Tales about enchanted jewellery: Inspiration: There has to be a curl...

Jewelry can have infinitely many expressions: heavy, airy, detailed, simple, linear, curvy etc. Often a designer falls in love with a specific idiom and use jewelries as a media to explore its many nuances.

My idiom is the curl. By far the most of my pieces are equipped with a curl of some shape or form. A silly little non-necessity you might say, but to me it is this very design element that lends a special characteristic to my jewelry. And I'm by no means the first one – a whole style, the Art Nouveau, is closely linked with soft and flowing biomorph lines and curls.

As a genre Art Nouveau, especially the french version, is my biggest source of inspiration. The french jewelry and glass artist Renee Lalique for instance, created just before 1900 the most excellent and outstanding pieces within the genre and he is without a doubt my biggest idol. The period lasted only for a decade, then it became all a tad too much and the general taste took a necessary leap into Art Deco and swiftly after that minimalism.

However, ever since the style – or at least the curl – has resurfaced repeatedly. It seems to be natural to us – litterally. Studies have shown, that by far the most people prefer to look at pictures with soft shapes as opposed to edgy and linear shapes. Perhaps we feel safe in company of the soft and threatened when faced by the sharp? On the other hand, linear right-angeled-ness seems to provide us with a sense of comfort. With 90 degrees you know what you've got, whereas houses by Hundertwasser seem scarry to many. In other words: we like curls and curves when they adorn small items and prefer the solid elements of our lifes to consist of right angles.

But some rebel against it like the adult child Tim Burton. His movies are so quirky and allways populated with curls, as he unfolds his gothic stories to the gawping audience. Think Corpse Bride or the latest Alice in Wonderland and you'll know what I mean. We who love curls often also love Tim Burton – or at least part of his aestetic universe.

So, when buildings are too big to curl, then something tiny and controllable like a piece of jewelry is the perfect object to work with. A piece of jewelry is physically close to us. If it has been chosen wisely, it reflects our personality – an outer picture of our own precious interior. The part that we hopefully cherish and are proud of. And many associate to the curl as something feminine and a romantic picture of our own uniqueness.

The curl and I have an intimate relationship. However, the curl is into adultery and so many others play with it. Here in Denmark, one of the most gifted jewelers is Minna from Milas www.milas.dk and she uses gold and diamonds along with other precious stones with great talent.