Links Project

More than 50 links donated by Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild members over the years. Each link is done in the artists' own style. The links are connected to each other to form a long chain.

Join Our Current and Historical Record of Member Artists

Our gallery shows are a great opportunity to view the Links Project in person. If there’s a wall available at our exhibit, we hang our links project cases in which our past and current metal artist members have shared their style and processes.

In 2023, the guild began expanding into a new case with the two new links donated by Roxanne Beebe and Susan Shallenberger (shown below)

In 2015, the guild began a new “Links Project” which demonstrated each of our member’s style and personality. 

In ~ 2003, MBMAG asked each member to create and donate a small piece of artwork that would reflect their skills and aesthetic.  The pieces have a means to connect it on both ends and once linked together would become one chain of unique works.

Roxanne Beebe's donation to the Links Project is a sterling silver bat with integrated loops at the wing ends. The patination on the bat helps emphasize it's features.
Metal artist Roxanne Beebe donated this silver bat link to the Links Project in 2023
Jewelry artist Susan Shallenberger donated this enameled link with a centerpiece featuring a bee flowers and the sun. The link will be attached to the Links Project in it's 3rd case; which is new as of 202308.
Artist Susan Shallenberger donated this enameled link to the Links Project in 2023

We invite all members to create and donate a link within the following parameters

  • The individual piece should range be a minimum size of 1 x 1 x 1″ HLD*
  • The individual piece must not exceed to 1.5 x 2 x 1″ HLD*
  • The piece must be link-able on both ends
  • The piece must reflect your unique style

*HLD = Height x Length x Depth where Length is the measurement between the link-able end rings

Contact us if you’d like to donate a link or have more questions.

News From Members

"2024 ACC Fellow Honoree Lynda Watson" with a portrait of Lynda Watson taken by rr jones and 2 images of her jewelry taken by rr jones Lynda Watson Named to ACC’s College of Fellows - Congratulations to longtime MBMAG member Lynda Watson on her 2024 induction into the American Craft Council College of Fellows. Click to learn more about Lynda and this award.
Pajaro Vallley Arts Presents "Out of the Fire" curated by Susana Arias and Judy Stabile, this show postcard lists the hours and times for the gallery and the opening reception in Watsonville, California. Metal artists, glass artists and more are on exhibit and for sale Art of 10 Guild Members in Local Gallery Show - Congratulations to 10 guild members on being part of "Out of the Fire" at Pajaro Valley Arts. The exhibit runs Aug 9 - Sep 24, 2023 at the gallery on 37 Sudden St, Watsonville CA
Cabrillo College gallery 12 x 12 exhibit details with a 12x12 visual and a photo of Ron Baldwin's sculpture Guild Artist in Invitational Exhibit at Cabrillo College - Now through Dec 9, 2022, visit the Cabrillo College Art Gallery to see guild member Ron Baldwin's latest creation. He's one of the artists selected for exhibition in the annual 12x12 (x12): An Open Invitational Exhibit.

