As we ended the year and the news of the new and more contagious covid variant came out, we really started to feel like we were in a crazy video game so, here we share with you our 2020 Game Recap.
Congratulations, it looks like you’ve made it with us to Level 12 of this awful Game of 2020. We’d give it no stars if possible; at this point all we can do is hold on to a sense of humor and keep going. Level 1 began well, we had a year of trips planned and classes scheduled for our Jewelry Lab business. The worst demon in our land, Orange Windbag, was slashed with the Sword of Impeachment and things were looking good! But then the Land of Koalas caught fire and rumors surfaced of a mysterious new foe in a distant land. Nevertheless, by Level 2 Ame had saved up enough Coin for a trip to visit her father, Vance of La Playa, in the Land of Mariachis and Anne made a foray to the nearby Land of Saguaro to learn patina alchemy.
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Cyberweek 2020 sale! I've got 26 listings on sale - 25% off, one week only - Nov 30-Dec 7! These are all in-stock items, ready to ship in time for the holidays - there are even a few gold mokume rings. Treat yourself to the best quality custom mokume gane rings available on etsy. I use only precious metals, so my rings are built to last a lifetime. I fuse my own mokume gane billets and create my rings from scratch at my San Diego studio (customer visits welcomed by appointment). Please enjoy browsing the bracelets, earrings, cufflinks, pendants, boxes and RINGS! Feel free to contact me (619) 488-7540 with any questions. Shop my Etsy sale. Thursday, December 17th from 5-6pm Pacific Time
Meet & Greet starts at 4:45pm. Online via Zoom - link on our home page. Join us online for an hour of glad tidings and merriment. We'll take a look back at some 2020 highlights (you know Ame, she'll find something good) and share our plans for 2021, hold our recipe exchange (be sure to send in your favorite recipes for brownies, cookies, patinas, billet stacks, etc.), see who has the most festive decor and apparel (winner gets an agate burnisher!) AND we'll raffle off some goodies including a couple of great jewelry books and some GOLD (seriously!!). Totally free, just tune in by clicking the link on our home page. Save the date and don't forget to decorate your space, don some gay apparel and send in your recipe. It took a lot of work on the part of our hand medal creators (and a few late nights for us making envelopes and sewing on ribbons) but we did it! Thank you so much to everyone who participated and shared extra pins and ribbons - we used every last bit and finished with 152! The medals will be presented soon and we’ll share any additional details as we get them. Of course Anne had to make a mokume gane one! The diversity of designs, details and ribbons made them all so fun and different! Congratulations to our Hand Medal Project winners too! Karen won the award for “Most Prolific” with 20 medals completed while Nancy won the prize for “Most Intricate” for her addition of a teeny tiny bracelet to all 11 hands she made. Since we started the project in the summer time, their prizes are tiki face masks - going out in the mail today. Thanks again to everyone who participated. Get involved with our next project: we’re making fold-formed copper leaves in November at our free online Sawing Circle. Click Read More to see photos. While we wait for that other result🗳, we can announce our #HandMedalProject winners! Karen won the award for “Most Prolific” with 20 medals completed 🏆 while Nancy won the prize for “Most Intricate” for her addition of a teeny tiny bracelet to all 11 hands she made🏅. Since we started the project in the summer time, their prizes are tiki face masks😷🦜🍹🗿- going out in the mail today. Thanks again to everyone who participated. 🍁🍂 Get involved with our next project: we’re making fold-formed copper leaves this month at our free online #SawingCircle. See our website for a free video demo and the date & time. Thursday, October 22nd 6-8pm PST - Online via Zoom Were you planning to join our Sawing Circle but don't want to miss the debate? Watch it with us in our Debate Support Room! Are you unable to stomach seeing those people any longer? Join our Debate Escape Room. That's right, tomorrow we're hosting a Zoom session where you can watch the debate while you work OR escape politics for a few blessed hours - all with like-minded friends. Ame will be handling the tech and anyone can join in. Work on your medals or whatever you like, the goal is to enjoy the good company that comes with working together. No need