MY STORY
ABOUT ME
My name is Sanny, I'm 33 years old and from Hamburg, Germany. I am a professional welder and toolmaker,
and after 10 years of work I decided to start following my dreams and to become my own Boss.
I came to Cornwall to learn new skills from a man that has been a blacksmith for more than 40 years.
Next to learning and helping him with his jobs I had the freedom to try out as much as I wanted,
to get to know the fire. To experiment and to develop my own skills.
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I have dreamed of making artworks for a long time. Before I started learning about forging I spent quite some time on drawing designs in my sketch book, but my experience as a welder wasn't enough to create them. I drew loads of sculptures that could be in people's homes, I designed many tables, lamps and statues for public spaces.
However, in the workshop in Cornwall I didn't get to make the pieces I dreamed about immediately,
in order to get an income I first had to focus on things like benches and fences most of the time.
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This made me see that, even though I didn't get to work on my art in the way I designed it in my sketches, I did still make art. And my opinion about 'art' and what that means to me has changed. Having to make so many
fences made me look closer to things like gates, railings and streetlights: things we normally take for granted or maybe don't even see. It made me realize that the potential of art is to transform these numb (and probably mass produced) objects into an art piece, into something beautiful.
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Art is about expressing oneself, about sharing a little piece of your soul with the world. I have learned that this expression can also take place within the boundaries of having to make a fence, that it can be very fulfilling to turn the meaningless object in my environment into something with expression. It made me see how much potential there is in the 'everyday' things, and it made me think about art in a different way. If I would be able to combine my wish to become an artist by making people's environment a little bit more beautiful, so not only one person but everyone on the street can enjoy it - wouldn't that be great?
I hope I can contribute to society by sharing my passion, by turning a streetlight into something beautiful.