About Anne Wolf
Mokume gane artist & educator
I have been creating one-of-a-kind metal art objects, custom mokume-gane jewelry and wedding rings, and teaching metalwork classes since 1991. I earned my Masters of Fine Art in Jewelry/Metals in 1999, training primarily under Helen Shirk and Arline Fisch at San Diego State University in 1999. From 2003-2014 I honed my studio skills creating metal art vessels and collectible pieces while teaching a four-level jewelry/metals course at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, CA. In 2007 I had the good fortune to study with a group of mokume artists working in Northern California - Toshiyuki Kawai, Earl Bushey, Jerry Blanchard and Gene Novagratsky.
My work has been shown across the U.S. and in international venues such as the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus in Hanau, Germany and the Tsubame Industrial Materials Museum in Tsubame, Japan. I am currently represented by in Seattle, WA. and Berlin, Germany.
I offer mokume gane workshops at jewelry metal arts centers including Danaca Design, Idyllwild Arts, the Mendocino Arts Center, Diane Weimer Studio, Metal Arts Guild Georgia, Metals Arts Society of Southern California, and Colorado Center for Metal Arts.
My mokume gane rings and fine art pieces are all 100% hand patterned using traditional metalsmithing techniques and made from billets using the solid-state diffusion bonding method. My San Diego studio is a great place to see the mokume gane process in action, try on mokume gane rings, and discuss custom designs. I'm available by appointment.
“Metal takes elemental forms in the ancient art of mokume gane. Mountaing rise over valleys, giving way to crashing waves and then delicate rivulets. From the sublime shimmer of a paladium cherry blossom to the shocking contrast of shakudo and gold, it offers an endless canvas of color and drama to explore organic forms.
Since then I’ve studied with many of the greatest mokume gane artists living today including James Binnion, Chris Ploof, and Hiroko-Sato Pijanowski. In 2018 I had the honor of touring the incredible Gyokosendo metal art center and meeting the great mokume gane artisan Norio Tamegawa. Norio, who has been designated as a Japanese Living Treasure, and his wife welcomed us into his home in Tsubame-Sanjo, Japan for an afternoon in which I had the joy of working alongside him in his studio. In 2019 I had the pleasure of studying with the renown Ford Hallam, who studied and worked extensively in Japan. His incredible craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail has had a profound impact on my artistic approach. To this day I continue to seek out mokume masters. There is always more to learn.
Artist Statement
It is important to me to create my work with the traditional hand tools that allow me time to see the work as it progresses, to focus in on the small details. This process to me is a meditation, but also a form of connection to the planet, to nature, to time. Every shape I create, every hour I spend sanding or hammering the metal, is just a shadow, an imitation of what nature does every day. My humble imitation of nature is my way of paying tribute. The metal technique of mokume gane is especially meaningful in this regard - as I pattern the metal, my tools are imitating the geologic processes of our earth. My chisel is the river, carving through the rock. My hammer is metamorphosis, compressing and deforming. My stamp tool is uplift. My file is erosion, making the patterns visible like the layers of rock in the grand canyon.
Anneville Studio history
I founded my first San Diego studio, the Ray Street Annex, in 2007. It was a rustic, tiny (150 square feet) cement-floored space tucked behind a gallery in North Park. That was where I began creating custom mokume-gane rings and teaching private classes - only 4 students fit! The area’s nightlife grew right alongside my business and 2013 found me looking for more space and a quieter, more client-friendly environment. Thankfully I found the Arts District at Liberty Station, a non-profit organization dedicated to making the arts more available to all San Diegans. My Liberty Station studio is a light-filled space with free parking, elevators, custodians, suite numbers and windows that look out onto a grassy tree-lined promenade. Not to mention all the shops, events and amazing restaurants just steps away. It has been a dream come true to work there, going on 12 years.
Creating Community
In 2018, I went into a business partnership with my wife Ame and expanded my studio by adding a classroom offering bench rentals and wide range of metal arts classes. A highlight was hosting Ford Hallam, master of Japanese metalwork, from England to teach Japanese metalsmithing techniques. The work was exciting and we built an amazing community of teachers and students from all over the world. Alas, Covid brought it to a sudden halt. We immediately pivoted to offering online classes instead, with the goal of maintaining cohesion in the depths of the pandemic. Little did we know that expanding online would allow us to reach more people than ever! Within a week of the shut down we created a live You Tube show called Metal Arts Adventures in which we traveled virtually around the world exploring metal arts traditions with guest presenters, talking tools and sharing demos. That show was a big success for us, continuing for 28 episodes. We also created and a Zoom gathering called the Sawing Circle that attracts metals artists from throughout the U.S., Europe and even Australia and which continues to this day.
