Moor Otters Artist Alexis Cole and her husband Andrew DiBattista had a very special guest at their wedding – Wheal Otters!
The beautiful sculpture, designed by Alexis for Dartmoor National Park’s successful Moor Otters Arts Trail, was among the guests at their special day.
Wheal Otters was one of 81 sculptures which spent summer dotted across the National Park for people to find. The trail, which successfully concluded this week, aims to raise £60,000 for Donate for Dartmoor.
All otters will now be auctioned in October to raise money for vital conservation projects and people who fell in love with one now have the chance to give one a permanent home.
Alexis works with acrylic canvasses and animal-focused pastels and says she has always been passionate about creating art inspired by nature and animals.
Alexis said: ‘We love the different areas, landscapes and features – from vast open grasslands, to streams, stone circles, dramatic tors, clear skies, thundery skies, winter and summer – we just love it, Dartmoor is so special to us, it’s where we got engaged.’
Dartmoor proved to be just the artistic inspiration Alexis needed as it’s a place her and Andrew explore regularly.
She said: ‘I was an avid otter spotter during the first Moor Otters Arts Trail in 2017 and loved seeing the designs and the different effects created on the same blank sculpture – that trail led me to explore parts of the moor I didn’t know about, and it inspired me to get involved with the second trail.’
She designed Wheal Otters to recognise the mining industry on Dartmoor and the inspiration comes from Wheal Betsy; the engine house which stands proud in the landscape near Tavistock.
Alexis added: ‘The adult otter represents copper, and the cub represents tin, both metals mined on the moor.
‘The cogs represent the inner machinery/pumps enabling the wheals to work. The parent and cub together represent the families that mining supported over generations.’
Throughout Moor Otters Arts Trail, Wheal Otters was hosted by the Rugglestone Inn, Widecombe-in-the-Moor and they were only too happy to give the otter a short break so it could attend the wedding.
Alexis was delighted with its host location and visited it a few times.
‘I got a real buzz from the big smiles and feedback from otter spotters,’ she added.
Having paid lots of love and attention to designing the sculpture she was keen to see Wheal Otters one last time before it goes to its new home – Wheal Otters has already been adopted ahead of the auction, securing much-needed funds for conservation projects.
Following their wedding at Holy Trinity Church, Drewsteignton, guests were delighted to see Wheal Otters at the reception at Lewtrenchard Manor.
Alexis said: ‘When we drove up to Lewtrenchard Manor in our wedding car, the feeling when I saw Wheal Otters there, waiting for us in pride of place by the entrance – and knowing the efforts Dartmoor National Park and the Rugglestone Inn made to get them there for me – was very special. Guests loved that Wheal Otters were waiting for them at the reception complete with a fascinator on and ready to celebrate! We had our welcome drinks, canapés and photographs with the otter looking over us.
‘It even featured in my dad’s speech!
‘Our guests felt the sculpture was a very special addition to our day, loved having a ‘private view’ and several guests continued to otter spot during their weekend in Devon after the wedding.’
People can find out more about how to bid for an otter while raising money for Dartmoor by visiting the website https://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/enjoy-dartmoor/moor-otters/buy-an-otter’
‘It’s been a very memorable summer personally and artistically,” said Alexis, ‘I’ve got married to my best friend and had my art publicly on show, benefiting the National Park that we love and got engaged on! Knowing Wheal Otters has already been adopted is amazing – it’s lovely someone wants to keep enjoying Wheal Otters after the trail ends and it’s great news that the National Park has raised funds for their valuable moor conservation projects.’