An Ohio Metalsmith in Dresden

The fun can officially begin..... I now have a bench at the Ultramaringelb, the perfect location to hang my hammers!

My German host Iduna Bohning of the Galerie Raskolnikow has done an amazing job in coordinating with a small jewelry gallery/werkstatte located in the Kunsthofpassage a walking courtyard maze of funky independant shops and craftsmen in the dead center of the Neustadt the historical bohemian area on the northern side of Dresden.

Owned by two very accomplished, classicaly trained jewelers, Patrice Funke and Imke Jörns and offering handmade, one of a kind jewelry, the gallery was founded in 1999 to allow direct contact between the artists and their prospective clients for sales and commissions.    

Imke produces rings, bracelets and brooches formed in wax then sent to a local foundry for molding and production.  In an contemporary variation of the arts and crafts credo of truth in materials and workmanship her work often literally shows the fingerprints of the artist.

Patrice's work shows the blows of the hammer.  Forging similar fare as Imke, she is also a very skilled at raising vessels from silver sheet.  I hope to pester her some about her techniques when she gets back in town later this week.

After having help lugging my tool box across town in the van of  Iduna's boyfriend Matthais, I spent my first day chatting with Imke and getting the lay of the land.  Opportunities for metalsmiths here are similar to what we have in the US (craft stores and fairs, competitions, exhibitions, etc.), but with the additional bonus of the German enthusiasm for celebrating the anniversaries of historic events with the commissioning of medals, presentation cups and the sort.  Other opportunities arise from what one can finagle for oneself.  Imke and several other jewelers arranged to exhibit a one night only "intervention" at the Grünes Gewölbe (the Royal Treasury) where they reinterpreted and riffed on pieces in the permanent collection.  Imke's work played off a fantastical, Mogul era, royal palace scene made of precious metals and jewels.  A small band of silver Native Americans molded from children plastic toys of the 70's creep towards their unsuspecting victims.

 To acquaint myself with the shop I spent a good part of the day just rooting around.  The shop is very well supplied and has three jewelers stations along a bench in the back of the shop.  One of which I can settle into until I am able to get into the basement workshop where Patrice's hammering station is set up.  Most of the tools are typical of the trade.  Many are older items bought at the weekly flea market down on the Elbe.  One interesting piece being an old GDR era dentist drill that must have stories to tell.  My favorite is a lovely medieval looking anvil she scavanged out of an old abandonded factory several years ago.

Word of the day - Amboss

The shop's metalworking supply catalogue has many of the exotic European offering found in the American catalogues, but at a much cheaper price of course.  She also has some older metalsmithing textbooks from the 50's that helped explain some of the implements in the catalogues and went into greater depth into production of silver tableware than what I've found in their English language counterparts.  Perusing their local YellowPages I found numerous jewelers, several silverplating and polishing companies,  and much to my delight a metal spinning company that makes brass and copper vessels, lamps, and even decorative church domes.  There is also an interesting looking antique shop specializing in historical silverware and tableware which I hope to check out for examples of local metalworking.

Bless the German love of toys

Before the end of the day I had my first unofficial client.  An older man came into the shop and asked me something in German.  Once we determined I only speak English he explained he needed a new hole in his leather belt and couldn't find a cobbler.  So I whipped out my awl.  In keeping with my semiofficial status as ambassador from Ohio and the GCAC (and due to the restriction of my tourist visa) I did the job gratis.  The next one won't get off so easy.