Christian Schmidt

A native of Minneapolis, Schmidt studied jewelry with Philip Morton in 1951 before receiving a B.S. in Art Education from the University of Minnesota. However, he gave up teaching early in his career to produce his own life of semi production work, which was partially cast to make the pieces available at a more modest price. His award-winning work, which sought to express the vitality and organic irregularities of living things could be classified as “the new naturalism,” a theme shared by several jewelers around the country, including his good friend Ruth Roach. While Schmidt died prematurely in Alaska 1974, he made a lasting contribution to metalsmithing and jewelry through his keen sense of observation and his ability to translate his vision in both his work and his words. - Bio courtesy of an article written by his wife Janet.