The discussion topic for tonight's Sawing Circle was "What is your favorite tool, what do you use it for and where can we get it?" and boy did we have fun with that. For Annette it was her Genie, Charlotte said it's emery boards for sanding, Carmen lovingly praised her Micromark mini bandsaw, Ame mentioned (rather irrelevantly) her computer tablet and stylus, Kathe showed us her new favorite Grobet hand file and Anne shared her fancy digital calipers. Jan got a new rolling mill and we discussed rolling mill care and feeding a bit and then Dale gave us an update on his sick rolling mill. We also had a grand time seeing recent works by Annette and Jan and a spirited talk about step bezels. Read on for links and more photos.

Metal Arts Adventures #27: Emerge Online Opening
Put on a swanky outfit, pour yourself a glass of something sophisticated and imagine yourself making a grand entrance into an artsy gallery space populated with interesting people and jazz .... it's our online opening reception for "Emerge" our juried exhibition! Wander around nibbling cheese (make yourself a small plate of cheese beforehand to get the full effect) and see the jewelry metal art works while listening to celebrity judges Anne Wolf of Anneville Studio and Bette Barnett of Studio Migoto discuss the technical prowess and design merits of each piece. Guess the winners and stick around til the end to see if you're right as we unveil the Best of Show, Best Mokume, Best Steel Piece and Most Creative Piece and award each artist their fabulous prizes. We want to hear from you - leave a comment below. Do you know of a jewelry metal arts work space reopening? Have you heard about a fair that's going to be live again this year? Do you know what's up with Idyllwild Arts, the San Diego Gem & Mineral Society or a cool place in your area? We're looking for signs of things getting back to normal and we'd love to hear from you so jot down a few notes and raise your hand or type them into the chat window during the show. Step into the gallery to view the online show "Emerge" and see who won!

The past two days have been great fun hosting a group of 15 students learning mokume gane chisel patterning. Jewelry metals instructor Anne Wolf totally updated this class with new techniques and high-res video and the quality really showed. Plus it was just so much fun with students in attendance from California to Alaska to Washington DC and points in between. We even had the fabulous Francesca Urciuoli Zooming in from Berlin. The students shared a lot of great info (like using old hex keys for chisel stock) and fun photos (MKaye bundled up for a snowy outdoor lunch), but mostly we all enjoyed learning about patterning mokume from Anne...and each other. The work speaks for itself, here are just a few of the pieces created.