Petra Plestenjak Podlogar

Petra Plestenjak Podlogar

artisans

1963

iain

English,Croatian,Slovene

Artisan

808

current,46.1664897673265,14.3072256355819;

Scotland

Petra Plestenjak Podlogar

https://www.centerduo.eu/mojstri-rokodelci/petra-plestenjak-podlogar/

TEXT

Petra Plestenjak Podlogar (1963) graduated at the Higher School of Textile Design at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering in Ljubljana. In 1978 and 1990, she obtained the title of Master of Arts and Crafts in Slovenj Gradec. She has worked as a freelance cultural profession for 17 years. For the last 10 years, carving has been a complementary activity to her other jobs, as it was difficult to make a living from this craft. She started carving as 11 years old child, having been surrounded by her father's drawings and her grandfather's carvings. She enjoyed spending her free time with a chisel in her hands. She carves figures, both human and animal, and ornaments out of wood. She specialises in making models for stamping the "Mali kruhek" - small honey bread from Škofja Loka continuing a family tradition. Petra Plestenjak Podlogar preserves the rich cultural tradition of carving motifs on wooden that models. These designs are not replicas of the old ones made by self-taught and trained carvers from the 18th century onwards - Petra enhances them with her own floral, geometric or figurative ornamentation. Because she does not use any templates, each piece is unique. She also complements her designs with new wood products - bookmarks, wooden wall reliefs with different motifs, built-in furniture panels and greeting cards. The unit "Making small breads and wooden models", of which Petra Plestenjak Podlogar is the bearer, was entered in the National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage in April 2018, see: http://www.nesnovnadediscina.si/en/register-of-intangible-cultural-heritage/making-small-breads-and-wooden-models She lives and works in Škofja Loka.

ZRCSAZU_PR_02

2086

petra.plestenjak@gmail.com

facebook,https://www.facebook.com/petraplestenjakrocnorezbarjenje;

+386 (0)41 503 749

woodwork

She started learning carving as a child from her grandfather. She made her first piece when she was 11 years old. She has been carving for more than 50 years.

Petra runs decolourisation workshops at the DUO Škofja Loka craft centre, groups of up to 8 people, attended by adults, children and families. She has also had several individual students, including from abroad. During the course, participants make their own product.

Barbara Ivančič Kutin

female

native

Carving small items such as small bread models requires, above all, a joy for working with wood, manual dexterity, precision and mastery of technique (working with the chisels, sanding, coating) and a certain sense of aesthetics; it is also necessary to know the properties of the wood, as not all wood is suitable for fine and precise cuts (it must not be broken, layered).

Resident of Škofja Loka since birth.

The wood most commonly used is pear, which is hard enough, without strong annual lines and knots, and does not break.

part-time paid job

Sometimes she buys wood (a piece of log or board) from farmers in the area, but most of the wood she uses for her products is waste wood she gets from cabinet-makers because she needs mainly small pieces for his products.

There is almost no waste. Sometimes small pieces are turned into decorative items (earrings, pendants) and the useless shavings are thrown into the wood stove.

Petra uses exclusively hand carving techniques with various chisels. The basic working parts are made by a joiner: the wood is sliced into plates, basic shapes are cut out, a hole is drilled in the back (for hanging).

The basic tools are chisels, a wooden plunger for pounding, and a smoothing paper. The drilling machine she uses to drill holes in the back of the products designed to be hung on the wall.

The tools serve as indispensable tools in her carving. She handles the tools very carefully. All the chisels were used by her grandfather, so they are very valuable to her.

s. All the work is done by hand; the exception is the drilling of the holes for the hangers, which is done with an electric drill.

There is no waste.

Petra's carving workshop in one of the rooms in the family house.

She mainly makes carved wooden moulds for the so-called "mali kruhek" (honey bread made by pressing dough into hand-carved wooden moulds or shaped and decorated freehand; "Making small breads and wooden models", of which Petra Plestenjak Podlogar is the bearer, was entered in the Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage in April 2018, see: http://www.nesnovnadediscina.si/en/register-of-intangible-cultural-heritage/making-small-breads-and-wooden-models She also produces decorative wooden reliefs, key rings, wooden jewellery (pendants, earrings), bookmarks, and occasionally (on request), inlays for furniture (e.g. wardrobes, chests).

Mostly she sells only made-to-order products, otherwise she carves for herself - for her own pleasure and as gifts for friends.

A few products are on sale in the handicraft centre's shop and museum shop, but mostly she sells only made-to-order products directly to her clients.

Petra makes products (from her carving repertoire) on request. Some of her products can be bought in the museum shop and the handicraft centre shop.

Almost never. Sometimes decorative items are rewaxed or coated with lye if they fade over the years.

The clients are very diverse, all people, and they all have in common that they like useful or decorative carvings; many of the clients are foreigners. Larger or more complicated pieces require a lot of work and cannot be cheap. Clients commission pieces for special gifts (anniversaries, birthdays, etc.) or as protocol gifts.

Her products carry the Art & Craft Slovenia certificate, issued by the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia.

She participates in tourist events in Škofja Loka - carving workshops and baking small bread (which are related) as part of the Škofja Loka - Historical Town. She participates in craft colonies and exhibitions.

"Najboljši učitelj so lastne napake!" Translation: The best teacher is one's own mistakes. Hrana ni igrača, da bi jo metali stran, zato se mi zdi primerno geslo za medeno pecivo iz modelov, ki ga pečemo na delavnicah, čeprav je lepo: "Poglej in pojej!" Translation: Food is not a toy to be thrown away. That's why the motto for the beautiful honey cakes made from the models we bake in the workshops is: "See and savour"

Petra is a member of the DUO Škofja loka Handicraft Centre and is the President of the Škofja Loka Regional Chamber of Crafts and Arts and Crafts Section of the Slovenian Chamber of Crafts and Arts. She cooperates with the Handicraft Centre DUO, and in this framework it and other craftsmen and craftswomen often present themselves together, e.g. at fairs; once a year they have a handicraft colony. She cooperates with the Ethnographic Museum of Slovenia, it has worked with the municipality on the production of protocol dadaril, and is now cooperating with the ZRC SAZU.

Every new product or new pattern is a new challenge, especially for larger pieces. In the future, she would like to make a smaller chest with inserts for herself, as she has already made for a client, which is a challenge.

Izdelkov se ne da zaračnati tliko, kot je vanje vloženega dela. V trhgovinah pa so še visoke marže, zato prodajam le v muzejski trgovini in rokodelskem centru, kjer so marže nižje. Products cannot be charged as much as the work that goes into them. And there are still high margins in the shops, so I only sell them in the museum shop and the handicraft centre, where the margins are lower.

http://www.nesnovnadediscina.si/en/register-of-intangible-cultural-heritage/making-small-breads-and-wooden-models https://www.loski-muzej.si/spletni-arhiv-zusl/petra-plestenjak-podlogar/ https://www.kulturnadozivetja.si/rokodelski-center-duo/mojstri-rokodelci/item/28-petra-plestenjak-podlogar.html https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/oseba/plestenjak-podlogar-petra/