Klara Heim
If I recall, my first creations were created when I was four years old in my great-grandfather's carpenter's workshop. Even today, I can smell the smell of freshly cut sawdust, which was up to my knees. From the first moment, I was enchanted and captivated by the desire to create, which has not diminished since. My first role model made me a wooden hammer, and when he gave it to me with a smile, he just said:
"Shoot, little girl, just shoot!"
And I nailed it. Everything. Even the things I shouldn't have...
A few years later, when that little wooden mallet was completely worn out, I picked up a graphite pencil. My mother gave it to me to keep me busy. But it wore out quickly, so I got another one and then a lot more. I couldn't and didn't want to stop. I just drew and drew. Everywhere and on everything. Even where I shouldn't have…
My mother's best friend - who was a true artist - would invite me to draw with her at my little red table whenever she came over. She would squat down next to me and enchant me with her creations. I was overcome with awe at what she could do with a plain sheet of paper and a simple graphite pencil. She gave me so much inspiration and knowledge during those late-night, hour-long spells.
Many years have passed and a lot of water has flowed down that particular river since then. The current was strong, and it took me in a different direction for a long time. By the time I was seven, I was already a professional competitive athlete. Although I sometimes drew as a hobby, being a gymnast became the center of my life. I went from training to training, competition to competition. Since I was always a perfectionist when it came to my work, the hard work I put in paid off. As an adult, the current perhaps became even faster, and gymnastics became my job. As a professional coach, I helped many children achieve their desired goals. Six training sessions a week, choreographies, sewing clothes, cutting music, and preparing for competitions filled most of my time. I loved it! I loved it because it was also a work of art. The children's eyes shining with happiness as they achieved their dreams made up for all the hard work.
My close friends and family members never forgot that art was a part of my being during this time. They constantly approached me with various requests and needs. "I just need a painting for my newly opened café, I just need to renovate my grandparents' old wardrobe, I just need to make a fun drawing for my child's room, or I just need a big decoration for my office!" They kept asking me for things like this and that, and I could never resist. I just kept creating again, everywhere and for everyone. Even where they weren't even asked...
These were the moments in which I never got tired. Creation gave me a charge like nothing else. I created when I was happy and I created through the nights even when something was really tormenting me inside.
Meanwhile, I kept hearing from my loved ones why I didn't do something with the talent I had in my hands? "I don't have time for it!" I snapped immediately. They never understood. No wonder, because only an artist can truly understand this. An artist can understand what it takes when time stops and is not urgent. I need the opportunity to emerge from the self that is suppressed under the weight of everyday life, capable of creating. Capable of seeing and feeling the world differently. A world that needs to be shared, shown to others. While creating, no one can speak to me and I don't hear anything. At that time, there are only three of us. Me, myself and the miracle I'm working on at the moment. In the past, due to lack of time, I could only reach this magical level less often.
Then that particular river carried me on again, and life threw something at me. Time.
The time that gave me the opportunity to let my imagination run wild and fulfill myself in the joy of creation. I learned my craft in an autodidact manner, and I continue to learn and develop it to this day. My goal is to bring color, warmth, and uniqueness into homes. My most important tools are my heart and love. I am rich because my work is my love. My supporters are my husband, my little son, my family, and my friends, who have always stood behind me with their unwavering faith.
Today I create in my own workshop, and every time I hold a hammer in my hand, I hear my smiling great-grandfather's words: Drive nails, my little girl, just drive nails!
And I'm just nailing it...