About Us - Keith Berge - The Metalsmith

 Keith Berge

Keith is a native of SE Minnesota, and has lived and worked there for most of his life. He has always been an avid reader of anything and everything, with an especially keen interest in history. After attending the University of Minnesota and Mayo Medical School, he spent a 33 year career as an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, a career from which he is now happily retired. For most of his life and career, he never believed he had an artistic bone in his body, although he was always handy and good with tools.

At some point after she started her jewelry making career, his wife Johanna asked him if he could make her some gold findings that she was having trouble finding in the marketplace. While more interested in the history of metalsmithing than in creating jewelry, he agreed to give it a try. To his surprise, he found that he had an aptitude for goldsmithing, although he was forced by the schedule of his “day-job” to pursue education from books and videos (online education not having been invented yet!) While Johanna is still awaiting her findings, Keith achieved enough commercial success that he was able to attend classes at Revere Academy in San Francisco every year. There he met and learned from many of the most talented metalsmiths in the world. Valentin Yotkov, Phil Poirier, Alan Revere, Doug Zaruba, Jean Stark and others became his mentors and friends.

Keith’s chosen medium is 22 karat gold combined with gemstones, and he loves to recreate designs of the ancient Etruscans, Greeks, Romans, and Thracians from the time before Christ. His inspiration comes from archeological museum pieces rather than fashion magazines, and he is grateful that there are people who appreciate his craftsmanship in recreating the magnificent designs of ancient artists.