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.
As usual, Dana's studio was a delight, and also amazing to see her new gallery just three doors down! The food choices around the studio have only gotten better (five stars for the new taco joint across the street, and that's a San Diegan saying that).
First, my two-day chisel patterning class got off to a star-studded start with a personal appearance by metalsmith Bill Dawson, who has started making the chisels for my classes. He showed us how to properly sharpen the chisels, as well as showing some of his top-notch work (delightful spindles for spinning wool that take their visual and technical cues from Japanese sword furniture but leave behind that icky lethal aspect).
Then students got busy chiseling. I was thrilled to have jeweler Ryan Gardner in my class, who has always had an interest in mokume, and now may incorporate it into his fabulous jewelry. I can't wait to see that!
Many of the students from the first class stayed for the second class, "Fabricate & Patinate" - my first mokume class where we didn't actually do any patterning! We used patterned material from the previous class or Phillip Baldwin's already patterned sheet, and learned how best to create finished work without compromising the patterns.
The first morning of that class we were treated to a visit from Layne Goldsmith, a textile artist/professor and also widow of Phillip Baldwin, a giant of mokume gane and one of the only sellers of mokume gane. She had Phillip's mokume gane, both blank and patterned, for sale and it was a bit of a frenzy. Everyone respects Phillip's work so much, and we know this is the last of it.
After that 8 talented students spent three days making sake cups and pendants - some using their own mokume, some using Phillip's patterned sheet. The students were hard-working and fun too - great chatting with Tony, thanks for the rides and the STONES Marcia, Ed and Bob loved talking geeky with you, thanks for the lunch Claire, Rachel your sake cup turned out so great!! Dana even had a go at making a sake cup, and many thanks to  assistant Mia Bell for bringing the sake for um, testing purposes. :-)
On my last day in Seattle, Layne graciously invited me up to see Phillip Baldwin's studio about 45 minutes north of Seattle. I had met and chatted with Phillip at SNAGs over the years but had never seen his studio. It was quite a mind-blowing experience. I saw a sword he'd made from scratch decades ago then used for weeding the garden. Saw his anvil, his scribbled notes on sheets of brass, his works in progress with sharpie lines on patterned mokume, ready for his saw. The fabled liquid salt bath for annealing. Hulking machines under covers that when lifted revealed rolling mill after rolling mill, each larger then I'd ever seen. The main fusing area - propane fired kilns, right next to a good-sized power hammer. 100 ton press, held steady by chains disappearing up into the rafters. The most poignant were his dies - carved steel reliefs he used to make his signature mokume patterns like 'jazz', 'bubble' 'haida' 'night sky' etc. Left me respecting him even more - his work was such a unique blend of blacksmith and non-ferrous techniques.
I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more mokume gane work and hopefully having more conversations with those who knew Phillip at the memorial "Wave to Shining Wave" exhibition this summer. We will keep his memory alive.

Click for the instagram video with lots more photos!
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. In March I made a dish for Danaca Designs' Yukata show, then it was off to Europe for a month! Wonder abounded there, favorite part was Lauterbrunnen but also spending time with Francesca at WhatIf Berlin and meeting up with Dan of zebranowoodcraft in London. Back home in June, just in time to welcome folks for the SNAG conference, then it was off to Touchstone in Pennsylvania to teach, with a quick stop at Center For Metal Arts (wanna go back and take classes there). Thrilled also to meet fellow artists Andrew Thornton and Glenn Gardner while at Touchstone. In July quick trip to Colorado to see legendary UK Silversmith Wayne Meeten present for CoMA. So great meeting teaching and metalsmith giant of the field Myra Mimlitsch-Gray there too.
August a family vacay to Scotland, then on to Boston to teach at Metalwerx - what a great facility. Everyone there so friendly and helpful; William Vanaria thank you for everything. After that I calmed down a bit and enjoyed summer with my wife Ame and my mom Joyce. Hosted a fun studio tour for MASSC too.
Last trip of the year was Dallas to teach at the craft guild of dallas , where I was spoiled by Two assistants! Jeff D. knew what I needed before I did ☺️, also great meeting studio director Marilyn O'hara - I’ll be back!
Somehow I also made 43 rings, was in 4 shows, taught two online classes and 4 in person, had my sake cups chosen to be in a museum and did a few special commissions.
Thank you to everyone who made my 2024 a year to remember. Special thank you to my students and fellow sawing circle peeps! The older I get the more I understand it is those people connections that matter. 💜
Happy New Year Everyone - ready or not, 2025 here we come! 🍾

