When I was just a boy, it was clear to me that I wanted to become a sculptor. On my way home from school, I always passed by the workshop of a local sculptor. Every day I stopped and looked at the workpiece on his workbench. I was amazed by the wonderful sculptures and the expressive faces such a block of wood can be turned into – unbelievable!
The older I got, the more I wanted to become a sculptor. I drew a lot: horses, humans and faces. Especially faces interested me and later I tried to picture them through sculpture.
As a child I always expressed my desire to become a sculptor. My mother once took me to a career counselling where we discovered my pronounced three-dimensional imagination, which is an important property for working as a sculptor.
I collected my most beautiful drawings and made my way to Val Gardena, to the well-known sculptors of the valley. I was looking for a sculptor to teach a young, enthusiastic fellow like me. I saw a lot of sculptures of saints, cribs, secular figures, portraits, animals and ornaments, but unfortunately I couldn’t find a training place.
Thus, I decided for the three-year Sculptor apprenticeship in Ahrntal, where the sculptor Jakob Oberhollenzer became my teacher. After three years of carving school, I attended the vocational school of sculptors in Selva (Val Gardena), where I made the journeyman’s examination after two years followed by two more years of vocational school.
I am thankful to have learned my dream vocation: SCULPTOR.