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.

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.

5/29/23 - I am pleased and honored to announce that my cherry blossom tsuba has won a bronze award (1st seat) at the 13th NBSK Craftsmen's Competition in Japan! It will be part of a traveling exhibition, on display now until the end of August at the Tetsu (Iron) Museum in Sakaki, Nagano Prefecture, then moving to the Sano Art museum in Mishima, Sizuoka Prefecture October to mid-December. (Both locations are about 2 hours from Tokyo, for those who might be visiting.)

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 - Fuse Forge Roll February 15-17: Couldn't have asked for a nicer bunch of students for this fusing class, the first in my re-designed studio. I love students who have come to learn, and understand that learning and producing finished work are different things - sometimes both happen, but actually the learning is the most important.

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.

11/3/2022 - I know I've been a bit quiet lately on the teaching front - that's because I've finally set aside some time to make progress on an artistic goal. I've been wanting to raise mokume vessels for a long time. I learned raising wayy back in school (er like the 90s), and of course I've been doing mokume since 2007. But it takes time and effort to put those two processes together.

8/19/2022 - I don't teach general jewelry/metals classes anymore, since I'm focusing on the specialized technique of mokume gane. I get a lot of inquiries from people wanting to learn or improve their jewelry skills, so I want to recommend West City, where I taught from 2012-2018 (work at right made by my students at the time, Karen R. and Yoko R.).

8/4/2022 - When I first began making custom mokume gane wedding rings back in 2008, my clients were all based here in San Diego. They would visit the studio first to see ring samples, find out their size, try on different styles and widths etc. After a good design session, I'd give them a price, take their 50% deposit and get started on their rings. When the rings were finished, the clients would come back to pick up their rings and pay.

7/13/2022 - I recently returned from 6 days of teaching at Mendocino Arts Center - what a joy to be in a real classroom again, with live 3D students! It was a huge amount of work getting ready, from tailoring the fusing process to the specific school equipment, to packing up everything from Simple Green to a bandsaw into my car and driving 650 miles each way. But it was all worth it.

6/11/2022 - This was my fourth live Mokume Q & A - I had a great time chatting with fellow mokume artists, including some new faces! I did about a 35 minute recorded presentation on the history of mokume and what it is, and showed the work of many different mokume gane makers and their contributions to the field.

5/14/2022- Had a really great time here, chatting with about 20 participants about mokume gane and patinas in my third live mokume Q&A, held May 14, 2022 via Zoom. I go over the most common and useful patinas for mokume gane (liver of sulfur, Baldwin's patina, and of course rokusho / niage), with recipes and video of how to apply them.

3/30/2022 - The focus was on patterning here at my second live mokume gane Q and A session, held on April 2, 11am pacific time via Zoom. If you missed it, check out the video. Topics discussed include a general overview of the types of mokume gane patterning, annealing times and temps, chisel shapes, when to forge versus when to roll, etc.

1/8/2022 - Sometimes things start simply, then just keep growing .... this piece actually started life as a patterning sample. I liked it so much I started messing with it - cut a circle, domed it, did some chasing detail in the center. Soon I had ... a lid!  Hmm, what next. Tried a few different simple bases, trying to finish it without it taking over my life, but you know it told me it needed a substantial base, not just a simple quick thing.