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. 

12/27/24 - 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.

11/29/24 - 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.

10/26/24 - 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.

7/23/24 - 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.

7/9/24 - 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.

4/9/24 - We are excited to welcome metalsmiths and jewelers from all over the world, who will be here in San Diego to attend the 51st SNAG (Society of North American Goldsmiths) Metalsmith conference, June 5-8, 2024.

1/22/23 - 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.

11/14/23 - 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.

9/14/23 - 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.

7/29/23 - 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!

6/20/23 - 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.

4/14/23 - 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.

3/15/23 - 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!

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.