggest in the entire market and attracted big crowds for two full days.  We know, you wish you were there….

To learn more about Renée please visit her official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kangaree

The Earth Garden offered not only clothes, beauty products or home decorations but also hand made toys as well. We have been totally blown away by Garbage Pets – a unique collection of cute monsters made from scraps of materials and various fabrics made by artist and designer Matthew Micallef. Each pet cost 15 Euros and you couldn’t find two identical ones. Mal photographed the entire basket. We especially loved the fluffy white one on the left and the black one in the middle 😀

In 2013, the Garbage Pets have been renamed to Monster Muggles. Please visit their official Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150682947432232.414576.5915762231&type=3

To see more artwork of Matthew Micallef, go to: http://www.facebook.com/MattMicallefDesign or his personal page at: https://www.facebook.com/MatMicallef

 

Ethnic market wouldn’t be complete without painters and sculptures. Among hundreds of creations, you could find true treasures. One sculptor made us stop and take a closer look at his works. The dragon playing guitar was not only incredible funny but also very well made. Please judge for yourself!

It’s not a secret that rock and roll and art go well together. Searching through the painting section, we saw several rock legends immortalized on large scale canvases. The brilliant artworks were made by Alistair Farrugia. From left you can see: Jimmy Hendrix, NickCave (?), young Mick Jagger and Bob Marley in his most famous pose.

You can see more artworks in Alistair’s Facebook gallery: https://www.facebook.com/alister.farrugia

Unfortunately, we were not able to name other artist that attracted a lot of attention from us and fellow visitors. He or she had a unique, semi realistic style and a great patience for even the smallest details. Please look at the portrait of a black skinned lady wearing the elaborate earring below and you will see what we mean! Every stroke of the paintbrush is perfect! In the background, you can see another canvas portraying a flying great white owl.

Benny Brimmer, a self taught genius, and member of Malta Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, is one of the most popular realistic painters on island. He is a master of oil paintings and his artworks are internationally recognized. Mr. Brimmer was kind to show his art alongside the coming up artists, adding the splendor to the Ethnic market. Malicia photographed two of his artworks on an easel, wrapped in protective foil: a well known “Cittadella night street” is displayed on top.

Please visit Benny’s official website: http://www.maltaartworks.com/

The Ethic market was not only about the art and selling of crafts. It offered much more to the visitors that the chance to stock up on pretty things. The Holistic section located right next to the market itself, has been created to give the public in attendance a peaceful heaven to sit down and relax. It was filled with gentle music and decorated with ribbons in bright red color hanging from the trees. A small stage was placed in the center to allow the artists to perform (excellent chill out set was performed by  Why Not? Please visit https://www.facebook.com/WhyNotNgo) and the invited guests to speak about the water shortage. The Holistic section also hosted water related workshops and a display of sculptures inspired by the Earth’s circle of life.

For those who liked to be on the move, zumba lessons were organized in the mornings. You would never believe how good it is to dance before the breakfast! We have also attended the concerts by Get Up! Stand Up! and Jamming Malta in the afternoon. Their music provided a beautiful soundtrack for the artists guarding their installation.

In this place, we would like to thank all involved in organizing the fifth edition of the Earth Garden for giving us the opportunity to take part in the festival. Without you we could never meet so many wonderful people from different countries. We wouldn’t have the chance to show our works to so many visitors and collect such precious memories. A special big thank you goes out to Reuben Spiteri of Kuluri. Thanks for your help with the names of artists and your friendship. It is something we value the most.

Please visit Kuluri website to learn more about their project and photography: www.kuluri.com.mt

You can find Reuben on Facebook as well:
https://www.facebook.com/zoiz76

Earth Garden official website has more about the market if you still haven’t got enough!
http://earthgarden.com.mt/eg2011/market.html

Please return soon as we will post pictures from our humble store.
Have a great time

Xxx
Rita and Malicia Dabrowicz