12/31/25 - As many of you might know, my partner Ame is an illustrator and sells her original designs through her online shop Mondobop. I'm so happy to present here Mondobop's first mokume offering! Ame and I designed this together, with many revisions over coffee and pastries (with me waving my hands in the air describing the perfect Japanese hammer head shape).

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 …

11/23/25 - One of the surprise silver linings that came along with the sad passing of Phillip Baldwin (mokume maker, metalsmith and blacksmith extraordinaire) was getting to meet his wife Layne Goldsmith. She generously shared the recipe for Baldwin's patina with me back in March and gave me her blessing to share it widely.

6/10/25 My recent spring teaching trip to Seattle split itself into three distinct parts: my two day chisel-patterning class, my three day 'fabricate & patinate' class, and the bittersweet and mind-blowing experience of seeing Phillip Baldwin's studio and meeting his wonderful wife Layne Goldsmith.

3/29/25 - The passing of mokume gane master Phillip Baldwin has left a huge hole in the metalsmithing community. I'm grateful to the Seattle Metals Guild and Danaca Design, who are putting on a tribute show for him, as a way to celebrate his life and contributions to our field. 

Wot a year! I feel lucky to have spent so much time with friends new and old. First the January fusing class in my studio where I met the fabulous Simone from Brazil. Then in February I went to the Yuma Symposium for the first time in 20 years(!) - made many new friends and was thrilled to meet Jeanie Pratt, who bought my bracelet off my wrist.

Save the Date - December 6, 2024
Author Talk & Signing, giveaways and holiday shopping!
Join us December 6 at 5:00 p.m. for a Book Launch Party as we debut Bette Barnett’s hot-off-the-press new book, Creating Steel Jewelry. Rated by Amazon as Top New Release in both Metal Art and Jewelry Craft, the book offers a wealth of knowledge, techniques and inspiration for beginners and experienced artists alike.

Revisiting a highlight of my summer - teaching a 5 day mokume gane class as part of Metalwerx's "Summer with the Masters" in Boston, August 2024. It was an ambitious curriculum - fusing, patterning, AND making a sake cup, in only 5 days. But the 12 students who signed up for it were an amazing bunch and they tackled everything with enthusiasm and energy; it was a joy to behold. And we did it! Take a look at the photos to see them hard at work, but still laughing and having a great time.

When I was invited to teach at Touchstone, my first thought was yay! of course. My second thought was .. how close is Touchstone to the Center for Metal Arts? I first heard of CMA on Instagram a few years back, after seeing some mind-bogglingly large power hammers and some equally heavy-hitters on their teaching roster.
So, what is it?  A non-profit forging school in Johnstown, PA, housed in the historical Cambria Iron Company's Blacksmith shop and associated buildings, built in the 1850's. They are restoring the facilities there one power hammer at a time, led by the amazing Patrick Quinn. There is already a full blacksmith shop, and courses that range from 1-week workshops to 6-week 'forging focus' programs. Some programs are FREE if accepted, due to generous grants.

1-10-23 - 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.