New Potter In Town-- And It's Me!

Well.  It's one kind of coincidence when you find a pottery studio and a yoga studio at the exact same address.  

It's another thing entirely when the owner of the pottery studio meets you, then tells you she is going on vacation for a month and is wondering if you'd be willing to look after her shop while she is gone.  

Yes. For the month of February, I helped run Feuer Zeug Keramik.  Now you understand why I haven't been able to post as frequently.  Sorry about that!  Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays I have been maintaining the shop and doing my own work on the wheel.  

I'll give you a little background on the whole process.  

First, let me tell you a little bit about the area around the pottery shop.  The shop is located between two very hip boroughs of Berlin: Kreuzberg and Neukölln.  If you look up these neighborhoods on The Google, you'll find expressions like "the center of all things hip," "home to Berlin's punk rock movement as well as other alternative subcultures in Germany," "famous for its alternative lifestyle and its squatters," "graffiti-stained shutters," "highest percentage of immigrants," "influx of students, creatives and young professionals," "social hot spot," et cetera, et cetera.  

Before arriving in Berlin, I'd heard it described as a "grungy" city, to which I was like "Yeah ok, what is that supposed to mean?"  Grungy did not sound like a very nice way to talk about a place.  I wouldn't be flattered if someone said I lived in a grungy apartment.   It sounded derogatory out of context, but the way it was being used about Berlin made it sound sort of cool or edgy in a good way.  I'm still not exactly sure what it means, but when I walk around Kreuzberg and Neukölln, I understand why the term is applied.  One of the most observable characteristics of these boroughs is the graffiti that is literally EVERYWHERE.   There are also posters and fliers plastered on every available surface.  And if there wasn't a free surface, the fliers were just layered one on top of the other.  

There are fantastic murals (some also on the "grungy" side) all over the place.  

This one is 2 blocks from the pottery shop and I feel like it captures the spirit of the area.  "Love Art Hate Cops" is written across the top.  You can see it from the U-Bahn stop where I get off.  And speaking of that U-Bahn stop- I used to feel kind of nervous walking down from the train platform because there are always guys (between 18 and 25 years old) standing in groups on the steps and down on the ground level under the tracks.  I couldn't figure out what they were doing there since they never seem to ride the train and they don't leave the train stop.  I thought maybe they were waiting for vulnerable commuters that they could attack and steal a wallet or two, so I was always very careful to walk up and down the stairs while there were lots of other people around me.  To my relief, I found out I was in no danger of being jumped.  These guys are merely selling marijuana and it seems interested customers know to meet them at this particular train platform.  Lovely.  

If I want to avoid the drug dealers completely, I can walk from our house, which, in addition to getting some exercise, allows me to discover some merry Berlin-isms...

... like this bike full of daffodils... 

... or this intricate and colorful pole warmer. 

In preparation for my month in the pottery shop, I needed to acquire the correct supplies.  Although Cordula (the owner of the pottery shop) said I was allowed to use her clay for my pottery projects, I did not want to take advantage of her generosity in letting me use her potter's wheel and space while she was gone... plus, I had some pretty big projects in mind.  

Time for a grand expedition to Carl Jäger, a pottery supply store in the southeast.  Cordula provided me with their address so the day before starting at Feuer Zeug Keramik, I threw an empty satchel over my shoulder and started out to by some clay and glaze.  

The trip requires 2 train transfers and a tram (or streetcar) taking almost an hour to get from door to door.  The transfers were in parts of the city I had not yet experienced and I was reminded just how big and dynamic Berlin really is.  

After taking the second train, I decided to skip the tram and walk the last leg of the journey to Carl Jäger.  

I was now in the former Communist part of the city, which also was quite residential.  Although there were fewer murals when compared to Kreuzberg, I still managed to find a few.  

I walked along backroads that bordered parks and bike paths.  

I discovered uniform efficient-looking German apartments.  The combination of the architecture and the cars made me feel like I was on the set of "Good Bye Lenin!" the famous German film about the end of communism in the late 80s. 

Since you're obviously wondering what I looked like on my way to the pottery supply store, here's a picture of me sitting along the sidewalk with my empty, green, poke-a-dot satchel.  

After walking for 45 minutes, I arrived at Carl Jäger only to discover it was closed.  Apparently they have a mid-day break from 12-3pm.  Good thing I brought my book!

The surrounding neighborhood was quite residential but I did find a cozy cafe... 

...which serves latte macchiatos and waffles!  I've been trying to minimize my intake of glutenous foods so I haven't been eating many waffles, but I think it's worth noting that German waffles are delicious and readily available all over the place at almost any time of the day.  They are often served with powdered sugar like my little snack pictured above.  

I killed an hour or so in this little cafe, munching and reading until Carl Jäger reopened.  

As you can see, it doesn't really look like much of a shop.  And that is probably because it really isn't a shop.  If you walk in the side door, you enter a small room with a counter.  There are a few samples of glazed tiles hanging on the wall along with some tools that potters can purchase, but it really isn't a place to browse.  You need to know what you want ahead of time so you can place your order at the counter.  

I had come prepared since Cordula had given me the Carl Jäger catalog.  I wanted two varieties of clay and a blue glaze that I picked out by looking at the sample tiles on the wall.  Using a mix of English, sign language, and bad German I was able to place my order with the shop owner's son, a burly man with pierced ears and a long beard.  He turned out to be quite a sweetheart despite his gruff appearance.  

Considering how long it took me to get out to this shop, I decided to place a bulk order so I wouldn't have to go back and forth to this place every other week, but carrying 100 kilos of clay home on a tram and 2 trains would have been totally impossible.  Lucky for me, Carl Jäger delivers!  So I gave my new bearded friend my home address and set a date for the delivery.  I took one 10-kilo bag of clay in my satchel so I'd have something to work with at the shop over the weekend (for my fellow Americans who have no sense of the metric system, 10 kilos converts to roughly 22 pounds) and set off for home.  

I passed this random configuration of mushroom stools on the way back to my house. 

A few days later, my clay arrived!  Perfect timing too!  Fritz hadn't left for the archives yet so I had help carrying almost 200 pounds of clay up to our 4th floor apartment.  We selected a remote corner of the living room for it to hide and I've been transporting it to the pottery shop as needed, one bag at a time.  

Having successfully acquired all the neccessary materials, it was pottery time!!  I had planned ahead and brought my rubber pottery boots to Germany.  They aren't exactly high fashion, but what can I say, sometimes an artist must place a higher value on function and leave fashion at home.

Feuer Zeug Keramik is a small shop divided between a display of finished pottery for sale and a working pottery studio with two potter's wheels. The picture above shows some of Cordula's pieces. 

The two wheels are hiding behind the white shelf in the foreground.  The shelves on the side wall are loaded with unfinished pieces.  

I got right to work making a few mugs.  They haven't been glazed yet, but I'm quite happy with how they turned out.  It's been a least 6 months since I've done any throwing (that's the term potters use when they are making pieces on a wheel), but it wasn't too tricky to get back into the swing of things. 

I can't tell you how good it feels to be back in a pottery studio.  I still have to pinch myself whenever I think about how this all came together.  It blows my mind!  I've been quite busy producing surprises for our wedding in August, which means photos of my finished products will be limited, but if anyone has any special orders, let me know!  I'll make anything that can be shipped (so no giant vases please).  

Peace, Love and Pottery!