Tomorrow, Saturday the 12th we’ll be out at the Grand Lake Farmers Market showing our jewelry, vases, and candlesticks.

We’re scheduled for just two appearances this November and none in December (so far), but tomorrow promises to be a pleasant day out; our later appearances might always be cancelled by rain, so come see us sooner rather than later, and buy local for the holidays!

The Farmers Market runs from 9am-2pm across the street from Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, and features ten or twelve artisans on a rotating basis, along with dozens of produce stalls and booths of great prepared food. It’s one of the best Farmers Markets around.

We hope to see you there!

We’re so far behind on updates on the studio building progress that I’m not going to delay any longer hoping to post updates in order. When I have access to the photos of earlier progress I’ll put up some retrospective studio build posts.

Last week we finished the siding, except for trim, and last week and this week we have been putting in windows, using ladder jacks to make a mini scaffold for raising the high windows.

Just finished putting the last of the trim on the last of the windows. We still have more spackling and priming to do, and we have to put up corner trim.

Finishing the siding:

Cutting and assembling a tiny fiddly bit of trim for the corners between upper and lower roof. This is one of the reasons all this finish work takes so long.

Putting in the upstairs windows, using ladder jacks to make a simple scaffold. We still have our huge mobile scaffold inside the building.

All our windows are salvaged from older houses via Urban Ore. This pair was probably the first ones we bought, because they’re beautiful craftsman style windows, a matched set. They are down at ground level on the North wall, one near the front door, the other in what will be the hammering room.

David has worked a long time on cleaning and repairing these and building their jambs, but there’s always a last-minute adjustment to be done with planes and chisels.

But the results are gorgeous:

All the lintels for the windows are salvaged redwood siding. The inspectors won’t let us use salvaged wood for anything structural, but siding is fine. And old siding is just a little thicker than new, for a perfect craftsman look. Of course, this was salvaged from some very old working building, where it had old square cut-nails, and every generation of nail and staple since, so there is a LOT of filling to do.

This weekend there are three events coming up for anyone who follows us and loves our work.

Our joint show at the Moraga Art Gallery titled “Creative Contrasts” (already announced to our mailing list) has just opened, and the Opening Reception will be held this Saturday 5-7pm. Moraga Art Gallery is a small cooperative gallery run by a group of sixteen member artists and craftspeople. It hosts shows featuring a member artist along with a guest artist several times a year. Members approached us about being guest artists in a show running for the next two months, along with watercolorist George Ehrenhaft. We are honored to participate and to bring a new medium to their lovely gallery. Moraga Art Gallery is located at 522 Center Street in Moraga. Normal hours are noon to 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday. The reception is 5 to 7 pm Saturday the 20th of August. 925 376-5407. moragaartgallery.com

Saturday during the day we will be exhibiting for our one appearance this month at the Grand Lake Farmers Market, in the park in front of Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre. It’s the season for great tomatoes, corn, and patinaed earrings! Grand Lake Farmers market is open every Saturday from 9-2 year round. We only attend about once a month during the dryer months. agriculturalinstitute.org/directory/listing-details/grand-lake-oakland

On top of all that, ACCI Gallery’s much anticipated annual Seconds Sale starts tomorrow, Friday the 19th! Every year the gallery’s 100+ member artists bring in their prototypes, older work, and seconds for this pop-up sale, which many customers look forward to all year long. There is work in all media, at astonishingly low prices. Bring a bag and expect a crowd. Cash and checks are preferred, but cards are accepted. We will be offering some seconds of modular wallpieces, vases, and jewelry, as well as candlesticks and vases and a lot of older jewelry dating to the late 1970s and early 1980s, some of it at prices that wouldn’t have been out of place back then. ACCI Gallery is located at 1652 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, and is open 11am-6pm Monday-Saturday, noon-5pm Sunday. The Seconds Sale runs from 19-21 August, from 11am-6pm Friday and Saturday, noon-5pm Sunday. 510 843-2527. ACCIgallery.com

We hope to see you at one or more of these events – maybe, if you’re dedicated, all three!

A few of the older pieces we’re offering at the Seconds Sale:

​Join ​​us and our fellow artists and makers of all stripes at American Steel Studios this weekend for open studios as part of the ProArts East Bay Open Studios event and self-guided tour!

Our weekend kicks off with Art Murmur Friday night from 6-9pm in the Poplar Gallery at American Steel Studios. Some of the other artists may have their studios open for the evening as well. We will be showing our work just in the gallery as usual that evening. Then for the rest of this weekend, and next weekend as well, we will be opening our studio for you to come see. Wallpieces and larger work will remain on display in the Poplar Gallery, while we will have our vases, jewelry, and other small work on display in our studio out in Bay 5 of the main part of American Steel.

Come on down and see us, and get a glimpse of the many, many surprising and beautiful things being made at American Steel.

American Steel Studios is located at 1960 Mandela Parkway in West Oakland. The building covers an entire city block and is hard to miss. The entrance is on 20th Street. Art Murmur is Friday 6-9pm, and studios are open Saturday and Sunday 4-5 June and 11-12 June, 10am-7pm.

If you’re of the facebook persuasion, here are the pages for the American Steel event and for the East Bay Open Studios as a whole.

I just finished my wallpiece RCB 16.01, another in the series of wallpieces using my ‘chitin’ construction technique, in a round format. I think this one turned out quite well. The gold color is flowed bronze, polished and lacquered to retain its color. I was originally going for a rich, dark, more or less solid red for the round boss, but when this version came out, I decided it was even better than my original intentions.

This one, like RCB 15.01 is light enough that I have made it to hang simply on picture wire. It is a lot less deeply domed than RCB 15.01 – about 2 inches deep at the most. It hangs in pretty much any orientation, and I like it at most angles.