A piece of jewelry is something very personal
– that´s why you should wear one that is one of a kind and handmade with love and care
Working with jewelry is entering a world of your own
I am located in Gothenburg, on the west coast of Sweden, where you can find my studio in a 19th century industrial area with old brick buildings, close to the river that runs through the city. This has been my working space since I left HDK (Academy of Design and Crafts – Högskolan för Design och Konsthantverk) in Gothenburg with an MFA in jewelry making in 1997.
My work consists of producing my own designs, and taking orders for customized jewelry. Sometimes I take part in different exhibitions as well. Everything, from the first sketches and essays up to the finished piece, is carefully produced by hand by me.
The material I use is sterling silver, and sometimes in addition pearls, glass, gold, gemstones and different found materials. The silver is beautiful and is nice and soft to work with, but the surface is sensitive and is always a challenge.
To produce jewelry is painstaking work and a single piece may take hours and even days to complete. A great deal of patience as well as grid and capacity for solving problems are needed. But it is worth all the struggle when the piece at last is finished and ready to be picked up by the client, and she becomes even more happy with the outcome than expected.
Though jewelry making is hard work I of course enjoy it a lot too. When working in a flow I feel I enter a world of my own where one idea easily leads to another. An idea might be very abstract to start with, but eventually it always boils down to the question of which technique and dimensions and what material to use in order to realize it. The process is very hands on since you also have to use certain tools when producing it. It is this – the process of making the abstract physical and find the right way of doing it – that I like so much.
A piece of jewelry is a portable piece of art in diminutive dimensions. Moreover, it is an object that might bring a symbolic, religious, political or communicative message, a message that is unique and individual for you as the wearer. You – the wearer – are most essential, since the jewelry is not really complete until it finds you.
If you are curious about jewelry making I invite you to come to my studio to make a piece of your own, in your design. In a couple of hours it will be ready to put on and bring back home. You may come on your own for a private workshop, or in the company of friends, family or colleagues, on the occasion of celebrating something, or just because you are curious to learn a little bit about jewelry making. I am happy to give you a new experience and to get the opportunity to share some knowledge and understanding about the craft.
In times of increasing stress and superficiality, I think it is more important than ever to spend time working with art and crafts, allowing the work to take time, and to create something with a profound value that you don’t throw away just like that. It is also of importance to take the time to continue a tradition of a craft and materials that are thousands of years old. This is what I do every day at work, but in my own way and in my own design.
All of my jewelry is unique and handmade so there is no piece that is exactly the same as the one that you are wearing. I hope you feel the touch of my hand and that you appreciate the careful work behind.