I have been teaching jewelry/metalwork classes and creating custom mokume-gane wedding rings, jewelry and one-of-a-kind metal art objects since 1991. I earned my Masters of Fine Art in Jewelry/Metals in 1999, training primarily under Helen Shirk and Arline Fisch at San Diego State University. From 2003-2014 I taught a four-level jewelry/metals course at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. In 2007 I met a group of mokume artists working in Northern California - Toshiyuki Kawai, Earl Bushey, Jerry Blanchard and Gene Novagratsky. With them I learned to fuse, forge and pattern mokume gane using traditional Japanese methods. I've also taken workshops with and had instruction from James Binnion, Chris Ploof, and Hiroko-Sato Pijanowski. My work has been shown across the U.S. and in international venues such as the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus in Hanau, Germany and the Tsubame Industrial Materials Museum in Tsubame, Japan.
I enjoy teaching mokume gane workshops in my home studio and around the country, at places like Danaca Design, Idyllwild, Mendocino Arts Center, Diane Weimer Studio, Metal Arts Guild Georgia, Metals Arts Society of Southern California and Colorado Center for Metal Arts.