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From a glass of cold wine outdoors and Italian food to walking with goats... a local sculptor has shared what helps her relax.
Pippa Barrow has been working as a full-time sculptor for the past 13 years and is currently busy working on new pieces for three upcoming exhibitions in June: the Summer Exhibition at CCA International Gallery, Jane James’s ‘Art in Clay’ at the Merchant's House, and a display the Atlantic Hotel.
Pippa was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in South Africa. She moved to London at 21 and spent 12 years there working for the artist jeweller Wendy Ramshaw.
After taking a degree in Zoology, she then moved to Jersey to work with the gorillas at Durrell Zoo. However, health problems led to a return to artistic work over a decade ago.
Pippa currently works primarily in clay, producing everything from small functional pieces to large scale public art work. Her best known work in Jersey is the Branded Ram sculpture outside De Gruchy’s. In 2021, she was also commissioned to create a bronze sculpture for Disney’s The Wish cruise ship.
She has shared what she gets up to to relax... when she is not sculpting, of course...
I’m not a big foodie but I really love good Italian food, I love the simplicity and freshness and could happily eat pasta three times a day.
I also recently rediscovered my love for passion fruit, which I grew up eating in South Africa.
Cold white wine!
My idea of bliss is sitting in the sun with a glass of wine and a good book. Not very rock and roll. I also love a good coffee.
I love music and have BBC Radio 6 on all day in my studio when I’m working. I enjoy most genres but particularly enjoy rap and hip-hop, ska and reggae, and also movie soundtracks.Or if I really need to concentrate then I work in silence with the doors open listening to the bird calls outside.
I’m a big reader and feel really out of sorts if I don’t have a good book on the go. I read at least two to three books a week. Recent reads are ‘To Paradise’ by Hanya Yanagihara, and “Glory’ by NoViolet Bulawayo, which is a reworking of Animal Farm set in Zimbabwe and a really fantastic read.
I’m also a science nerd and have a subscription to New Scientist which I read cover to cover. I studied Zoology at University, so I like to keep up with research to do with the natural world.
My studio really is my happy place, so although I try not to spend too much time there I indulge myself on the weekends and allow myself to just experiment or try something new, something I don’t have the time during the week to do.
I’m happiest outside so I don’t watch much television unless there’s a good series on. In summer, I prefer sitting outside in the evenings watching the bats come out to forage. Spending time with animals really helps me unwind, so I spend time with Jaques the stray rooster and Django my rescue cat. I also have two rescue guinea pigs, Lucy and Goose, that live in my studio and are an endless source of amusement.
We have 17 goats with babies grazing close to my studio, so if I get frustrated with what I’m working on I will take a wander down the valley and spend time with them.
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