to RSVP, simply join by clicking the button below. Meeting ID: 267 269 4245 | Passcode: #MetalArts. No need to RSVP, simply join in via Zoom on Thursday the 22nd between 6-8pm PST. Because we're horribly behind (LOL!) we've extended the deadline for the Hand Medal Project. Be sure to mail or drop off your medals at Anne's Liberty Station Studio by 6pm on to Friday 10/23/20. We'll make sure they get submitted to our San Diego Hand Medal Project coordinator. If you need help me to do the ribbons and envelopes for you, get them to Anne's studio by 10/19 at the latest. Thank you! ~ Ame Join us every month on the 3rd Thursday New time too 5-6pm PST - Online via Zoom We've been having a blast with our Metal Arts Adventures - so much so that we have been lettin' other stuff slide so starting in October, MAA will happen every 3rd Thursday. We are also rolling back the time to accommodate daylight savings and our friends across the country. As always, we love to hear your ideas about what to cover in the show. Want to give us a tour of your studio? Have a cool tool you want to recommend? Been to an interesting metal arts destination and want to tell us about it? Send it in! Saturday 10/10/20 from Noon-4pm Liberty Station in the grassy area outside Anne's studio We miss seeing all of your smiling faces and we've heard that you miss each other too. Come catch up with old friends and make some new ones at our socially distanced Shop & Swap + Picnic. We'll have generously-distanced tables set up and you're welcome to bring tools you no longer want, extra materials, arts & crafts things, books, and anything that would be cool in a jewelry/metal arts studio. We've recently helped three friends clean out their craft spaces of unused supplies so we've got a huge bag of brand new yarn, all sorts of tools, studio organizers, shelving and chairs, metal bits and bobs and more. Most is free, some items will have bargain basement price tags. Bring your items to swap or sell. Cash only, everyone handles their own stuff. We practice all COVID precautions so bring your mask and be ready to visit at a distance (we think of it more as 10 ft than 6 ft just to keep everyone safe). Feel free to bring snacks for yourself and a chair too. It's more about seeing each other than selling stuff - but you will almost certainly be heavily pressured to take at least one free thing with you when you leave so beware! The Hand Medal Project was created by friends and artists Iris Eichenberg and Jimena Ríos in Spain. On HandMedalProject.com they explain "While we are all watching caregivers, nurses, and doctors giving all they can to our communities, risking their lives for us, we want to find a way to honor them. They should all get a medal, a votive offering given in gratitude or devotion. At some point this crisis will end and there will be a moment when we can thank them for all they do. We propose to present as many health workers as we can with a medal based on a traditional ex-voto, also to mark the moment when we can see a future." October 3 and 4, 2020 - Saturday & Sunday 10am-4pm PDT Instructor: Anne Wolf. Tuition $240 + $62-$122 kit fee (+tax & shipping or kit available for pick up) Take your mokume gane patterning to a whole new level - beyond stamping, twisting and chiseling. At a fundamental level, mokume gane patterning is analogous to the geologic processes of uplift, metamorphosis, and erosion. In this newly expanded class, Anne reveals unexpected ways to pattern which she has discovered over the years. With hammers, stamps and other tools we will metamorphosize the blank mokume gane sheet; the patterns will begin to appear as our files erode away the disturbed layers. The focus will be on creating uniquely patterned mokume sheet that can be used later to make jewelry, box lids, and more. Best for students who have taken at least one mokume gane class, or well-equipped and motivated beginners. This online class is designed to work just like an in-person workshop. Get details and Register. Tuesday, Sept. 8th from 6-8pm PDT You're invited to join from your own studio and work alongside us via Zoom. How will it work? We have no idea! But it sounds fun to try. Collaborate with your Hand Medal Teammates or work on anything you like from class projects to professional commissions. Anne will be at her bench working and chit chatting in between muting her audio to hammer. Ame will be hosting, offering Zoom help and making Hand Medal Project envelopes. Whether you're on our Hand Medal Team, a team in another location or just wanting the fun of working at your bench with a friend, you're invited. To join on