Although he had only a secondary education and a diploma in horticulture technology (specialization in garden design), he devoted himself professionally to amber. Amber fascinated him from childhood \u2013 having grown up in a seaside town, he often \u201ewent to the amber mines\u201d and saw his father working with this stone with simple tools to make jewelry for his mother. He also worked with amber \u2013 initially only as a hobby. Only the award for the design and making of the \u201eS\u0142oneczko\u201d ring at the artistic exhibition in Gda\u0144sk in 1971 prompted him to devote himself to the art of amber working. In 1974 he was accepted into the Guild of Craftsmen in Gda\u0144sk as a apprentice in the amber craft, a year later he received the title of qualified jeweler. In 1982 he obtained the title of master of goldsmithing in the field of silver products, and in 1983 the title of master of artistic craft \u201eamber working\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His works \u2013 jewelry items and small spatial forms \u2013 have always been characterized by individualism and original form. The natural form of the stone, its colors and transparency were his inspiration. He usually combined it with silver, black oak and wood in a way that brought out their beauty, light and magic. Additionally, he emphasized them with forms resembling those from fairy tales \u2013 carriages, windmills, ships, towers, trees, and birds \u2013 which quickly became the main distinguishing feature of his work. His jewelry is also imbued with symbolism and points to motifs borrowed from the natural world and magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His independent thinking about amber and his individual style have earned him many admirers. His works can now be seen in many museums around the world, including amber museums in Gda\u0144sk, Krak\u00f3w, Ko\u0142obrzeg, Kaliningrad, Vilnius, Nidzie, Rydze, Ribnitz-Damgarten, as well as at the Castle Museum in Malbork, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the Hobro Museum and the Horsens Museum in Denmark, as well as in many private collections. He was also a laureate <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harald Popkiewicz also had a significant role in the sensational discovery of Neolithic amber deposits in 1982 in Nied\u017awiedzi\u00f3wka. This was possible because, while running a workshop in Mikoszewo, over the years he collected raw material from the local population. Among the finds brought in were specimens of clearly worked amber extracted, as it turned out, from agricultural fields. Attempts to interest the Archaeological Museum in this topic were in vain; it was only a note in the The Evening Express<\/em> This resulted in an archaeological visit by Marek Jagodzi\u0144ski to his workshop, followed by survey research and the sensational discovery of the remains of a settlement that existed as early as 3200\u20132400 BC. This is the oldest and largest known amber processing center in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Harald](\"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Kareta-7ff.jpg\")
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