May 26, 2017May 26, 2017 by Roman Husmann

Roman Husmann – From banking to ceramics

Roman Husmann – From banking to ceramics

Banking apprenticeship, graft on a building site, technical diploma in mechanical engineering, industrial electrician, wind power plant engineering, shortly before starting to study industrial design, manager of a ceramics workshop for special needs students… until there was hardly anything else left to learn.

At first glance, this seemingly chaotic vita appears to be at odds with Roman Husmann´s calm and quiet manner. A longish period of self-discovery enabled him to acquire a variety of skills and accomplishments. All qualities that today help him be laid-back and cope with new challenges and tasks.

About the ceramist

For over 30 years Husmann has made a living with ceramics. He has acquired his knowledge of ceramics without formal training, learning by doing through books. He has fired raku dishes according to the Japanese technique and manufactured Salzbrand ceramics in a wood-fired kiln for many years.

“I´m always striving to find the perfect design day by day”.

Aesthetic and durability are the most important factors for Husmann in Bonsai ceramic. He manufactures dishes in any shape imaginable, formed by hand, thrown, put together, whether round, oval, square, shallow or tall. Each dish is unique, glazed with his own glazes and fired to be frost proof.

Husmann uses eight different clays, one sometimes mixed with another, to achieve an attractive appearance and at the same time frost resistance in dishes between 3 and 80 cm.

The sorrows of a young ceramist

As a schoolboy the young Roman was supposed to make a clay model of the Bremen Town Musicians in a competition. His artistic realisation won a prize. However, the sculpture went on its travels and he was not allowed to keep it. As an alternative, he received a board game that he already had.

Husmann´s currently favourite pots “Edition February 2017”

News

Exhibition of pots by Roman Husmann on 13^th and 14^th May 2017 at the Botanical Garden in Berlin during the Bonsai exhibition of the Bonsai Club Berlin.

Talking about favourite pots

“Nearly every day I create really special pots, but two years further on they somehow seem in need of improvement and should they still be in my store, they get broken up and go in the dustbin… which doesn´t mean that my older pots aren´t so good, they are my rite of passage to the current favourites”.

About the tradition of Japanese ceramics

“ In Germany you get a certificate, hang it on the wall and you´ve got somewhere, arrived at your destination. In Japan, you are automatically a master craftsman when you have earned your own living from your job for 30 years. The Japanese potter stores his reserves of clay outdoors, reworking it afresh each year for the coming generation”.

Intensive relationship with accent pots

Crafting accent pots is a creative challenge for Husmann, where he can “model clay with both his hands” and make a visual statement of his creativity.

By Courtesy of the Author Achim Strecker

Magazine of the Bonsai Club Germany (Bonsai-Club Deutschland e. V.)

Edition 153/2017 – I Quarter 2017

ISSN 0934-59922 P 1599 €10.-