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.
In addition to an author’s talk and Q&A, new jewelry and metalwork by Bette Barnett and Anne Wolf will be on exhibit, Ame of MondoBop will have a pop-up shop with gifts and gear for metal arts peeps, and there will be refreshments and giveaways!
When: 5-8pm, December 6, 2024
Where: Anne's studio - 2750 Historic Decatur Road #209, San Diego CA 92106
What: celebrate Bette's new book, shop for holiday gifts, chat with fellow metals artists
Who: everyone is welcome!
Cost: Free!

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. It was a delight to meet students I'd only taught online, but also to meet so many new faces. Friendships were forged, art was made! Shout out to the fabulous studio manager Will Vanaria who would magically roll out machines from a back room whenever I muttered it would be nice to have another press, rolling mill, shears, etc. And to Sean, who drove an hour each way to drop off his personal bandsaw for the class to use, though he didn't even take the class! And to the Board, who made me feel so welcomed and at home.
I look forward to returning soon - Metalwerx is a top-notch place. Oh and five stars for the coffee maker, snacks, and filtered water!

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.
It is about 1.5 hours from Touchstone. So, I flew to Pittsburgh a day early, rented a car and drove out there with my friends Francesca Urciuoli (assistant for my Touchstone class on mokume gane) and Annette Campbell (who was also taking my Touchstone class). Patrick was so generous with his time, giving us a whole tour of the building and answering all our questions. He ven found some 'tiny' hammers for us to buy!
What he is doing is so important for the history of America during the Industrial Revolution, but also to preserve and pass on the traditional skills of the blacksmith, and to encourage those skills to be used for personal expression and in an atmosphere of inclusion. It is an impressive place in so many ways.
Confession: blacksmithing is a secret hobby of mine; I know just enough to get myself in trouble, and I wish I had the time to devote to learn more, especially in terms of making my own tools and perhaps forging out my billets. I know that if I do get the time, this is the place where I want to learn. Find out more about them on their website.

I've recently returned from five fabulous days teaching at Touchstone Center for Crafts in Western Pennsylvania. They have an extensive campus; besides my mokume gane box making class, there was a blacksmithing class, ceramics, and textiles. There is even a glass-blowing studio! Students and teachers alike stayed in either dorm rooms or cabins, and we all ate at a central dining hall. It felt like a proper retreat, well for the students anyway! It was a lot of fun for me too, but I left wanting to go back as a student. There is nothing like that feeling of being able to just work in the studio all day, no driving, no cooking, no cleaning, no TV, no emails. Many of my students went back to the studio after dinner, working till the wee hours. I really enjoyed one evening hanging out the with the blacksmiths (thank you Addison de Lisle!), and getting to know the ceramics and textiles teachers too.
Over the five days, students learned two different ways of patterning mokume gane, and each made about four finished patterns. Those patterned pieces then became the lids of small boxes - along the way they learned about texturing, forming, soldering, clean-up and of course patinas. I was impressed with their creativity - no two boxes alike.
My assistant Francesca Urciuoli was a huge help with everything from teaching to taking photos - thank you Francesca!
Look for this class to be taught online later this year, and in other 'away' locations next year (at a school near you?).
Last three pics show a field trip to Ohiopyle State park, just a 20 minute drive from Touchstone. Yes, it was quite a large snake! I also really enjoyed the fireflies, not something we see on the West coast.

What I've been up to lately - Fun with 3" deep draw and hydraulic press
Recently, after a great lunch with friends and fellow metalsmiths from our Sawing Circle, they came over to my studio to check out my new deep draw set up from Bonny Doon. We pieced together a fun video that shows how the process works - you can check it out on my instagram page!
The piece I'm working on here turned into a sake cup. My main learning curve with the deep draw is planning ahead, and understanding how much regular metal forming there is to do after pressing. It is a great short-cut, but you still have to know how to raise and planish if you want to customize your form (i.e. you don't want it to look like you got it in the plumbing section at Home Depot!).
Looking back at this video, the 3" seems cute and tiny. Right now I'm playing with the 6" set; making lots of copper sample shapes and giggling at how crazy it all is - the dies and punches weigh 20-30 lbs each and have to be stacked, then maneuvered carefully into the press. Everything is all greased up to let the metal move - it's a wonder I haven't dropped one on my toe. Yes I'm wearing close-toed shoes, but Ame points out that perhaps it is time for steel-toed. I've got the sake cups down, and am looking forward to helping students make them in August at Metalwerx.

