Philippe Biermann
The guy who makes little cows
The Bijo workshop was created in 1978 by Philippe and Evelyne Biermann. Woodturning, repairs & manufacturing of spinning wheels, natural wool dyeing, spinning, lamps, crafts etc... the adventure lasted 5 years.
I then practiced 7 other different professions, always self-taught, in Switzerland and Quebec. Then from 2005 until the summer of 2020 I was a teacher & Dean at the Pully secondary school, and during all these years, I worked with wood as an amateur. At the same time, I played jazz saxophone in a big band for 15 years, but since the band disbanded almost 10 years ago now, I haven't taken out my instruments... That's life!
Retired since summer 2020, always a cow lover, fascinated by the magnificent Hérens cows, I started sculpting queen fights
I started sculpting in the studio of our house in Belmont and then we transformed a barn attached to our chalet in St-Martin VS into a sculpture studio.
To make a fight, I have to integrate it, imagine the hidden side, half of the cows that we don't see in the photo, observe all the movements of the animals, then make it all fit into my head. It can take several days, or not come at all... And suddenly it's there, I "just" have to sculpt.
It takes me about 20 hours to do a fight, 10 hours per queen. If everything goes well, I don't break anything. Or I mess up, now that's wood for the fire! It happens sometimes!
But I love it!