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LANDMARKS

I am interested in role models, because I know that having landmarks to navigate by can be crucial when you are plotting a course.
That is the why I asked, ‘Who are your role models, and are they the reason you do what you do?’ when I spoke with Sara Bruun Buch, who runs Hornvarefabrikken – the Hornware Factory – together with her husband, Peder.

Sara is one of the craftspeople portrayed in my book HÅNDVÆRK from 2018.

Sara replied, 
‘As long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with all sorts of materials, and working with my hands has helped calm my body and mind. I experimented with many different materials during my studies, mainly textile ones, and today, I focus mainly on horn. I find great satisfaction in keeping at it until I am satisfied with the result!’ Sara goes on to explain how exemplary personalities have influenced her path. ‘Since I was a child, I have been attracted to individuals who had the ability to make a lot out of nothing. My grandmother, who lived on [the Danish island of] Funen was my earliest role model, she was a warm, loving person. She also had a really cool style, and she could make anything look like a million quid! Another role model is art weaver Annette Holdensen, whom I got to know during a traineeship in her workshop in Odense. She is entirely convincing in everything she does, both in her craft practice and on a personal level. I was beguiled by the whole scene, I loved the way she cooked, her home and, not least, what she was like as a person. Whether it’s a time of prosperity or scarcity, there is a wealth there.’

 

My own experience

With these words, Sara affirms my own experience from my youth when I was striving to find my own path and was looking for role models I could relate to. In that search, lifestyle and personality carried at least as much weight as career. Like Sara, I shaped my own life based on a vision of creative and generous content more than on a desire for a specific profession.

Facts about horn:

For horn to be suited as a craft material, it has to be without cracks or wormholes, have beautiful grain and be of a certain size. Before a horn can be used to make spoons, small bowls, hair slides, combs or other functional objects, it has to be boiled and rinsed in water. After boiling, the outline of the intended product is drawn directly on the horn before it is sawn out on a band saw. Next, the form is rubbed down to a uniform thickness using coarse-grit sandpaper. This part of the process is important, as the subsequent work is both easier and quicker when the material is of uniform thickness.

Some horn products need to be robust, while others should be quite delicate and thin, to the level of translucency. Horn can handle both requirements. Once the item has uniform thickness, it is given its final form. If it is a spoon, the handle is first placed in hot oil (165o Celsius) for a few minutes. This makes the horn as soft as leather. The handle is then placed under pressure to flatten it. Next, the same process is performed on the bowl, which is placed in a purpose-made oak mould. After being under pressure in the wooden mould, the spoon is adjusted using a finished spoon as a model. Then the spoon is sanded again, starting with coarse-grit sandpaper and finishing with very fine-grit sandpaper. When the spoon has been given its final shape, it is polished to a silky shine. Other horn products are made using a similar procedure, although some products are shaped by hand after being heated, and some are heated in an oven rather than in oil.

 

Time for a visit to the library!

You can read more about Sara and the Hornware Factory and many other craftspeople and makers in the book HÅNDVÆRK – you can buy it here, from your local bookshop or in many museums, or you can borrow it at the library.

Jeg er optaget af forbilleder. Der er jeg, fordi jeg ved at have pejlemærker kan have afgørende betydning, når man skal stikke kurs.
”Hvem er dine forbilleder, og er det på grund af dem, du laver, hvad du gør?” spurgte jeg derfor også, da jeg talte med Sara Bruun Buch, som sammen med sin mand Peder, står bag Hornvarefabrikken.

Sara er en af de håndværkere som er portrætteret i min bog  HÅNDVÆRK fra 2018

Sara svarede:
“Jeg har, så længe jeg kan erindre, været fascineret af materialer af mange slags, og det har givet mig ro i krop og sjæl at få lov til at arbejde med hænderne. Jeg har eksperimenteret med mange forskellige materialer under min uddannelse, mest med tekstile materialer og nu mest med horn. Jeg finder stor tilfredsstillelse i at blive ved og ved, indtil jeg er tilfreds med resultatet!” siger Sara, og fortæller videre om, hvordan forbilledlige personligheder har været med til at forme hendes vej. “Jeg har, siden jeg var barn, været tiltrukket af personer med evnen til at få meget ud af lidt. Min fynske farmor var mit første forbillede, hun var et varmt og kærligt menneske, og hun havde en utrolig god stil, og så kunne hun få ingenting til at ligne en million! Forbilledlig er også billedvæveren Annette Holdensen, som jeg lærte at kende under et praktikophold på hendes værksted i Odense. Hun er helt igennem overbevisende, i alt hvad hun foretager sig. Både hvad angår hendes kunsthåndværk, men også personligt og privat. Jeg blev betaget af det hele, jeg elskede måden, hun lavede mad på, hvordan hun boede, og ikke mindst hvordan hun var som menneske. Om det er opgangstider eller mere knapt, der er altid rigt.”

 

Min erfaring

Sara bekræfter med disse udsagn min egen erfaring fra mine helt unge år, hvor jeg skulle finde min vej, og hvor jeg ledte efter synlige forbilleder. I den søgen talte livsstil og personlighed mindst lige så meget som karriere. Jeg skabte, ligesom Sara har gjort det, min løbebane på bagrund af en vision om et kreativt og generøst indhold, mere end på baggrund af et ønske om et konkret erhverv.

Fakta om horn:

Hvis et horn skal være velegnet som materiale til kunsthåndværk, skal det være uden revner eller ormehuller, have en smuk tegning og være af en vis størrelse. Inden hornet kan bruges til skeer, små skåle, hårspænder, kamme eller en anden brugsgenstand, skal det udkoges og skylles i vand. Når hornet er kogt ud, tegnes omridset af det produkt, som skal fremstilles, direkte på råhornet, og man saver derefter formen ud på en båndsav. Derefter skal det spirende produkt “rubbes”. Det betyder, at hornet slibes ned til en ensartet tykkelse ved hjælp af meget groft sandpapir. Nedslibningen er vigtig, da det efterfølgende arbejde bliver både nemmere og hurtigere, når materialet har en ensartet tykkelse.

En del hornprodukter skal være robuste, andre helt delikat tynde, næsten transparente. Hornmaterialet kan klare begge dele. Når produktet har fået en ensartet tykkelse, skal det have sin endelige form. Er der tale om en ske, sættes først skaftet ned i 165 grader varm olie i nogle minutter. Her bliver hornet blødt som læder. Skaftet sættes i spænd, så det bliver fladt. Derefter gentages processen med bladet, som sættes i en form som er udformet i egetræ specifikt til pågældende produkt. Når skeen har været under pres i træformen, finjusteres skeens form med en færdig ske som forbillede. Så slibes der igen, først med meget groft sandpapir og til sidst med meget fint sandpapir. Når skeen har fået sin endelige form, afsluttes der med polering. Poleringen gør, at hornet får en silkeglat overflade. Andre produkter følger en lignende procedure. Dog formes enkelte produkter efter opvarmningen i fri hånd, og for nogle produkters vedkommende opvarmes de i ovn frem for i olie.

 

Gå på biblioteket!

Du kan læse mere om Sara og Hornvarefabrikken og om mange andre håndværkere og kunsthåndværkere i bogen HÅNDVÆRK, du kan købe den her, hos din lokale boghandel, på en hel del museer eller du kan låne den på biblioteket.

 

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