Fishink in Munich Part 5. Toy Museum, Folk Museum and Robyn Gordon Sculptures.

Munich’s (Spielzeugmuseum) Toy Museum was on my list of places to see.

The “museum” is just next to the Marienplatz and Market and is located in a special and historical old building, the old City-Hall tower. Perhaps a little overpriced for the four euros per adult and you do have to climb the spiral staircase to access each small room that the cased toys are displayed in, but overall I did enjoy the half hour that it took to look around. There were old tin toys.

Toys for Boys.

Toys for girls, ok the red Indians got a bit lost here amongst all those Barbie dolls !

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Toys about Space.

Toys for all ages, from all ages.

A few recognisable favourites too. I had to laugh when a couple came into one of the rooms with their small dog and it barked at the teddy bears in the glass case. They were so embarrassed they couldn’t make it stop, until they left the room. I did wonder what the dog was thinking.

Outside and just around the corner is the Viktualienmarkt or Food market, with some lovely fountains… and tasty food too !

Another place on my ‘to do’ list was the Staatliches Museum for Völkerkunde (Ethnology). It shows the similarities and differences between cultures from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, the Near and Middle East, the South Seas and Europe.

It was quite inspirational to see such beautifully crafted and decorated artefacts from so many countries all in one place. Visiting on a sunday you get to enter most of the Museum for just 1 Euro, a real bargain. There was so much to see, I tried to concentrate on animal imagery in my photographs, but kept getting distracted by the wealth of other interesting objects on show.

I liked the ‘gritted teeth’ facial expressions on these wooden warriors and the amazing detail in these carved door frames.

These Vessels from around Peru were lovely. Such quirky figures too.

Beautifully carved pieces from the colder regions.

These african characters were wonderfully expressive.

Well worth a trip, I even wondered if Jim Henson who created the Muppets had been there too. Can you see the similarity between his Big Bird and this African mask lol

Joking aside, I thought this would be a great time to introduce to you the sculptural work of Robyn Gordon.

Robyn spends her time immersed in the culture and country of Africa, where she creates her wooden art pieces.

Robyn says ‘I am an artist living in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. As a child on the farm I loved the outdoors. I loved to touch and feel nature in my hands. The smoothness of acorns and pebbles, the roughness of pine bark, the hollowness of birds nests …. anything tactile under my fingertips. At a  young age I commandeered my mom’s unused carving chisels and I found that I could create many tactile qualities in the wood by chipping, gouging, whittling and sanding. This was a thrilling discovery!   Now I carve wooden totems and panels, incorporating wire, beads and found objects. Through my work I tell the story of my life in South Africa. The niche carvings hold objects that are of the land, symbols of Africa and symbols of my British ancestry. The totems “speak” of legends that have been passed down from one generation to the next. They are meditative pieces which bring me a great sense of peace. It is an added joy when other people feel this quality in my work.’

Art is Robyn’s passion and when she’s not creating art she’s thinking about it.

Proof of that comes in the form of Robyn’s great blog called Art Propelled or her site on Pinterest.

Robyn’s advice to anyone starting out as an artist today would be ‘ Experiment, Explore, Experiment, Explore! Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Follow those inner nudges to do the art that calls out to you. If only I had had someone to tell me this when I was starting out. It took years before I lost (most of) the fear to create the art I wanted to create.’ Such beautiful and inspiring work.

The last part of the Munich posts following soon.