I was born and raised in Poland, where I studied sculpture and fine arts. 40 plus years ago, as a young man, I emigrated to California. There I found interest in working with precious metals after meeting master jeweler Michal Strychalski, (also from Poland) who left a deep impression on me with his remarkable results. Besides an interest in metal art, we share a mutual passion for music - Classical and Jazz. He was, and remains today, my hero and friend.
Later on, I studied with another master goldsmith from England, Arthur Bailey, and many others, in a town famous for jewelry: Carmel, California. Carmel is a place which boasts a concentration of the best gold and platinum-smiths in the world. I was lucky to discover that and took full advantage of the situation.
From those masters I learned the real skills of metal forming, skills which have been largely forgotten over the last few decades due to pragmatism. Lucky me to meet artisans like Orlando Feriozzi from Rome, Jack Prentice, Juan DaSilva from Buenos Aires, Robin Woolard, Lee Andrews, Bouke Hollinga from Holland, Sarkis Sakis from Istanbul, Lary Vancraeynest, Stan Kaufman, Karel Sterba from Prague, Katheline Dughi, Laura Rouse, and many more!
Amongst these fortunate encounters, one was most significant because it led to my spending almost 7 years in his shop: it was meeting Kent Raible, master of granulation - a thousands of years old technique which began in ancient Etruscan society.
In those years of study and work with Kent Raible, I learned about a special way of fabricating and granulating gold. I also refined my design and stone-setting skills. Simultaneously I studied hand-engraving on my own from books and by gleaning knowledge from such masters as Walter Frechetter, Steve Lindsay, Sam Alfano and Denis Rece.
I found engraving and inlaying metals a most fascinating discipline of visual art. It is a discipline which requires a great deal of time before good results appear on horizon, and which demands extraordinary precision and patience.
Through all these years of curiosity, learning, and refinement of unique, forgotten techniques, I have had many "down moments" when continuing on my artistic path and making a decent living at the same time was a great challenge.
Very few among jewelry society are sophisticated enough to see the difference between average skills and outstanding ones. The ones who do are usually experts...other artist - technicians. Dealing with everyday ignorance about proper wages for one-of-a-kind, time-consuming projects could be discouraging.
Today I'm glad that I did not give up. As a result I possess those special skills (I still continue my efforts to improve) which begin to bring some recognition and harvest.
I'm looking forward to sharing those skills by creating unique collectors’ items for you, or even though such little projects as engraving a few special words on your watch or ring - hope to hear from you soon.
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