Hemlocks
Studio
...Offering Creative Escapes
For Small Groups and Individuals 
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Hemlocks
Studio |
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Prelude
In 1987, on the street side of a barn in the village of Oberhof, Germany, I saw a small sign with a picture of a door harp and a dulcimer. There was a name and an arrow pointing to a nearby house. A pleasant bearded man answered the door. When I asked about the instruments, he invited me into his tiny workshop. He described how he made the treasures that filled every available space. He explained that he was only at home because he was taking paternity leave. He and wife, Ina, had just come home with their new baby that morning. Ordinarily, he would be at work building “Kachelofens”( tile-covered, wood burning, heating stoves). I asked if making instruments was his hobby. “No” he answered, “It is my Leidenschaft (passion).” Over the years, we got to know each other. Two more children came into his family. Jule rebuilt his barn and moved his workshop there. Inspired by the old instruments he saw in museums and books, he developed new ideas and experimented with different woods. He showed me a special piece of wood he had found, dirty and cast off, on a building site. He planed it, formed it and used it for the back of a zither. He began to work more and more on his instruments, only building kachelofens for a few weeks every half-year to replenish his coffers. Eventually, his wife took a part-time job so he could stay in his shop to create. He changed the arrangement of his shop, collected more wood. He bought a lathe from an East German colleague, who had made all the spare parts himself. Jule developed new patterns, changing shapes, altering traditional designs. For six months, he experimented with pipe lengths and sizes, searching for perfect tones to make wind chimes that sounded like carillons, not tinker bells. One day, I tucked myself into a corner of his workshop to observe and sketch. He did not mind me being there, so I came regularly, relishing the smell of wood shavings and wax, listening to the squeaky wagon wheels as his children played outside. I watched the shadows on the walls, found mysterious shapes in the dark corners, stacked with instrument pieces, tools and sanding belts. In an atmosphere of light and shadow, Jule worked among his wooden friends, seeking perfection in tone and form. He stopped, took a dust cover off a new Drehleier (hurdy-gurdy) and started to play - a soulful sound mixed with a happy “bagpipe” tone. The craftsman became the artisan became the musician became the artist and I had the pleasure of seeing the transformation. I saw art defined by the passion of the person creating it and I began to transform my sketches into a series of paintings titled: Artist/Artisan
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