 When I first enter the converted barn I think “this just looks like a fresh produce market on a market square! How fun!” However, inspecting the baskets on the display table I discover that the white & brown chicken eggs are broken egg shells, so are the partridge eggs; various snails and other kinds are just empty shells; the green vegetable is moss; the red & yellow colored onions are bulbs, and the huge oysters are tree mushrooms.
I am intrigued and delighted at the same time by the collected natural materials: straw, hay, feathers, small daffodils, small clay pots, different ivy, branches and twigs from birch, chestnut, hazelnut and willow trees, and bark from various trees are among many things are available to us. There are also natural bits and pieces to tie things together with.
 And things get tied together in that evening class: I create a beautiful spring wreath (see photo below)! Mind you, in the US I impressed family & friends with my decorations throughout the house of simple, natural materials you find on any walk whether they are leaves, dried flowers & berries, pine cones, and twigs. In the US I was called “creative”, and I loved being called that.
However, in Germany, I am no longer called creative. I am among many women who love attending creative workshops to be considered more individual. One of them is called: "Kreativ Werkstatt" at http://www.kreativ.cismar.de/ .
Here I meet Mrs. Petra Landolt and Mrs. Sabine Hoeft-Dammer who are the real creative and gifted people. The workshop is located on Sabine’s idyllic farm. Her family bought it back in 1932 just one day before shipping out and immigrating to Canada – but this is another story. Like so many farms, this one is no longer active so the empty barn was converted.
The class begins: Petra is the creative art director. She is good hearted, full of life and energy and has a great sense of humor. She encourages us to look at the sample wreaths for coffee tables and doors, dining table center pieces, or decorative pieces to add to the living or dining room they prepared. The idea is to be stimulated by their decorations and then to create your own. As she accompanies us Petra finds out from each one of us what we want to make and begins to show us how to best go about it. With many huge smiles and an excellent eye for color and design she is pleasant to have around while you work.
Sabine, an architect, helps and assists all of us and ponders the complexity of “defining space”. She stays true to the cause and herself throughout. So when I try a short-cut by wiring my birch twigs together, Sabine appears from nowhere: “Andrea you don’t need wire. Be patient and wrap the twigs within themselves. It will look so much prettier!” Of course, she is right! [I smile now that it sits on my kitchen table…] I am always surprised at Sabine’s extensive knowledge of any plant. She is a quieter type but deep as they say and it is wonderful to see her laugh.
The atmosphere is very relaxed. Sabine or Petra both offer coffee and cake if the class is held in the afternoon. In the evening we get spoiled by homemade bread and the best home made olive-dip I ever tasted. The dip made by Petra, a perfectionist in anything she does: decorations and food!
While sitting over bread and olive dip we learn how much effort goes into holding a class of this form: Petra and Sabine spent about 8 hours each foraging the materials from the forest, not to mention the many eggs they had to eat lately (see photo). They travel to a wholesale market before a class starts, meaning a drive at 4AM; followed by making a few sample wreaths for us. A lot of time and effort goes in to it. I admire them both for offering us such a neat class.
 And now see – this is my art project that brings so many smiles to me every day. I am happy about my creation. Will I return to the capable hands of Sabine and Petra’s classes? Of course! Any day and any time again. I can hardly wait for the spring flower pot class to begin.
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