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. 

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.