Meet the man behind the art

With every presentation, there are inevitably several problems to navigate, and I often find myself at a loss, not quite knowing where to begin. As a 60-year-old civil engineer, I have spent a significant portion of my life dedicated to this demanding profession. I reside with my loving family in our charming home village of Šebrelje. In 2017, the long hours and relentless pressure of my job finally took their toll, resulting in a serious bout of burnout.

However, after I picked myself up from the second debilitating episode of illness in 2019, I made a remarkable discovery: an artist had been quietly hiding within me all these years, waiting for the right time to emerge. Additionally, my deep love for nature, along with both tangible and intangible heritage, has always driven my interests. I have a strong fascination with history and I proudly work as one of the guides for our worldly renowned Divje Babe cave, sharing its stories with curious visitors. My research into the megalithic remains located on the Šebrelj plateau has further connected me with a fantastic network of wonderful individuals from all corners of Slovenia.By the time I created my first artwork in 2019, I was fortunate to have already gathered a good number of inspiring connections.

My artistic focus revolves around transforming wood—once an integral part of lives but now often forgotten and discarded due to age and the rapid pace of modern living. I breathe life into the remnants of old doors, chests, cupboards, and tables, allowing their stories to be told once more. I have also developed a unique technique for making engravings, often enhanced with paints crafted from the sand of ground river pebbles and interesting stones that I gather from locations tied to the motifs I create (such as the Soča, Idrijca, Nadiža, Idrija, Sora rivers, and abandoned mines).

A special dream of mine has been to establish my own exhibition space, serving both as a workshop and studio where I can showcase my creations. Fortunately, my wife Nives and I discovered the perfect place for this vision in the historic town of Škofja Loka.