The Art of Mokume Gane
Featured Fine Art
This tsuba is inspired by of one of the most well-known mokume gane tsubas in history - the Yoshino River Tsuba made by Takahashi Okitsugu in the mid-late Edo period in Japan. I used different metals (copper, brass and nickel silver), and a silhouette of my own design; five-lobed rather than 8-lobed. It took me about two years to create, and is just a first draft. Next one will be made with silver, shakudo and shibuichi. From my very first billets, I always wanted to create crisp, unique mokume patterns with great control. This was different from a lot of the fairly random, all-over stuff I was seeing. It was in Masaki Takahashi's "Textbook of Mokume Gane" book that I was first introduced to the historical work of Takahashi Okitsugu - I saw it was possible to create such patterns, so I had a goal. Read more.
Featured workshop
Mokume Essentials: From Fusing to Patterning - In-person
March 30-April 3 (begins the evening of the 30th, then runs 4 full days)
Tuition TBD
West Dean College of Arts, Design, Craft and Conservation, Sussex
Learn the basics of mokume gane from billet to patterning at the reknown West Dean craft school in Southern England. Mokume Gane is an ancient Japanese metalworking technique in which layers of non-ferrous metals are fused together using time, heat, and pressure (no solder). On day 1 we’ll stack and fuse billets using the precise solid-state diffusion bonding method. Day 2 we’ll forge and roll the billets down to workable material. Days 3 and 4 will be an enticing smorgasbord of patterning techniques. You’ll leave with detailed handouts to practice and repeat the processes, fused mokume, and patterned mokume (ready to be fashioned into finished work later at your home studio). This class is available to all levels, however some experience soldering and working with silver will be helpful. Even advanced jewelers/metalsmiths will benefit from learning these secrets of mokume gane patterning. Register online at WestDean.ac.uk.
12/27/25 - 2025 was a whirlwind of a year! In January I taught a 3-day online mokume box class, then in February taught in Seattle at Danaca Design and got to tour the late Phillip Baldwin’s studio. I continued north to Fairbanks Alaska and taught a talented and generous group how to make their own mokume gane billets (got to hug a reindeer too). Back home in San Diego …