So many chisels! My recent 3-day workshop at Metal Arts Guild, Georgia was a blast. The hybrid format was a challenge at first, but rewarding to figure out ways to get all the students learning and interacting. I loved seeing the in person students walk by my computer and laugh and chat with the Zoom folks. I was pleased to see so many students sporting their Mondobop gear.

Our first day I showed the simplest way of patterning mokume with a stamp from behind, then filing back. Next we learned chisel patterning, then a few advanced variations. On the last day I demonstrated chisel-making, and was delighted to see successful chisels made, both in the studio and by the folks attending remotely.

We had 13 students in all, 6 in the studio and 7 on Zoom. Val and her sidekicks Pat and Stephanie did a great job both in the workshop and finding fabulous restaurants too. Scott got two pitch bowls up and running, as well as some great samples. Shout out to Emily, her first mokume class and she did a fantastic job with both patterning and chisel-making. Cindy, another mokume first-timer, did a great job with her chiseled sample.

Big thanks to Andy the incredibly patient camera guy, and Leah the artist assistant for all her hard work, from keeping the Zoom folks connected to making sure I had ample coffee! And she gets bonus points for understanding and laughing at Mondobop's "I Sink and I know Things" tank top, not many people get that!

Everyone I met at MAGG was a delight to talk to - Janet, Alan, Lisa, Dallas, Larissa; it was a joy to be part of your amazing studio for a while. Till next time!

I recently returned from a great adventure - I cycled  the length of Wales from south to north, around 325 miles including side trips, with a total elevation gain (someone asked, so I added it up) of 21,899 ft. It took me two weeks with only 8 of those being full cycling days, so I had plenty of time for sightseeing, eating good food, hiking, and resting. I had an absolute blast - loved the forests, the hills, climbing Cader Idris, seeing the tiny adorable train on top of Snowdonia / Yr Wyddfa, listening to high schoolers walk by chattering in Welsh, and all the friendly conversations with Welsh folks and travelers alike. I also learned a lot of about taking my bike on the train (not as hard as I once thought), so I think I maybe next time I'll stay longer in a few places and do day trips out - then maybe Ame will come too! I also cycled right by (or near) a bunch of cool metalsmiths I admire and would have loved to visit, so I'm going to work on that next year too. See the photos for captions, and also my instagram has a lot more photos, I did a post for each day.

I recently returned from presenting at the Colorado Metalsmithing Association's 2023 Conference "Beneath the Surface." Many many thanks to Ryan Gardner, Kim Harrell and the rest of the CoMA team. It was such a great experience, I wanted to share it here. I highly recommend going to their conference - it is the perfect size to relax, learn, make new friends. You don't have to be from Colorado, you don't even have to become a member!

Barbara Minor was the first presenter on Saturday afternoon - she wowed the audience with her breadth of knowledge of enameling as well as showing some amazing samples and a demo of enamel tips and tricks that were worth the price of admission.
Saturday evening was full of laughs as Andy Cooperman and Dana Cassara led rounds of  Jewelry/Metals Trivia - we all learned important things like what B&S stands for, and what metal the Washington Monument is capped with and why.

Sunday morning started off with David Huang's heartfelt presentation on his vessel-making - interesting details of his work history (amazing deep relief figural chasing, also his first production work was handmade books!), and a very satisfying raising demo.
In the afternoon we heard from Paulette Werger, an east-coast silver and pewtersmith who does both jewelry and flatware. Gorgeous work, entertaining and inspiring speaker who told us about a recent HUGE spoon commission she had finished just before the conference. She also did a fascinating keumboo demo, explaining the process in more technical detail than I'd ever heard.

In between all the presentations, folks were shopping at the nearby vendor booths and silent auction, full of donated goodies like tools, books, finished work and even some mondobop gear!

