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).

Tonight we're broadcasting live from Anneville Studio in Exile! We'll share an update on the Jewelry Lab, Anne will take us on a studio tour and update us on her current works in progress and we'll do a fun metal arts show & tell with Anne sharing some pieces from her collection. Most importantly, we're hoping to hear from YOU! Please join us live on Facebook to say hello and weigh in on these three questions:

1. Are you busier than ever or do you have time on your hands?
2. Can you name at least one good thing that has come from quarantining humans?
3. Things will be back to normal before we know it. Can you name one thing you've gained that you want to keep?

We also heartily invite you to upload photos of what you're working on and let us know how it's going. Join us LIVE on Facebook tonight at 6:30pm PST. If you can't make it, check out the recording afterwards. Extra credit: Since we're not at Liberty Station, we get WINE! No matter what you like to drink, please pour yourself a glass and have a cookie on hand to join us in virtual snackage. #EmbraceYourVises tonight @AnnevilleJewelryLab in exile.Go to Anne's Facebook Page.

Click any image for a larger view.

For December's First Friday we hosted three artists in the Lab, Anne did mokume gane chisel demos in her studio AND we had two tables outside! Upstairs in the Lab, Yvonne of Yvonne Dao Jewels created a great display of her space-inspired work while Yoko of Yoko R Creations showed off her pieces (including her great whale shark bracelet) and artist & instructor Jessica Andersen offered her one-of-a-kind art jewelry and beautiful ornaments. Meanwhile, downstairs ...

... our hearty instructor Jules Monroe (along with her trusty studio dog Jazz) braved the cold alongside Seaglass Queen Valerie Safford to merrily greet people at our table in the outdoor bazaar. Jules showed off her fume patina earrings and new water-cast seaglass pendants while Val offered her glimmering designs featuring San Diego seaglass. Throughout the evening we had fun guests, making for a busy night with quite a few sales. We also had a bunch of VIP visitors including the fabulous Irene Wetsman of IJD Designs, our own Alix Hart, Val's mom (who was a hoot!) and Irene's fabulous husband and dog...along with many other friends, both old and new. By the time we toddled out, a big cauldron of hot spiced cider had been dispensed to happy minglers and we'd all heard enough holiday music to launch us merrily into the season. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make it a success and to all of our wonderful visitors ... happy holidays!

As of today, we have 4 emerging artists and two teachers confirmed for our Merry Maker's Market on Friday and we're waiting to hear back from several more. This is a great chance to enjoy a fun evening while connecting with local silversmiths and finding great deals on handmade gifts. Here's a sneak peek at a few of the offerings...

Click any image for a larger view.

On December 6th you'll find our village stalls both inside and out festooned with bright holly, sparkling lights, fragrant pine boughs and a full complement of cheery makers proffering their sparkling silver, gold, brass and bejeweled wares. Take in the festively crisp night air (perhaps, I mean it is San Diego) of Liberty Station's outdoor European-style Christmas market where we'll have a stall or step lightly to the second floor of Barracks 15 to revel in medieval holiday charm as you browse our two small shops. Find the perfect holiday gift for that special baker, butcher or cobbler in your life or pick out a one-of-a-kind treasure for yourself. First Friday is Liberty Station's monthly open studio event so in addition to visiting us you can explore the Liberty Public Market, visit nearby shops and studios and catch live entertainment - all with easy parking. Bring a friend or make one here, either way it will be an evening of magical wintry delights - we hope you'll join us!  Get details and directions.

Hear ye, hear ye minstrels, maidens and mercenaries, conserve your gold coin for our Merry Maker's Market. On December 6th you'll find our village stalls both inside and out festooned with bright holly, sparkling lights, fragrant pine boughs and a full complement of cheery makers proffering their sparkling silver, gold, brass and bejeweled wares. Take in the festively crisp night air (perhaps, I mean it is San Diego) of Liberty Station's outdoor European-style Christmas market where we'll have a stall or step lightly to the second floor of Barracks 15 to revel in medieval holiday charm as you browse our two small shops. Find the perfect holiday gift for that special baker, butcher or cobbler in your life or pick out a one-of-a-kind treasure for yourself. First Friday is Liberty Station's monthly open studio event so in addition to visiting us you can explore the Liberty Public Market, visit nearby shops and studios and catch live entertainment - all with easy parking. Bring a friend or make one here, either way it will be an evening of magical wintry delights - we hope you'll join us!  Get details and directions.

