on the Christmas Fair

Here you see part of my display at the Christmas Fair Wolfgangshof, Anwanden:

During that market I not only sell finished Nativities and wooden animals, I am also carving animals in front of the audience. Children choose raw cutouts, which I give a final carving and the children smooth them themselves with sandpaper. In this way the get connected to their own wooden animals. During this work I have nice conversations with the children, about the squirrels and hedgehogs they have seen, about dolphins, they want to save, about horses, they are riding on…

Most favored animals are crocodiles and horses, but cats, dolphins, lambs, lions and deer are also chosen often. Some children have rare wishes like, seals, snakes or eagles. Many children add one animal each year to their Nativity Set at home. Even crocodiles are welcome there. Grown ups tend to have the weirdest ideas and ask me to carve millipedes, spiders or their favored dog race. Not always I can fulfill their wishes. 

I have the feeling my work and exhibition during Christmas time teaches children about the beauty wood, simplicity of shape and respect and awe towards nature and animals and thus gives a little counterweight to the glitter, glimmer and glamour around me.