The next day was Bette Barnett in the morning, then my presentation in the afternoon. Bette did a fabulous job explaining her path and how her work has evolved, and her demo had everyone's rapt attention as she fused powdered silver to steel.
Right before my presentation, there was a sobering member spotlight presentation by Rocky Riviera, a local CoMA member. His house and studio had been destroyed by the Marshall Fire just a few years back - a terrible tragedy. He documented his losses and the items that survived; powerful and difficult to see. But the good side was his story of how the Colorado metals community rallied to his side, raising money and donating tools. I doubt there was a dry eye in the room.

 Not an easy act to follow! I showed images of my early work, starting with ceramics then photo-etched and fabricated silver vessels in school. I told the story of how I met Earl Bushey while teaching at Monterey Peninsula College, and how he and his friends generously let me join their mokume gane club. I demonstrated chisel patterning, and was delighted by the fun, intelligent questions from the audience.
CoMA was such a great experience, I went home and signed up to be a member immediately! I don't know if I'll make it to their next conference, but such a great organization deserves to be supported. It could really serve as a model for any regional metals organization - such a supportive, friendly group! I left feeling like I had a huge new group of friends.

What a joy to finally teach at Danaca Design in Seattle. It's an amazing space; a warren full of all the tools you'd need, separate spaces for a supply shop/library, machine room/patinas/polishing, spread out benches for plenty of room to work; an all-around great vibe. And a quite serviceable coffee shop two doors down, that was a bonus. Dana has built a studio/school/community to be proud of.
The studio was abuzz with positive energy, serious work, laughter, and the sound of hammering for a joyful five days. What a great group of students - one from the UK, the rest from California and Washington. Read on for lots of process and finished sample pics.

I am pleased and honored to announce that my cherry blossom tsuba has won a bronze award (1st seat) at the 13th NBSK Craftsmen's Competition in Japan! It will be part of a traveling exhibition, on display now until the end of August at the Tetsu (Iron) Museum in Sakaki, Nagano Prefecture, then moving to the Sano Art museum in Mishima, Sizuoka Prefecture October to mid-December. (Both locations are about 2 hours from Tokyo, for those who might be visiting.)
There will be a catalog produced, with photos of all the award winners' pieces - all in Japanese, but of interest for the photos. I'll update when I know when/how to get a copy. I wish I could have gone to the opening, and I'm so curious to see the other works! As far as I know I am the only one participating from outside Japan. There is one other Westerner, Jeff Broderick, but it looks like he lives in Tokyo. Here also is a link to the NBSK official results page in English, and the home page of NBSK (paste the link into google translate for English).
I am indebted to my teacher Ford Hallam, for encouraging me to enter, and his teacher Koshiro Izumi, who was so kind to receive my tsuba and carry it to the museum for judging. Thank you!
Read more about the making of the cherry blossom tsuba here.

I'm thrilled to announce I'll be speaking at this year's CoMA conference - all about mokume gane of course! CoMA (Colorado Metalsmiths Association) puts on a fabulous multi-day gathering of metalsmiths every summer. There will be a vendor room, silent auction, pin swap, exhibitions, demonstrations, panel talks, etc. Five presenters are highlighted with each giving 90-minute presentations about their background, current work, techniques and even a demonstration. I'm honored to be part of a pretty amazing group; the other presenters are Barbara Minor, David Huang, Paulette Werger and Bette Barnett! The conference ends with a panel discussion including all five of us. I'm pretty sure this conference 100% live, no virtual option.
Where: Fort Collins, Colorado (an hour north of Denver International Airport)
When: July 15-17, 2023
What: conference for metalsmiths, jewelers, bladesmiths, etc.
Who: For metals folks everywhere, not just Coloradans
Cost: Early bird rate of $275 until May 15
Registration and more information

I'm so pleased to be able to share here the youtube channel of one of my mentors - Earl Bushey. Earl is the fellow who introduced me to mokume gane back in 2007. It changed the whole direction of my metals career - if I hadn't run into him I'd probably still be doing photo-etching.  He only has three videos up right now, but they are all on mokume gane. In one he shares a very detailed step-by-step on creating his favorite mokume gane chisel pattern. Enjoy!