Roughly 40 brave souls accepted the challenge to open EVERY drawer of the Toolbox of Terror at our October First Friday open studio. Not everyone who tried waw able to finish, but those who showed fortitude were richly rewarded. As each victim, er I mean guest, entered they were greeted by Ame or impromptu volunteer Jean and asked if they were ready to ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE. If they answered yes we led them over to the TOOLBOX OF TERROR and wished them good luck. We then retired across the room to listen to their screams (and a good amount of laughter at our cheesy display). Successful adventurers were rewarded with the choice of asking our extremely vintage Magic 8 Ball a question or consulting our Crystal Ball. Every visitor left with a goody from our treat basket - either candy or stickers. Continue on for photos and ... if you're brave enough ... view the TOOLBOX OF TERROR ITSELF!

We've pried open the crypt and invited a host of horrors out to play for First Friday on October 4th! Stop by between 5-9 pm for all sorts of spooky delights including a reanimated BOGO special. Don't miss the famous interactive Toolbox of Terror ... Bwah Ha Ha! First Friday (formerly known as Friday Night Liberty) is Liberty Station's monthly open studio event so in addition to visiting us you can explore the Liberty Public Market, visit nearby shops and studios and catch live entertainment - all with easy parking. Whether you bring a friend or make one here, it's one of San Diego's premiere, free, family-friendly arts events. Get details and directions.

Hundreds of visitors attended the live concert, open artist studios, gallery viewings, food and wine at September's First Friday. This was an "Amplified" month, which brought another opportunity for our students to offer their pieces at the Local Bazaar outdoor sale. Beth Peckham, Thida Key and Yoko Rover really pulled out the stops to finish some great work and create beautiful table displays. Meanwhile up in the Lab, Jeff Fulkerson offered some of his beautiful jewelry along with colorful cabochons and Anne demo'd mokume gane raising. We had some great visitors too including past ring clients and current students Cecilia & Gina, Pat & Marie and Yvonne - who arrived with little Zinnia, Sophia and Christof too! Thank you SO MUCH to our dedicated students who staffed the table representing the Lab, to Jeff for being on hand to explain his upcoming class offerings and to everyone who stopped by the say hello. 

Stop by Anneville Jewelry Lab on the First Friday in August (8/2/19) to browse beautiful cabochons and explore the world of semi-precious gemstones with master lapidarist Michael Hendrix of Minarex. Michael cuts each stone by hand in his San Diego County studio. Each creation is unique, like a miniature painting full of nature's colors and textures, ready to be part of a unique jewelry creation. Not a jeweler? No worries - our jewelers will be on hand to discuss a custom commission to set your newfound gem. Or even better, you can take one of our upcoming classes and learn to set it yourself!​ 

Then head over to Anneville Studio to meet steel and gold artist Bette Barnett! She'll will have an array of work on display and be discussing her fascinating Keum Boo technique and more. ​First Friday is a fun, family-friendly event that happens every month. Come explore the fabulous new Liberty Public Market, stroll through shops and visit working artist studios to see what's new - all for FREE. Anneville is just one of over 80 artist studios, galleries, museums and other art destinations open for this monthly event. With a dozen fabulous restaurants within walking distance, it makes a great evening out. And, we've got free parking! Hope to see you soon. More info about Friday Night Liberty can be found at NTC at Liberty Station. Get directions.

Our July #FirstFriday #ShopAndSwap#OpenStudio was a big success! We had about 75 visitors come through to enjoy browsing our Maker's Rummage Sale (which extended out into the hallway), watching @alexandrahartmfa doing her fascinating #anticlasticraising demos and @paparon1943 demonstrating his #FrenchMarquetry work. We also had Abby selling her beautiful #cabochons, Susan with cabochons and lots more, and generous donations of goodies by Karen F. and Karen R. So far we’ve raised almost $300 for #JewishFamilyServices in support of the Downtown Migrant Shelter - and we’re not done yet! (More on that in the next post). Super-duper big thanks to the wonderful Joanne & Herb Hein @joannehein and @growinggreeninteractions for their fabulous set up, cashiering and MC Services! And now for the winners of our JFS fundraiser raffle ....

