Inspired by Crater Lake Pendant of eighteen karat gold sheet on sterling silver with 3.3 millimeter diamond, fourteen karat white, rose and yellow gold; fused. Scene is carved, engraved and deliberately textured, 3.0 x 3.2 x 0.5 centimeters, 2023. All photographs by Kerstin Wiederhold except where noted.
Wolfgang Vaatz
CONTEMPORARY PRECIOUS
Rio Rico, AZ
The Aspen tree is an eloquent muse for Wolfgang Vaatz, who has moved from being a painter to a sculptor, before taking a new expedition through life as a jeweler. Each iteration has built upon the last, and jewelry, being small-scale sculpture, is a vast canvas for Vaatz to paint on. In his precious jewelry, gold and silver are carved and engraved to reveal the variegated bark of the aspen, white metal stark against a black patinated background, creating a glimpse of the forest. Natural landscapes also call to him, and he again uses his engraving skills to richly texture rivers, mountains, illuminated skies and gentle grasses. The aspen tree is a mega-organism, with each tree part of a larger living being. That symbology calls to Vaatz, and is an intrinsic argument towards protecting the natural environment and Mother Earth.
IMAGINARY FLOAT TRIP ON THE SNAKE RIVER CUFF
by Wolfgang Vaatz of eighteen karat gold sheet on sterling silver with fourteen karat white, rose and yellow gold, 5.0 millimeter diamond; fused, carved, engraved, and textured, 5.3 x 6.3 x 4.0 centimeters, 2024.
ASPEN EARRINGS
by Wolfgang Vaatz of Argentium silver, twenty-two to twenty-three and a half karat placer gold fused to silver, fourteen karat gold hooks; carved, engraved, oxidized, 5.9 x 1.2 centimeters, 2023.