February 15-17, 2023, Fuse Forge Roll
Couldn't have asked for a nicer bunch of students for this fusing class, the first in my re-designed studio. I love students who have come to learn, and understand that learning and producing finished work are different things - sometimes both happen, but actually the learning is the most important. These guys were ready with so many questions, from phase diagrams to shibuichi alloys, studiously taking notes and filling out their billet worksheets. And of course there was plenty of scrubbing, fusing, squishing, forging and rolling. We all enjoyed the first night meet & greet at the Market, then a fun dinner at Mitch's Seafood - secret local hangout! Click 'read more' for all the pics and Go Big recap too!

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. I did a lot of experimentation, and came up with two ways to do the cherry blossom pattern, one easier than the other. I teach the easier way in my in-person mokume gane workshops, but here I'm using the more difficult chisel method (see the photo captions for copious technical notes). Creating the pattern once on a test piece was one thing, but to do it on the scale of a tsuba was another thing entirely. It took a lot of math to figure out how many layers, what thickness/size, what thickness to start patterning so the pattern would be flat and finished at 3mm on a piece of metal large enough for a tsuba.
Making the actual tsuba was a change of pace, with patient sawing, filing and finishing taking the place of all the chiseling. It is only my second tsuba, and I owe many thanks to Ford Hallam for his expert training and advice, both in person and on his invaluable patreon channel. I'm not sure where I'm going next; but I know it is not making swords! People keep suggesting that, and I think it is hilarious. It took me so long to get good at what I do; bladesmithing is a completely different field. I know many bladesmiths out there who have worked hard to be top of their craft - I'll let them do that, and I'll continue to refine my skills in my own little corner of the craft world. 
Check out the photo captions if you're interested in the process, and please feel free to comment/ask questions.

I know I've been a bit quiet lately on the teaching front - that's because I've finally set aside some time to make progress on an artistic goal. I've been wanting to raise mokume vessels for a long time. I learned raising wayy back in school (er like the 90s), and of course I've been doing mokume since 2007. But it takes time and effort to put those two processes together. First, you have to fuse and pattern a fairly large piece of mokume, and it needs to be minimum 18 gauge (1mm) in thickness. And second, you have to have the stakes/hammers and a place to make a lot of noise for raising. Back in May, I signed up for David Huang's October 3-day raising class - this gave me a deadline to get mokume discs ready. And of course David posted enticing pics of the stakes he made for the class that would be for sale afterwards - that was a strong motivation too. I also wanted to get faster at raising, and more precise. I knew David could help with that.
So, now I'm back from the class! I had a fabulous time, and made great progress on two mokume vessels. I also discovered I needed (really!) to buy the fancy Saign/David raising hammer - not pictured here, it's in the mail. David very kindly let me borrow his for a lot of the workshop - it improved my raising speed by 30% at least. Worth it! See the photo captions for lots of process information. And stay tuned - I hope to finish both these vessels by the end of the year.

When I first began making custom mokume gane wedding rings back in 2008, my clients were all based here in San Diego. They would visit the studio first to see ring samples, find out their size, try on different styles and widths etc. After a good design session, I'd give them a price, take their 50% deposit and get started on their rings. When the rings were finished, the clients would come back to pick up their rings and pay.
But of course, this was also the first time they would see the rings that had been custom made for them. I came to realize what a special moment this was. I enjoyed stepping back and watching it unfold as the customer cautiously approached the box, lifting the lid, peeking inside. What a joy it always is, to hear the gasp or squeal as they extract it and slip it on their finger, admiring and smiling excitedly, showing it to their partner, eyes shining.
I don't always get to see that part now - my business is much larger, and the majority of my clients are out of town or even overseas. But I know what an important moment it is, and that's why I'm hesitant to replace it, well really to ruin it, by sending photos of finished rings to clients before they see the actual ring. Rings are a symbol of love and commitment, meant to be worn with any luck for decades. I know how casual I am about opening emails - I could be at a stoplight, in line for coffee, blearily first thing in the morning. It's the opposite of an occasion. I want folks to have that 'reveal' moment together, maybe over a toast (fireplace? snacks?), or at least deliberate, and noted in some way.
There's another reason too, and it has to do with the fact that I'm a better jeweler than I am a photographer! I do the best I can with my photos, but there are often artifacts in them that have no relation to the ring. Seeing a photo of the ring first is such a pale comparison to the real thing. I recall some clients that wanted the photo first, before final payment and shipping. I took the best photo I could with the time I had available, and emailed it off. I got it back with an area circled in red. "What's that scratch?" they said. Hmm. It turned out to be a fragment from the polishing cloth. Another client was concerned that the rose gold in their photo wasn't the same shade as in the sample photo. (The lighting was a bit different, so the white balance was off.) Neither of these things were a concern once the clients saw the rings in real life, but it caused us all needless angst, delay, and worry.
I don't get to be part of that 'reveal' moment as often as I used to, but still my hope is that clients will want to see their rings in real life for the first time, and make it an occasion to remember.

