Images in wood
- Petra doesn’t use templates, so each piece is unique
- She carves her creations from pear wood
- She makes moulds for Škofja Loka honey bread
Petra Plestenjak Podlogar is a carver who continues the centuries-old tradition of making wooden moulds for Škofja Loka honey bread (honey pastry), which she upgrades with original motifs and patterns. She comes from an artistic family, she studied textile and clothing design, and this sense of aesthetics is reflected in her handicraft work. She has been carving since childhood, when she learned the skills from her grandfather. At the age of 15, she exhibited for the first time at the Biennial Exhibition of Arts and Crafts and received the title of Master Craftsperson. For the last 10 years, she has also pressed and baked Škofja Loka honey bread in her handmade wooden moulds. She is happy to share the secret recipes with her costumers.
Interview
- How would you define what you do?
- The basis is carving, from which various products are made: wooden moulds for honey bread and decorative carvings, carved furniture inserts and jewellery. What all my pieces have in common is that I carve the negative.
- How did you learn to be an artisan?
- I was 12 years old when I realized that I wanted to learn to carve just like my grandfather. At first he didn’t let me, worried that I would cut myself, but when he saw that I knew how to hold and choose chisels and that I was persistent, we started carving together every weekend.
- What are your sources of inspiration?
- I discover the pattern as I work. I look for unusual pieces of wood, the weirder the wood, the better idea I get and the nicer the end product. I also adapt to the colour and texture of the wood. I like carving stories as well.
- How do you express tradition and innovation in your work?
- If I work the same way they used to do and invent the patterns myself, I don’t need to copy the old masters. Basically, I carve in the negative in the classic way, and each product is created in its own way.
Petra Plestenjak Podlogar is a master artisan: she began her career in 1979 and she started teaching in 2017
Where
Petra Plestenjak Podlogar
