Petra Class

Trained as a silversmith in Germany and having spent several years constructing tableware, my approach to jewelry making is informed foremost by the European tradition of applied art. I limit myself to creating jewelry that is wearable and also, to a big degree, to the materials traditionally perceived as precious. Within these limitations I am trying to develop my own language, hoping to be able to not only communicate my own sensibilities but also a sense of contemporary aesthetique.

Over the years, I find certain themes reoccurring in my work, the rhythmical arrangements of several elements, repetition of similar forms or colors, the unexpected contrasts of differently textured materials…

I am endlessly fascinated with gemstones, precious or not….by the wealth of different reds found in nature, by the sea of blues: the opaqueness of lapis, the transparency and subtlety of a lightly lilac-colored sapphire. One can almost paint with these stones.

Within the self-imposed limitation of, for instance, making a gold brooch I feel I can, through my choice of colors and textures, communicate a certain mood, an attitude towards life that in turn will be, I hope, sensed by whoever is looking at the piece…like a improvisational jazz melody, like an abstract landscape…