Kerstin Öhlin Lejonklou: Silversmith

“When I look back I realize that metal has always felt right for me. I was captured by the hard material that reluctantly allows you to shape it. I was in control.”

In 1956 Kerstin began her silversmith studies at The University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Sweden, Konstfack. After half a century in the jewellery field this book offers an extensive overview of the artistic work by Öhlin Lejonklou. From the influences of her father, who loved to build miniature locomotives, to moving from Stockholm and setting up a small workshop in the northern part of Sweden to find her own path, the reader is invited on a personal journey through the meticulous story of a renowned jewellery artist.

Looking back over fifty years of work has been an emotional search – in some way the same process as creating jewellery. Kerstin describes herself as a perfectionist with high standards. The search for flaws has been her way of finding the right path.

"My quest has always been to find the genially simple. Form and proportions becomes a rebus, a constant search for me. Sometimes you need to balance the boundary between beautiful and ugly, because that’s where it gets really exciting."