September 8th just hop online between 6-8pm (link opens Zoom). Brought to us by SDSU instructor and materialsmith Kerianne Quick, the Hand Medal Project is an international metal arts collaboration in which metalsmiths around the world are making small, wearable hands as a sign of gratitude for health care workers. The hands are reminiscent of milagros or ex votos - religious objects used to invoke miracles. At great risk to themselves and their families, our health care workers are saving lives every day - a miracle indeed. As a part of Keri’s team, our goal is to produce 180 medals - one for each health care professional at Scripps. The Anneville Jewelry Club is a free group that comes together for excursions, online gatherings, group projects. This will be our second event for 2020. Joining our Hand Medal Team is totally free and, if you know us, we'll have some fun with it for sure. Read on for details and sign up. We are thrilled to introduce Meredith, an emerging jewelry artist/metalsmith and E.R. Nurse. We first met her at an early episode of Metal Arts Adventures when she tuned in to ask for feedback on her home studio set up. Since then she's been an active member of our online community so we were thrilled when she responded to our Health Care Hero free class offer. When Meredith is not making cool things at her bench she works on the front line of COVID care at a busy San Diego emergency department. We are so thankful for the work that our many, many economic and medical first responders are doing on behalf of the rest of us to keep our communities safe and moving forward. Thank you Meredith, from the bottom of our hearts, for all you do. Read on to see some of her beautiful jewelry designs. We have an exciting announcement from Bette Barnet! Tevel at Allcraft has decided to offer a discounted Keum Boo package of tools and supplies. Everything in this package has been hand-selected by Bette for its effectiveness in working with Keum Boo on steel. The package includes: Ultralite Beehive kiln — this is a small bench top kiln that makes keum boo a breeze, particularly on steel. It’s also great for enameling. (Bette will be demonstrating how to use this kiln as an optional approach for Keum Boo in her Anneville class). Controller for the kiln—a big plus when you need to regulate the heat for various metals (and avoid cooking your hand!). Agate burnisher with metal handle — Bette's favorite burnisher for tapping down the foil and burnishing out bubbles. Tungsten carbide burnisher — essential tool for burnishing and keeping the foil from bonding to the burnisher (which can happen with steel burnishers). Agate Sword Burnisher — a wood handled agate burnisher with just the right shape for allover smoothing and bonding. Round brass brush with wooden handle — great for pressing the foil into all the nooks and crannies. Silver foil — 4” x 4” sheet. Works brilliantly on steel. Gold foil — $10 off a full sheet and $5 off a half sheet. Tevel is offering this Keum Boo package for $249.95, a 10% savings off the regular price. If you’re interested, just give Tevel at Allcraft a call at (800) 645-7124 and tell Tevel you’re one of Bette's students or heard about it through her. If you have any questions please contact Bette Barnett by email via her website at studiomigoto.com/contact or call Tevel directly. A Free Class for a Health Care Hero COVID has taken a lot from us in the past 6 months. We went from a thriving school to moving online and closing our storefront. We lost Anne's aunt Bernice (most likely of undiagnosed COVID) and Ame's aunt Jewel died when COVID swept through her assisted living facility. Sometimes it feels like a monster is invisibly stalking us, we never know who it will brush past and who it will grab. It takes courage just to get groceries. But while we are wearing our masks and staying home, many courageous people are walking directly into harm's way every day to help the rest of us. From essential workers making deliveries and staffing stores to emergency first responders keeping us safe to all of the people behind the scenes we say, with deep gratitude and humility, Thank You. We see you, we are sincerely grateful for your efforts. Of all of these, there is one group for which we feel an especially deep sense of gratitude and respect. These people suit up and face the monster directly every day. They are our Health Care Heroes. No matter what your job is, if your work involves COVID patient care we would like to humbly offer a free pass (including materials kit) to our upcoming Riveted Photo Pendant online class. Update: We have our first Healthcare Hero!
