It is always wonderful to have a full circle moment when traveling. Last winter, I had a magical…read moreweekend in Tacoma, Washington. Now, not everyone would consider Tacoma a 'magical place' since it is an industrial area south of Seattle. But, that is old news. The city has gone through an artistic renaissance and is now known for an entirely different thing, glass. Very artistic, high end glass and the home of famous artist, Dale Chihuly.
Now, what does that have to do with a contemporary metal sculptor in Munich?
Well, across the Tacoma Narrows bridge is another artistic and very scenic community named Gig Harbor. You can walk the length of the town along the water in about an hour. But, they also have a thriving art scene and during our visit had an art walk and scavenger hunt at local galleries. I saw a lot of art in all different mediums that day, but only made one purchase... a weinhalter (bottleholder) from Hinz & Kunst.
So imagine my surprise, when strolling throught the winter market at Sendlinger-Tor Platz, to find a booth selling hundreds of items from Hinz & Kunst. The gallery in Washington only carried the wine holders, but now I know that was only a small piece of a widely varied and joyful collection of metal figures and functional items, like toilet paper holders. A kloman-klopapierhalter (person reading a newspaper sitting on a toilet which is also a toilet paperholder). Sounds so much better in German.
So my American friends can make the trek to Gig Harbor for their tax free purchases and my European friends can give a little business to the artist based in Munich. Win-win.