Val Gardena was his favorite destination: breathtaking landscapes with the Dolomites as a backdrop, delicious food, and many artisans with whom he loved to chat in order to carefully select the pieces that would fill our store shelves — not to mention the wonderful scent of wood that greeted us as we stepped into the workshops.
We’ve always been ANRI resellers — a brand that our father before us, and now we ourselves, have loved deeply for the outstanding quality of their sculptures. For a few years now, Thomas, the owner of ANRI, had been proposing we host one of their sculptors for a live carving demonstration in our store. The limited space had always held us back from organizing such an event — but this year, we finally took the leap and said YES to Thomas’ proposal.
A couple of days beforehand, we started moving furniture and counters to make room for the sculptor’s workbench. With a bit of effort — and the help of Schüttelbrot and apple juice — we managed to bring a taste and atmosphere of our journeys through Ortisei, Santa Cristina, and Selva di Val Gardena right into our shop.
But the true surprise of the day was Rainer Plancker, the sculptor ANRI chose for our event. He told us about his life as a sculptor who also happens to be a farmer. After finishing his work at ANRI, Rainer heads home to milk his cows, and on his days off, he mows the grass to feed his small farm. During the winter months, he dedicates himself fully to sculpting, and thanks to the help of his father — who takes care of the farm — he’s able to travel and take part in carving demonstrations across Italy and the world. In fact, he told us he even went to Japan for an event like this one!
Watching him work was truly fascinating: he began by carefully laying out all his chisels, gouges, and mallets on the workbench. Then, after pulling out a wonderfully fragrant block of Swiss pine, he began carving — calm and focused — without stopping. By the end of the day, his work was complete: from a simple wooden block, a Saint Joseph had come to life.
The intense scent of wood shavings filled our store, and the Saint Joseph Rainer sculpted now remains on our shelves as a reminder of this beautiful experience — until our next day with the sculptor.
