About Birgit Kupke-Peyla

Growing up my parents fostered my creativity.
Making things: conceptualizing, designing, creating
has always been part of my life. My mother passed
her passion for Fiber Arts on to me. She knitted
and sewed. I learned both by observing her. My
dad, an engineer, encouraged me to assist him with
projects. He taught me how to hold a file and swing
a hammer.

studio

artist statement

My career in metals, melding my aptitude for small scale and my interest in design, started with
a friendship to a young goldsmith. My curiosity prompted an invitation to visit his studio. He
introduced me to soldering, and I fabricated my first pieces of jewelry, 22 years ago. This euphoric
experience led to an apprenticeship and my education in the metal arts field.
Upon Graduation from High School, having passed the entrance exam for two Art Schools,
I decided to go to the Staatliche Zeichenakademie in Hanau. The school's curriculum combines
classical training in the trade of gold-smithing with drafting, drawing and design.
With the BA degree in hand, I found employment and had the opportunity to work side by side with a certified master jeweler.

In 1990, I relocated from Germany to California, where I began to teach metal-smithing.
Over the last decade, I have produced my designs and exhibited my work in Fine Craft Shows
and Galleries throughout the United States.

For the past years, this has joyfully been my full time avocation and devotion.