Craftsman Almost Missed His Calling
From his Marina del Rey garage studio, Al Greenberg, a retired tire salesman, fashions Jewish icons from clay.
Greenberg, 68, says he finally has discovered what he was meant to do on this earth.
Among his pieces: a chess set that depicts an Israeli soldier as a knight, a synagogue as a rook, a rabbi as a king and Greenberg’s wife as a queen. It and other pieces sell at the Museum of Tolerance on Wilshire Boulevard and other locations.
For 35 years he was the Al in Hal and Al’s Tires in the Crenshaw district.
“If you don’t like Hal go to Al” was their motto.
“These hands encrusted with grease and oil, why, I thought, ‘These hands can’t create anything but work,’ ” he said in his booming voice.
He said his road to the tire shop started with a failure.
“I washed out of Air Force cadet school,” the Los Angeles native said. “I’m 18 and I’m heartbroken. I went looking for some of my buddies, and I passed the old Hal Roach Studio and saw a sign for the first motion picture unit. I had taken some photojournalism classes in high school. Ronald Reagan was the personnel officer. He interviewed me. He sent me to war and he stayed home,” he said.
After the war, Greenberg tried several ways to make a living. He went broke several times. He even became a butcher for a while to support his wife, Charlotte, and son, Ken.
He and his brother decided to go into business together selling and repairing tires.
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The business flourished, and his life gained direction.
“The day I walked out of the business 10 years ago, I dropped an anchor. I never felt motivated to do anything and stick to it. I tried guitar lessons, Spanish lessons, bought a sailboat, rented a motor home and drove to all of the Indian reservations, but nothing felt right.
“Then we went to Africa as part of a study abroad program. When we returned home, Charlotte became ill--something which was not related to the trip. I couldn’t go sailing or biking because we always did everything together. I don’t like to do anything alone,” he said.
Even when Charlotte got better, she turned her interest toward her first grandchild, who was born shortly after they returned from Africa.
So, at 65, Greenberg went to West Los Angeles College after being persuaded by a friend to take some basic ceramics classes.
“I fell in love with the whole thing,” he said.
Greenberg started with masks. But no one wanted to buy them. He stopped going to classes and started to develop his own style. He liked setting his own hours too. Then he began doing Judaica, pieces that depict Jewish life and history. He makes religious figurines and scenes of the Wailing Wall and people at prayer.
“Clay is dirt. It’s earth. I get a religious feeling from the work but I am not a religious man. I didn’t want to follow a mold. I feel like a Jewish-male Grandma Moses because I started so late. My work is primitive in many ways. I have a certain amount of talent, but what I turn out comes from my heart,” he said.
He also teaches ceramics in the Las Virgenes School District, where his grandson is in elementary school. “When I give my grandson a gift that I have made, it will outlive me. It’s stone. Stone will be around for a long time and he can say, ‘My grandpa made that,’ ” he said.
Greenberg’s pieces sell for $30 to $4,000 at the Museum of Tolerance, Gallery Judaica on Westwood Boulevard and J. Roth Bookseller on Olympic Boulevard.
Every piece is signed and has its own story. It’s an original. Just like Al.
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Inglewood resident J. Michael Kelly has been named Irish American Citizen of the Year by the Irish News of California, one of the nation’s largest Irish newspapers. Kelly, a family law attorney, was selected for his legal work, along with his contributions to civic, environmental and charitable organizations.
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The California Music Educators Assn. has named Rancho Palos Verdes resident Cecilia Riddell its Outstanding Music Educator of the Year. Riddell, who teaches at Cal State Dominguez Hills, specializes in the study of children’s traditional games and chants.
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Assemblywoman Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey) honored Torrance parents Jill Gilligan and Selga Ruzzano as local Women of the Year. They raised $18,000 in private funds to rehabilitate their children’s neglected kindergarten playground.
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The National Assn. of Women Business Owners recently honored several South Bay women for their contributions to the local economy: Manhattan Beach resident Vivian Shimoyama, San Pedro resident Barbara Sullivan, Rancho Palos Verdes resident Ava Doner and Rolling Hills resident Gordana Swanson.
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Redondo Beach Deputy Fire Chief Patrick A. Aust has been promoted to chief. Aust replaces Richard Bridges, who left to command the Santa Monica Fire Department. Aust, 45, is a 24-year veteran of the Redondo Beach Fire Department.
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Palos Verdes resident Sandy Luther was named president of Las Amigas de las Lomas, an auxiliary group of the Crippled Children’s Guild in Los Angeles.