Members: Submit your news here

Past Member News


book launch and artists talk flier summary with photo of Lynda Watson and her cat and a photo of the cover of the book "Looking Back Lynda Watson Master Metalsmith" Lynda Watson: National Metal Museum 2022 Master Metalsmith - Join us Sunday Nov 13, 3 - 5 pm for an artist talk and book signing by local honoree Lynda Watson, the 2022 Master Metalsmith as named by the National Metal Museum in Memphis, TN, USA
Ornament Magazine Features Jeanie Pratt - Jeanie said “I am thrilled with the article about my life and my work, along with the cover and an Artist Showcase!“ We in the Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild are thrilled for member Jeanie Pratt! The cover article features her work, tells about her life and is a great read. The guild and Jeanie …
Open Studios: Monterey County - Visit the Monterey County Arts Habitat Studio Tour website to find participating member artists
Open Studios: Santa Cruz County - Visit the Santa Cruz County Open Studios website to find participating member artists
Open Studios: Silicon Valley - Visit the SVOS website to find participating member artists
flyer with a sun, a blue sky, and details of the summer party 2022 Summer Party Sunday August 21, 2022 - Join us at the summer party! Bring your own lunch and picnic chair to Sierra Azul Nursery-Garden during their annual "Sculpture Is" outdoor sculpture show. Sunday August 21, 1 - 4pm. Join us at noon to participate in, or just watch, the guild's board meeting.
collage of images by the 3 participating artists; a bracelet, a collage, and an image Art Salon with Lynda Watson May 13, 2021 - Pajaro Valley Arts is holding an art salon live via zoom Visit the PVArts.org event page to learn more about it and obtain the codes to Participate HTTP://pvarts.org/EVENT/art-salonmay-13/ Long time Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild member Lynda Watson is one of the 3 artists who will be participating in the live via Zoom Art Salon.
Jeanie Pratt collection of bug brooches Collecting Jewelry with Jeanie Pratt - Join jeweler and collector Jeanie Pratt as she shows pieces from her extensive collection and the stories behind the individual pieces. Silvera Jewelry School is hosting a free talk with MBMAG member Jeanie Pratt as part of their Online Event Tuesday series March 30, 2021 at 2 PM PDT – 3 PM PDTPrice: Free to …
MPC Mothers Day Sale 2010 - Handmade Artisan Jewelry! Several MBMAG Members are Participating Annual Mother’s Day Jewelry Saleat Monterey Peninsula College Tuesday, Wednesday & ThursdayMay 4th, 5th and 6th 20109 AM to 7 PM Cash or Check only! in the Almaden Room of the Student Center Monterey Peninsula College980 Fremont Street, Monterey, CA 93940 Student Center is located off Fishnet …

Summer Party Sunday August 21, 2022

flyer with a sun, a blue sky, and details of the summer party 2022

Please join us for our Summer BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch) Party!

See below for more information

Pajaro Valley Art Center’s yearly show, Sculpture Is, will be in full swing, as well as the beautiful demonstration gardens over Sierra Azul’s acreage. Always very impressive! 

With the pandemic, we are suggesting wearing a mask if you’d like to keep yourself or others safe.

Bring your own lunch, plates, utensils and picnic chair

We’ll be having the monthly board meeting immediately before the party (12 – 1 pm) and we welcome all to attend and participate

We will be sharing what we all have been doing the last year and a half, there’s a Summer Swap, and there’s a Summer-to-Winter Re-Create. We look forward to seeing each other (in person!), catching up and announcing new events, having lunch, ….

Do you have a piece of jewelry or sculpture on hand that you’d like to swap out for a piece by another guild member? Then check out our SUMMER SWAP

Is there a sad half-finished piece that has been staring at you from your bench waiting and longing to be finished?  You pick it up, turn it over and put it down again.  You know it has life and wants to be whole. The SUMMER TO WINTER RE-CREATE is for you.

SUMMER SWAP

Bring a piece of jewelry or sculpture to the Summer Party that you are willing to swap out. If you bring one, you will go home with one.  We will number the items and have people pick a number ‘out of a hat.’  You will go home with the metal art piece that corresponds to the number picked!

SUMMER TO WINTER RE-CREATE

Bring an unfinished piece to the MBMAG Summer party. If you bring an unfinished metal art piece you take home a different piece to finish.  How it works: Each piece will be given a number. A fellow metal artist member will pull a number ‘out of the hat’ then take the corresponding piece home and finish it. The finished pieces will be brought to the Winter Party and returned to the original artists. At the Winter Party the pieces will be displayed for all to see, and the original owners can don their new piece of jewelry!

Let the creative juices flow.
Your Challenge Team,
Annette Nemes and Toni Danzig

Date: Sunday August 21, 2022 from 1 to 4 pm
Location: 2660 E. Lake Ave (Hwy 152 across from the Fairgrounds), Watsonville, CA 95076

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR METAL ART FEAT. GEORGE POST

Photography for Metal Arts seminar with professional Craft Photographer George Post

Live online via Zoom

The first session of our new series will cover best known practices for metal art photography presented by professional craft photographer George Post

Free to members

Date: Sunday, June 13, 2021
Time: 2:00 pm PST
Free to members
Check your email for the Zoom link

ABOUT GEORGE POST:

George Post is a freelance photographer, based in the San Francisco Bay Area with a client base of individual artists and craftspeople who work in a variety of 2D and 3D media. Many of them sell their creations on the craft-fair circuit, using George’s photographs of their work to jury into the more prestigious shows throughout America. George does some purely commercial photography as well.

