Meet Linda and Kevin, the talented husband and wife duo who handcraft the coolest garden art on the coast. Their creative journey began with a shared passion for art, and now they bring joy to gardens everywhere with their unique creations. From seagulls with attitude to the ever-popular colorful butterflies, Linda and Kevin (and their dog Cody) have something for everyone.
Join us as we learn more about their journey and explore their vibrant world of their handmade garden art...
How long have you been at the Otaki Market?
It all started with Linda going to Folk Art classes. Linda painted Bread Boards to sell at the market in Kawerau back in 2009. Our first Otaki Market that we attended was 2nd June 2013.
How did you start creating Garden Art?
Following on from making numerous indoor items we decided to make Butterflies suitable for outdoors. These proved very popular, so for quite a while we concentrated on these, and from there we progressed onto other items.
What inspires your designs?
We both chat about possible designs and our new ideas evolve from that.
Do you have a favorite piece?
Everything we create is our favorite but the “SCARECROW” is our current favorite....mainly because of the mouse in his pocket.
Do you collaborate on each piece?
We both collaborate on the initial design and the Kev cuts and assembles the item and passes them on to Linda to paint and varnish them.
How do you decide what to bring to the market?
We chat and create new designs and make a few to bring to market to see how they go.
Sometimes we make new designs that we like and bring them to market but no one else likes them enough to purchase.
What is the most challenging piece?
Our WHIRLIGIGS are our most challenging pieces as we have to design them, make and assemble them, paint and varnish them, and most of all, we both have to like/love them.
How do you ensure that your garden art is durable and weather-resistant?
All our Garden Art is well painted and varnished for outdoor use.
What are some common questions?
The most common comment that we receive from customers is very positive when they realise that we both make all our items we have for sale. We also make numerous individual, one-off items requested by customers.
tell us about the sea gull with attitude
We live at the beach, so sea gulls seemed a good/logical idea...
As to his/her attitude.... we guess that just evolved.
And lastly, can you tell us a little bit about your dog?
Our pet dog is named CODY. He is a 5 year old Toy Poodle.
He has been attending markets with us since he was a baby bundle of fluff.
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Would you like to be a stall holder?
Join our market family, email otakimarket@outlook.com give us a call 022 616 5167 or send us message on Facebook Messenger.
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