By Cheryl Harewood
She has spent the last 20 years as a sculptor and her work can be found in South Africa, Australia, parts of North America and in Europe. Barbados has now been added to her list.
When visitors and Barbadians alike travel to The Nothing Box Cafe at Martin’s Bay, St John, they will come face to face with Brush My Soul, the huge female statue which is the work of renowned sculptor Penny Hardy, who hails from South Devon in the United Kingdom.
The life-like image, which was commissioned by Barbadians Liz and Curt Lashley, owners of The Nothing Box Café, is the result of a relationship the Lashleys and Penny formed back in 2023, after Liz saw
the sculptor’s work while in the United Kingdom in 2021.
The sculptor told Buzz: “We met for the first time in 2023 at Ashridge House outside of London. They had seen some of my sculptures, which I had made to raise funds for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Back then, we raised £17 000 for UNICEF.”
The Lashleys were impressed and collaborated with Penny. They thought a statue would be ideal for the East Coast of the island.
Liz disclosed that she was also privileged to see Penny’s work at a Chelsea Flower Show in London.
“Penny had a statue of a child sitting on a bench. I simply loved it and started keeping check on what this artist was up to. I also saw a statue called Blown Away and I really wanted that one.”
However, when Liz contacted Penny, she was informed that her entire Blown Away series of sculptures had already been sold, but that the sculptor was in the process of creating another statue, which would carry the name Brush My Soul.
“When she sent me the drawings, I thought that Brush My Soul was the ideal statue. Blown Away was based on Penny’s body size, but after some thought, I told her I needed a statue of a woman over
six-feet tall. Today, the people of St John are owning Brush My Soul,” Liz said.
The sculpture, which was shipped to Barbados, was created to suit its windy location. It appears as a woman whose hair and clothing are simply blowing in the wind.
“It is really a different piece than all my other sculptures,” Penny disclosed.
“Yes, I had the design in my head, which I shared with Liz. I sent her my drawings and, yes, she felt it was the right idea. She had an ideal place to put it, which was on a rock on the edge of the ocean. It’s practically in the ocean.”
The large, tall, statuesque woman, created out of reused and recycled car parts, nuts and bolts, is the representation of reused material being given new energy and life.
The Lashleys built a plinth on their St John property so the huge statue would stand close
to sea. They have also created beach access where previously there was none, so visitors
to the area can have a good view of the piece.
Penny, who left the island this week, following a two-week vacation with her husband, Andrew Couthland, also told Buzz that the statue “is the largest” she had ever made and the first she had brought to the Caribbean.
“I put a lot of emotion into this sculpture. It’s an enormous privilege to have one of my statues come to
the Caribbean and to actually visit it on the island,” she said.
“Because of the good relationship between Liz, Curt and my husband and I, I did not mind coming to Barbados to see it. The sculpture means a lot to me because it means a lot to Liz and Curt.
“My husband also wanted to visit Barbados again, having visited the island before. So, while it was my first visit, it was not the first visit for him.”
Statue aside, Penny said she was totally impressed with Barbados.
“We’ve found the people to be very friendly wherever we have been and we have seen quite a bit of the island. We visited St Nicholas Abbey, Mount Gay Rum Visitor’s Centre, Andromeda Gardens, Hunte’s Gardens, and the Animal Flower Cave – to name a few places.
“I will definitely return at some time,” she quipped.”
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