Meredith L. of Chula Vista, CA is a jewelry maker and ER Nurse. She wrote, "My sincerest sympathies go to both of you for your losses. I’m so sorry that Covid has affected your families in the horrible way that it has. I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate this! You and Anne are so unbelievably kind. It truly warms my heart to hear that you are offering a seat in your class for a healthcare professional. The moment I read this, I immediately went and registered for the class! I am so excited that my schedule came out this morning, and I have each Wednesday morning off! Yay!!! Thank you so much for this opportunity." It's not too late: if you're a healthcare hero and interested in a free class, go ahead and drop us a line and we'll get in touch about future opportunities. In the meantime, THANK YOU for all you do. We have some great items left including a pickle pot and two steel tables (perfect for soldering). Come by any time between 10am-7pm. For those of you picking up purchases, feel free to come up to browse our remaining goodies or just text us and we'll bring your bleach-wiped purchases downstairs for curbside pick up (they are all packed up and ready to go). Text Anne at (619) 488-7540 upon arrival. Masks are required and we can accept up to 3 shoppers at a time in the Lab OR ... shop safely from home - Tune in live on Facebook at Noon to see what's left and ask questions. We're doing a Facebook Live shopping session at 12pm on - you'll find a link to it on our FU Covid page. See what's left. We have moved our classes and community online and are closing our cramped 260 sq. ft. rental. We don't plan to reopen in the near future so rather than store things, we're having a big tool & equipment sale. We're charging fair prices for gently-used tools (all less than 2 years old) in the hopes that we can partially offset the expenses incurred during the mandatory shut down. We also want to see our well-loved equipment go to good homes. It's a great opportunity to dial in your home studio without paying shipping charges! Please do not stop by. Due to social distancing, we cannot offer casual, drop-in browsing and Barracks 15 is still locked. For a detailed list of what's available - including pricing - and how to shop, see our FU COVID Sale page. The Lab is open - sort of
With all COVID precautions in place, we are opening up some lab hours between June 16th and 26th. We can accommodate two users at a time with masks and social distancing required. We've carefully reorganized the Lab to make this possible, while keeping all of the tools available-soldering station, rolling mill (yes!), shears, tumbler, pickle, etc. Lab users this week will also have first crack at the tools and equipment in our FU Covid Sale (more info on that coming soon). We hope you'll stop by and enjoy a little time at the Lab before we close. 3-hour blocks (sorry, that is the minimum) are available now for booking via our online calendar. The Lab is Dead, Long Live the Lab! Anneville Jewelry Lab is evolving from a tiny brick & mortar space to an international, online community.
As COVID arrived in San Diego we bleach-wiped our tools and started evaluating contingencies, but with the March 19th closure of all non-essential businesses, everything came to a halt. Initially we thought our only option was to re-open. We priced plywood and looked at other ideas but the most people we would ever be able to safely accommodate in terms of social distancing would be three - a tech and two students. That was not going to pay our costs. We researched small business loans but we didn't qualify for the ones we found - or by the time we did, their funds were gone. While we researched and pondered, the Lab sat quiet. Clearly we would need to innovate to survive. This week we're counting down to Juneteenth (Friday June 19th - African American Emancipation Day) by taking daily actions to fight racism. Here at the Lab we've been thinking a lot about the best ways we can be a part of the Black Lives Matter movement. While the Lab has always been a place to escape worldly cares, that doesn't mean we're exempt from taking action. In non-covid times, we would be out protesting (peacefully), marching and attending rallies but both of us have medical issues that make social distancing a requirement. We have also come to realize that it's time for white folks to stop yammering about themselves being good liberals and actually listen. While spacesuits might not be too practical to implement, please know that we are brainstorming like mad to come up with ways to move forward. There is a lot of talk about acceptable levels of risk out there. Well, the "acceptable" number of students getting COVID in our space is zero, so we will not be opening the Lab if there is a risk to the people involved. Seeing Jean's and Karen's smiling faces makes me realize even more how much I miss all of you. That is one reason why we are starting MAAA (Metal Arts Adventures with Anne) on Thursday nights. We want to get back to the great community of the Lab - right now that needs to happen online, because we care about you. We also have more online classes in the works, and I look forward to talking with all of you on Thursday nights about what you might like to see added to the schedule. - Anne
We are very excited to announce a new, free weekly online gathering starting Thursday, May 28th. Join us online via Zoom from 6-7pm (PDT - Pacific Daylight Time) for Metal Arts Adventures with Anne (MAAA), a metal arts presentation hosted by Anne Wolf followed by an open discussion Q&A. In this fun, online, interactive gathering our goal is to offer demos, share tips & tricks, feature work by artists and students from around the world, go on virtual studio tours, discuss historical metal arts traditions, and cover good tips/bad tips. Think of it as a hassle-free metal arts happy hour. Join us by simply visiting our home page starting at 5:45pm on Thursday 5/28. We'll have the link and password ready for you - just byob! ~ Ame We are thrilled to announce that in just two days, Bette Barnett's Keum Boo Who Knew online class sold out and had a waiting list! Wow, thank you so much to all of our students - your excitement and energy are so encouraging to us - especially right now in this crazy COVID time. To accommodate that waiting list we are very happy to be adding a second class on June 15, 17 and 19th - registration is now open! And in an effort to always look for the silver lining in things...our live, instructor-led online classes require no mask! Hallelujah. Bette is one of our visiting artists and our resident steel & gold guru, learn more about her on our Instructors page. |
Anne WolfEducator, metalsmith, jeweler, maker of custom mokume gane jewelry and wedding rings.
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