I know I've been pretty quiet online lately - no classes since October, not many social media posts. Well, that is because I've been deeply involved in a new project  -- buying a house! It pretty much ate up 6 months and was quite an odyssey. After selling the old house in September, Ame and I lived in Airbnbs while researching cities and towns all over the west coast. We weren't sure if we wanted or would be able to buy in San Diego. Well, long story short - after much soul-searching and almost moving to inland Oregon (where it snows! omg what were we thinking), we found the perfect house here in San Diego. It is just 2 miles east of our old house, but in a more affordable neighborhood - which we are already starting to love. (Azalea Park, for those familiar with San Diego.) Photo shows the house being tented for termites (common practice when buying/selling here in Southern California) - tent came off December 20, so technically we unwrapped that present just a bit early!
It is a small house at 792 sq feet, but an upgrade for us with a fancier kitchen than we've ever had, a spare room for Ame's atelier, and a converted garage for my home studio! I'll still have my Liberty Station studio for making rings, meeting clients and possibly holding small workshops, but my home studio will be my place to do the larger vessel work. Art will be made here! Our first night in the new house was December 21, Winter Solstice. We already love the place, especially Mochi. She was getting pretty tired of the monthly, weekly, or even daily packing up and moving.
I know a lot of you have been asking when/where my next classes/workshops will be. If you're one of those, thanks so much for reading all this. And now I hope you understand why the silence on that front. I'm still getting unpacked and settled, but I plan to get my act in gear very soon about teaching. I know I'll be doing some online classes, and organizing some workshops around the US too. Farthest away still is any return of classes at Liberty Station - first I'll need to clean and re-organize, figure out what is feasible. Honestly I don't think I'll ever do ongoing classes or classes not related to mokume. Most likely it'll be small mokume workshops every few months. I love teaching, and remain committed to spending some of my time and energy passing along my love of mokume. More soon on that front - right now I've got some boxes to unpack...

Looking back at my photos and remembering what a great workshop we all had in October in Long Beach at Diane Weimer's studio. October 22-24, 2021. This was a 3-day general mokume gane patterning class ("The Art of Mokume Gane"), the first in-person class I'd taught since Covid. What great students! Serious learners with talent, and fun to hang out with, too. Many were complete mokume beginners, and I was thrilled with the quality of patterns and finished pieces they were able to produce. On day one I shared a patterning technique I've been developing but hadn't ever taught before - it went great; students were able to follow and reproduce the steps, but everyone's patterns were unique. On day two I showed the classic twist patterning method, the exact one I use to make my rings, but we made bracelets out of copper and brass. On the third day students were free to finish up in-progress samples, create finished work, or start new projects with the available (for purchase) silver-bearing mokume. It was a blast to be back in the thick of teaching - 12 students, each working on something different, my job to respond and help as needed. Teachers know what a fun atmosphere that is - such energy, intensity, and creativity. The day went so quickly, soon it was time for the raffle. Many of the folks asked for a return visit, so I'll see what I can do to make it up there in 2022.
Thanks so much to Diane for hosting!