Atelier Zobel, the inimitable artist jewelry studio from Constanz, Germany, returns this August for a tenth Soul Stirring Patina Gallery engagement. Scheduled to coincide with Santa Fe's world-renowned Indian Market, the exhibition opens Friday, August 13. This year, in addition to the works on the following pages, Peter Schmid will be bringing more than one hundred fifty of the Atelier's signature jewels and collaborative works that combine the painterly metal treatments of the Atelier with the gem and mineral creations of the German stone-cutter, Andreas Hochstrasser.

Hochstrasser is well known for uniquely carved, rare gems and minerals, so this latest exhibition is especially anticipated. His minimal approach to cutting honors and reveals the intrinsic beauty of the materials. A Hochstrasser ring, for example, is sculpted stone with a hole bored through it for the finger, probably the purest expression of "ring" that exists.

Of course, it is not quite that simple. Hochstrasser first determines the line and form of the cut by assessing the stone's inclusions and raw edges. Because he understands how different materials will cleave differently and tolerate some cuts but not others, he is sensitive to the possibilities of each. Finished works have a sensuous, sculptural character that for this exhibition, becomes the springboard for the Atelier's inspiration.

The dramatic opulence of the Atelier's masterworks, created in platinum, high carat gold and oxidized silver with rare gems and stones, is frequently compared to the paintings of Gustav Klimt. Like the paintings, Zobel's jewelry is an ecstatic celebration of beauty and sensuality. And no wonder, the studio's founder, Michael Zobel, personifies that spirit. Born in Morocco and raised in Barcelona, the Atelier's works reflect the exotic influence of places familiar from his childhood and the cultures that have shaped his life. He remains an important contributor to this creative studio.

Peter Schmid, Zobel's former protégé, and now proprietor of the Atelier, retains the distinctive Zobel essence in his own creations. We see a similar treatment of gold over oxidized silver, textured and painterly, and a shared fascination with rare and uncut gems. Schmid's own work is discretely unique from Zobel's, slightly more structured and architectural.

Studio jewelry is the rare art form that can travel beyond museums. It is always a dynamic collaboration between the artist and the wearer, one that allows each to be more fully expressed. Peter Schmid is sensitive to this nuance. "I am as much inspired by the extraordinary people who wear our work as I am by the material and the contemporary environment. For me, the creative process is complete only when an emotional bond has been formed between the jewel and the wearer."

Peter Schmid will be in the gallery from August 17 through August 22, and will attend an artist reception on Friday, August 20, beginning at 5:00. He will be available for private appointments August 18 - 22.