True Anvil

10/09/2026

Busy people making a Busy Board for their 1 year old daughter's birthday!
So fun to have opened up the shop to them last night.

10/03/2026

My good friend and an extremely talented silversmith made me a very sentimental gift. A year after my great boy Snowy, our great pyrenees died, she had worked with my wife to get some of his hair. She made it into a cabochon made out of resin. She placed it into a belt buckle out of copper.
It's beautiful and such a sentimental piece for me.
Thank Zoë Flippen!

09/13/2026

Finished the belt last night. Now the student will take it home to stamp!!!
So cool!

09/12/2026

I taught this student some striking techniques last night and he has shown so much improvement from his previous attempts!

09/11/2026

Dad jokes when working with leather are the best!
This student came by with more materials even though we're done with class to make 2 more for his siblings!

09/10/2026

What would you make out of this 2-inch thick mesquite slab?
X marks the spot!

09/08/2026

I am amazed at the learning process. You can learn some things from being modeled and told something, but most learning takes place experientially. The actual movement or action is what creates neural connections in the brain to support learning.
I'm always shocked when I hear people say that someone shouldn't have even tried a project because it wasn't picture perfect. How else can learning take place?
I'm excited for my learning journey to continue as well as the needed mistakes for me to improve my craft or help others continue theirs!

09/08/2026

09/06/2026

How to add some real texture and realistic looking hair for pyrography.
This portrait of Christ has been fun to practice this technique.

09/05/2026

How to make cloth designs and real texture on your pyrography piece!
This was for the tallit prayer shawl on a portrait I'm doing of Christ.