Join us for our monthly open studio event to liberate your toolbox, score some great deals and help our community! We'll be collecting donations with every sale for the Jewish Family Services Downtown Migrant Shelter. ​

Pendant by Alyssa Ihle, pendant by Cindy McQuade, Mokume gane rings by Karen Rood and Karen working on a square wire bracelet in The Lab. Click any image for a larger view.

Over 35 attendees stopped by our March 1st Friday Night Liberty to watch Anne and Julie demonstrate their ingeniously unique metalworking techniques. Julie started things off with her unconventional torch-fired enamels. She wowed visitors with the transformation of white powdered glass into colorful, organic patterns. Meanwhile Anne showed off her fascinating hido quench trick for transforming normal metal into brilliant red gradients. Read on for photos!

We had a lovely time on Friday night visiting with old friends Guadalupe and her handsome beau who were out celebrating their anniversary. All-in-all about 20 people wandered through checking out The Lab and watching Anne's live goldsmithing demos - she even finished a client ring order! Join us next month when we'll be featuring our new instructor, Julie Monroe. Hopefully we can talk her into doing some live demos of her amazing torch-fired enamel techniques ... stay tuned!

Did you know that we have the 14th century English poet Chaucer (author of the Canterbury Tales) to thank for making Valentine's Day a romantic holiday? Since then it has become an occasion to express love with presents and cards. If you're looking for a unique gift, how about skipping the flowers and giving your crafty loved one something they'll really enjoy - a gift certificate to the new Anneville Jewelry Lab? At our February FNL we'll be offering discounted Lab gift certificates and selected Anneville Studio pendants and rings - and the first 5 customers get a FREE heart-shaped box of chocolates (or a cute bag, if you're not the chocolate type). We'll also have music, nibbles and sips so stop by to see Anne's newest creations and help us celebrate Saint Valentinus! Get directions.

We were thrilled to welcome over 50 guests to celebrate the Anneville Jewelry Lab Grand Opening last night at January's Friday Night Liberty. We saw old friends, made new ones, Anne did jewelry demos and we had a festive, New Year's themed raffle for one of Anne's handmade mokume gane brooches. The lucky winner was Deanna! Thank you so much to our great volunteer helpers Kathy and Diana and to all of you who came out on a cold night to celebrate the achievement of a vision that Anne first had several years ago - that of launching her own jewelry teaching space. Here's to the year ahead, may it be filled with the happy ringing of hammers!

Last Friday, March 4, we celebrated the release of the Artist Odyssey's new film "Anne Wolf: The Ancient Art of Mokume Gane." We started off with mokume gane demonstrations in the courtyard right next to the film premiere. A pretty good crowd gathered to watch the hammering and torching of metal. I enjoyed answering audience questions that ranged from geeky mokume speak about layer stacks and solid-state vs. liquid state diffusion bonding, to where I buy my materials and what kinds of gold I used.
As dusk gathered, we all moved inside to watch the film premiere, a 12-minute documentary by The Artist Odyssey. This film is part of a larger project of artist documentaries; five are up on their website now, with many more on the way.
I think the folks at Artist Odyssey did a fabulous job of telling my story and bringing to light the fascinating technique of mokume gane. Great music and graphics too! I loved how they emphasized why I only use recycled metals, and also how meaningful it is for me as part of the LGBT community to be creating wedding bands for straight and gay couples alike.
If you missed the premiere, you can see it on their website here.
After the film, we all headed up to my studio. I wanted to show some fun new equipment I have that makes the bonding and forging of my mokume gane much easier - and plus I thought folks would enjoy watching glowing hot metal be squeezed flat in a 20-ton hydraulic press! We have some video of that coming soon - need to sit down with my tech guru (aka Ame) to get that edited and uploaded.
By the end of the evening I was pretty tired, but so grateful for the love and support of friends and family. Big thanks to my assistant Francesca for working a very long day and enlisting the help of her boyfriend Marc. Thanks also to Alan Ziter and everyone at NTC for their support. And of course thanks to my sweetheart Ame for taking such great pics and video of the event, even though she was still recovering from an impressive bout of bronchitis!

We had a great turn-out for this year's holiday open studio. Folks of all ages enjoyed the fun of making their own copper pendant with pre-cut discs or rectangles. With all the prep work done, folks were free to focus on their designs. And the low cost of $5 made it an easy decision for some holiday creativity. The event worked out so well I did again the next weekend for the Holiday Walkabout. I was so busy handing out pendant blanks that night I didn't even get to take photos!