When a friend of mine calls with a shopping plan, I would generally skip. Slowly crawling between shops, trying out dresses and waiting to evaluate the looks of other´s trials and experiments, sounds like endless torture to me. That being said, I have a confessed weakness when I find myself face to face with a window shop like that of Annabel Keatley Espacio Creativo.
You know that moment, when your mind is desperate yet powerless trying to drag you away, while you are completely abducted by what in my case was the beauty and uniqueness of the handmade treasures, singing to me like mermaids to lost sailors in the sea. At that moment, monthly budget miraculously stretches a bit and makes room for a newly born whim. With a naughty smile tickling the corner, back home … No regrets!
Annabel Keatley Espacio Creativo. A souvenir from Almuñécar?
I´m sure your camera and smart phone are full of selfies and otheries (sorry, inventing words is a tick of mine) documenting all ice cream flavors you had at Heladería Daniel, the sweet mangos you bought at the local market, the decadent mini cakes you had at Maritrini´s, and loads of tapas that came with your beers. But then, you want to bring back something home, some sort of magic object, that would allow you for mental time travel when you are not in Almuñécar anymore. You might get a made in china scarf, or a flamenco dancer fridge magnet with, the one you can find at all over souvenir shops in every Spanish city. Or, or, or. You might want to take home something unique, a piece of art you cannot order on eBay or Amazon, an elegant colorful painting reflecting the light of the sea, an earring that has no equal, a sculpture, a bowl, or an un-cloneable ceramic spoon. If you are in Almuñécar, I am sure you will be going up and down Calle Baja del Mar almost every day. There it is, number 14, Annabel Keatley Espacio Creativo. A small, neat gallery shop, where arty crafts of local authors share the space. In my dictionary, a definition of heaven. I live in Almuñécar and I still promise myself a monthly visit, to check what´s new, and maybe when my little ones allow it, to get us signed up for one the workshops that Annabel Keatley organizes every once in a while.So who´s at Annabel Keatley´s creative Space?
On my visit, some of the treasures on the shelves were:- Textile jewellery by Beatriz Constán.
- Little mice of Paloma de la paz.
- Extreme ceramic elegancy by Cerámica Micazuki
- Ceramic Jwelry by Graciella Vera
- Ángel Vera ceramics.
- Sculptures and ceramics by Eva Jünger, whose art we saw in a previous visit Kitty Harri´s sculpture garden (I promise an entry on that one as well).
- And of course the beautiful paintings by Annabel Keatley.