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Now that Katherine's received her slightly belated wedding present I can post the photos I took before David carefully wrapped everything up. After buying the odd cup or bowl off Stefanie's shelves for smaller occasions, I was thrilled by how well she executed my little personal order...
Keramik Stefanie Scheier, Husemanstraße 23, 10435 Berlin (map)
Open Saturdays noon to 4 pm
I've been coveting Manja Goetze's ceramic pieces for a while, having been utterly taken by the gorgeous way her glazes pool at the bottom of her vessels in vivid rich blues; the matte contrast of the brown exterior and bone rim has also always pleased me. This Saturday I walked past the market on a mission, went in, dithered briefly between cups and mugs, then laid down my money: easily the best 15 EUR I've spent for an age, and this morning's tea felt correspondingly ennobled.
Manja shows her work at the Galerie Jeanne Koepp; Koepp's work is also worth checking out.
MaGo Keramik at the Galerie Jeanne Koepp, Kollwitzstr. 53 (map)
Tel. + 49 30 4419591, manja.goetze-schmidt@gmx.net
Open Mon-Fri 1 pm to 7 pm, Sat noon to 4 pm
I've been admiring Claudia Rannow's photos at the Kollwitzplatz market for some months now, thinking about how her witty pictures of Berlin would make the perfect present for someone who's leaving the city or who misses it. She seems to notice all the things I do, and catches moments and shards of Berlin in an appealing way, noticing the nonce messages the city throws up: her diptychs too can be terribly evocative. Have a click through her site and buy if you can; a small photo, very nicely mounted on a frame, is only 10 EUR, and the diptychs 23 EUR. (The photo above is from her shopfront, which she shares with Katja Morkel of Morkel.
Moshi Moshi, Choriner Str. 37 (map)
Tel. 440 445 60, claudia.rannow@ginko.de
Open Wed-Fri noon to 7 pm, Sat 11 to 6 pm
After a few crossed wires I managed to speak to Stefanie last week, visiting her in her atelier/shop on my way to the Kollwitzplatz market while David had a crêpe at Etienne. It was exciting to sit down with her, if a bit awkward, as I think we are both shy people.
She told me she completed her art training in her early twenties, and has been a social worker since then, working first with homeless children, and currently with drug addicts. When she moved to Berlin five years ago she resumed working with ceramics, and that was when she discovered the technique of imprinting clay with patterned papers: a neue Anfang, or new beginning for her.
The East German ceramicist who introduced her to the technique made works quite different to hers, and indeed, she says she's only ever found one book on the subject. Ceramics is still something she does in her spare time, but she says she finds it increasingly difficult to divide herself between vocation and avocation. No online shop yet, but I'll certainly post details if she ever does open one! In the meantime, Berlin residents and visitors can find her at her shop on Saturdays from noon to 4 pm or by appointment.
I've waxed eloquent before, and will say again how much I enjoy the distinct sensibility of her work. I love how the piece above evokes the Greek palette, and how others make material the Italian papers I otherwise turn into cards or letters. I am still carefully considering exactly what I'd like to have her make for me (David has promised me a few pieces for a Christmas present). Cups for tea? One of her mysterious, pleasing containers? We'll see...
Keramik Stefanie Scheier, Husemannstraße 23 (map)
(photo from the Di/G Berlin website)
I quite like the idea of apprehending life at a glance – I once made a graph mapping my first quarter-century – and so found this calendar very appealing. The year is displayed on a single sheet, one side purple with days in English, the other black with German days. Along with the calendar itself you get a packet of 100 punched-hole post-its to encircle a date and describe what's happening on it; as months pass, the post-its move like foliage across an unchanging plain. Prices range from 5-18 EUR depending on whether you're a shop or an individual and on where you're based. I found it for 10 EUR at Bizzi in Stargarderstraße.
The calendar is DiG/Berlin's 2006 offering in their 'products for the masses' series, which includes a replica of Berlin's beloved TV tower, and a font they designed free to download. Commerical projects include posters for Ken Park's films and the logo for the European left-wing party European Left.
Bizzi, Stargarderstraße 17 (map)
Open Mo-Fr 11 am to 7 pm, Sa 11 am to 4 pm
DiG/Berlin, + 49 30 28 59 99 59, info@dig-berlin.de
For everyone who's dreamt of being born again as a wide-eyed cherub, Evelin offers stylish portraits based on photographs or a real-life encounter. Visit her website or her small shop in Lychenerstraße (north of Helmholtzplatz) for more details.
Ceramics marry beauty and function in a way similar to cooking, and I'm always on the look-out for nice pieces. I was thrilled to stumble across Stefanie Scheier's shop in Husemanstraße a few weeks ago. Her technique of imprinting wet clay with patterned paper was something I'd never seen, and I love the aged, worn quality of her pieces. I'll post an interview with Ms Scheier later in the month, but couldn't wait to put up some samples of her work. (Many thanks to James – my man in Île d'Yeu – for photographing his birthday presents.)
Keramik Stefanie Scheier, Husemanstraße 23, 10435 Berlin
Open Saturdays noon to 4 pm
I always seem to be running into examples of nominal determinism while walking around my neighbourhood. The hairdresser in the ground floor of my last apartment building was called Monica Scherer (=scissors), the dentist's assistant was Frau Teufel (=devil) and the owner of my favourite flower shop is called Grit Rose.
In other shops I eye their lurid gerberas and think of the scenes in Domicile conjugal where Leaud stands in the courtyard doing impossible things to flowers; Rose's blooms, in contrast, are naturally never less than perfectly fresh and vigorous. Yet her eye is not for flowers alone, but flowers in the context of a home, and along with the bouquets there are lovely accent pieces such as irregular handblown water glasses from Copenhagen or this spectacular 'lamp slip' from Tord Boontje (which I immediately coveted and added to my mental Christmas wish list) or even just green conkers tucked into pink votive holders and hung up in the windows – the sort of frivolous fun that flowers are all about.
Frau Rose, Stargarderstraße 15 (map)
I am getting to an age where friends are having babies with more frequency, and that means presents. There is nothing I like better than a good excuse to buy frivolous delightful things, and thus was very pleased to spot the Barefoot Berlin stand at the Hackescher Markt Saturday market. The stall was filled an eccentric menagerie of giraffes, octupi, aardvarks, all in a wild medley of colours. The toys are individually made from nubby handwoven fabrics, coloured with ecologically friendly dyes from Switzerland, and stuffed with kapok. What's not to love? I selected the giraffe because I couldn't resist his indignant expression; David insists he resembles me.
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