I recently returned from 6 days of teaching at Mendocino Arts Center - what a joy to be in a real classroom again, with live 3D students! It was a huge amount of work getting ready, from tailoring the fusing process to the specific school equipment, to packing up everything from Simple Green to a bandsaw into my car and driving 650 miles each way. But it was all worth it. Couldn't have asked for nicer students, and we had great weather too.
In the Fuse, Forge, Roll workshop we had 8 students, coming from all over the US (Boston, Texas, Arizona, etc.). I loved the mix of backgrounds - about half were blacksmiths, half were jewelers/silversmiths. Some were both!
I was pleased to see the set up we used worked perfectly (manual press, hand-forging the billets). So, an electric press is really not necessary for solid-state diffusion bonding, yay.

This was my fourth live Mokume Q & A - I had a great time chatting with fellow mokume artists, including some new faces! I did about a 35 minute recorded presentation on the history of mokume and what it is, and showed the work of many different mokume gane makers and their contributions to the field. Work shown by Norio Tamagawa, Hiroko Sato-Pijanowski, Eugene Pijanowski, James Binnion, Phillip Baldwin, Steve Midgett, Francesca Urciuoli, Kevin Klein, David Huang and David Barnhill, Wayne Meeten, Susa Makoto, Ryuhei Sako, Earl Bushey, James Viste, and more! I finished with an overview of my own work, mostly vessels but a few rings too. The Q&A part was unrecorded this time, but some great questions were asked and answered; billet design, the expense of palladium, details of refining, etc.
This video will appeal to both seasoned mokume artists, and those that know nothing about the technical aspects but love looking at beautiful mokume gane work.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed doing this series, I'm going to take a break for a while. Catch the ones you missed on my youtube channel!

Had a really great time here, chatting with about 20 participants about mokume gane and patinas in my third live mokume Q&A, held May 14, 2022 via Zoom.
I go over the most common and useful patinas for mokume gane (liver of sulfur, Baldwin's patina, and of course rokusho / niage), with recipes and video of how to apply them. I also share some new patina experiments I've been doing, all with lots of visuals and recommendations of which patinas work best for which metal combinations. A lot of time is devoted to how to get the perfect copper red, the best sealants to use, and resources to learn more. Near the end I share my secret for getting clear, clean, consistent color with any patina. Although you mostly don't see the other mokume gane artists, they chime in intermittently with some really useful tips and tricks and insights too.
Next time (mid-June 2022, watch my website or Instagram for exact day/time) I'll be doing a 'who's who' in mokume - sharing images and discussing the work of mokume gane artists from around the world.
Thanks for watching!

The focus was on patterning here at my second live mokume gane Q and A session, held on April 2, 11am pacific time via Zoom. If you missed it, check out the video. Topics discussed include a general overview of the types of mokume gane patterning, annealing times and temps, chisel shapes, when to forge versus when to roll, etc. Includes a free direct hammer patterning lesson too. I'll be doing this monthly; next month the focus will be on finishing and patinas. My live viewers really enjoyed the bonus content - next one should be May 7th, same time, so keep an eye on my website and/or social media for it. Enjoy the recording,  and please comment below for any questions you'd like answered next month. :-)

Well the video recording and uploading was definitely a learning curve on my part, but the value of the mokume gane info makes up for it for sure. I had a great time answering everyone's mokume questions. I covered everything from seamless vs. seamed rings, to patinas, fusing temps and troubleshooting, and lots more. Thanks to everyone who wrote in with questions. Really the most fun part was after we turned off the recording - then we got a lot of live questions and comments, even some sharing of studios and mokume gane work. It was so much fun I'll definitely be doing it again, probably every month. Keep an eye on my instagram or the facebook group 'mokume gane for all' for the announcement for the next one. Join us live for the full experience. ;-)