Did you know that Baltic amber can be extracted from other places than the Polish sea?
Imagine it’s spring. You’re an avid gardener and you’re putting your favorite piece of land in order. And suddenly, surprise! While digging, you find lumps of amber. But you’re not at the seashore, strolling the beach after a storm (for the unaware, amber sometimes has the value of gold, depending on the size and quality). Such things would often happen in Lublin Voivodeship. So it was time for research. 😉
An escape from the city to the eastern border of Poland – Parczew. We arrived in the evening. We took off the bags, filled up our tummies and immediately got to the specially organized studio during the workshop. Inside, there were eight stands, with artists from around the entire Poland, members of Goldsmith Artist’s Association: Dorota Cenecka, Dorota Gulbierz,Tomasz Kargul, Jolanta Kupniewska, Andrzej Kupniewski, Marcin Tymiński, Jakub Żeligowski and Margita Radziewicz as a guest. A mix of personalities, different techniques and styles. With great interest, we looked as the designers created their bijoux. It’s worth mentioning that they didn’t have much time for that – only five days. Andrzej and Marcin showed us how to grind amber. For the first time, I experienced its smell. It was released from a neat piece, which I picked and processed personally. A sweet, resin-like smell. Impossible to be likened to anything else. We were so into it that it was only when we were returning to the hotel that we realized that it was dawning. In the morning, we had all had breakfast together, it was lavish. 😉 The cool day was warmed by the fall Sun. Wonderfully fresh air made it seem like a vacation trip. There were a few animals loitering around the studio – a dog and a few small kittens, jumping on the hoods of cars. Work atmosphere, engagement, sounds of machines, drafts and unfinished designs on tables. Everyone really open and friendly, happy to share their stories and knowledge. One of the highlights was the person of Zbigniew Strzelczy, president of the “Baltic amber. Gdański – Lubin” consortium. He would fill our time with wonderful anecdotes. But wait! What’s with all the commotion? I could talk for hours about that charming place. 😉 The aim of the workshop is to inspire Polish designers to use folk themes in modern jewelry with the use of amber. And it really worked! In a week, some really interesting pieces were created, which could have been seen at the vernissage. Our visit was celebrated by the historic event of official presentation of the first pieces of amber extracted in Lublin Voivodeship.
Workshop:
Vernissage:
Jewelry:
Dorota Cenecka
Dorota Gulbierz
Margita Radziewicz
Jolanta Kupniewska
Andrzej Kupniewski
Marcin Tymiński
Jakub Żeligowski
Tomasz Kargul
event organizer: “Baltic amber. Gdańsk – Lublin” Consortium