monta

Jānis Neimanis
He was born in 1930 in Cesis area. He studied in Priekuli Technical School. After graduation he went to Russia and started to study in Leningrad Pedagogical Institute. Afterwards he started working in Spare Special School in Latvia. There he gave lessons in handicrafts and agriculture. When he was about 50 years old he was sent to work in Vecpiebalga Secondary School. He worked there for three years, because Soviet institutions made him leave the work at school. Later he worked in the neighboring parish. He had more free time and he started to make national ornaments out of wood. Jānis Neimanis is the only national ornament master in Latvia. He makes ornaments mostly out of oak and birch. Each tree symbolizes something. Oak tree symbolizes strength, foundation, the backbone, while the birch- the idea of the world. He knows which ornament needs to be made from which tree. Ornaments are hand- made and they carry energy. You can see his big- size works in Vecpiebalga. There are big national ornaments in front of our Culture House, at crossroads where you enter Vecpiebalga. His smaller works have already been in many exhibitions in museums. He is well- known in Latvia and out side it. His national ornaments have also been exhibited in Germany. I like his work very much. I even have some of his hand – made ornaments at home.