A Life Member of ASMP, the American Society of Media Photographers, George also enjoys photography for his own artistic expression. He has a special fondness for colorful, unusual subject matter, and his archives include an eclectic mix of landscapes, cityscapes, astronomical, meteorological, geological, and biological images.

TENTATIVE WORKSHOP OUTLINE

Types of subject & Orientation

  • Hanging – Pendants, Necklaces, Earrings (Post vs. Wire, Fishing Line Frame)
  • Tabletop – 3d Objects, Jewelry with camera on tripod
  • Copy Stand

Lighting

  • Hot
  • LED
  • Flash
  • Polarization

Backgrounds

  • Paper including Gradient
  • Slate, Stone, Glass
  • Formica, Acrylic, Duralar
  • Obtaining Total White

White Balance

  • Gray Card, Cube, etc
  • Camera Menu
  • Custom White Balance
  • Correcting with Software

Arrangement and Composition

  • Optimal camera angle
  • Positioning Jewelry – Skewer, Rubber-tipped tool, Squeeze Bulb
  • Earrings: Side-by-Side vs. Staggered
  • Groups & Ensembles
  • Hidden Props, Putty & Wax
  • Framing – Tight vs Loose, Square Crop, Stretching Rectangular to Square

Shoot-to-Memory-Card vs. Tethering

Digital Image Processing

  • Photoshop and ACR
  • Lightroom
  • TIFF vs JPEG
  • Special Sizing & Formats (for jurying & online sales)

Hiring a Pro

  • Recommendations & Word of Mouth, Google, Ads
  • Hourly Rate
  • Rights Granted

INVITATION TO AN INSPIRING WORKSHOP

Lightbulb in the dawn light being held in a hand

Free Inspiration Workshop May 29, 2021 at 2pm PST

MEMBERS: Join us for a free live online workshop (via Zoom)

We could all use a little inspiration, especially after the year we have all had.

In this lead up to the Pajaro Valley Art Council exhibit “Reflections” we have assembled a wonderful panel of artists to talk about what inspires them and the stories behind their work.

Please join us for a lively Zoom discussion of back-stories, miscues, ideas, process and stimulus.

Helping us on our journey of reflection will be Lynda Watson, Angela Gleason, Helene Daniels, Susan Shallenberger, Ron Baldwin, among others.

Date: Saturday, May 29, 2021
Time: 2:00 pm PST
Free to members
Check your email for the Zoom link

Local Gallery Show Includes Art of 5 Guild Members

PVArts Take Aways Show List of artists and image of a take away food container
Pajaro Valley Arts new Take Aways exhibition opens this week, and it will be amazing!

Visit the exhibition page to learn more about it and book your appointment via pvarts.org/appointment

The Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild is happy to see that five of our Guild members are in this show! They are: Lynn Guenther, Angela Gleason, Lynne Todaro, Lynda Watson and Mary Weeks! Congratulations!

You can make an appointment and up to 10 people can be scheduled to view the show at a time. All pieces of art are priced under $300, and you are able to take your purchase with you.

New work is constantly being added.

The show runs from April 9th through May 23rd, 2021 so sign up to go check it out!

Support your local artists!
Artwork by member Lynne Todaro at “Take Aways 2021” show in PVArts Gallery

2021 Winter Challenge Results

white with black outlines of two hammers crossed over

Click the video clip below to see the winners of the guild’s
2021 “Looking Into the Future” Winter Design Challenge

We asked our members to take the challenge of showing us in a new metal art piece how they view the future after the strange and stressful year of 2020. Thank you to four very creative people who submitted their art. We announced the winners during the live online Winter Party on Sunday, January 24, 2021.

Save the Dates

Pajara Valley Arts center building

“Reflections” Exhibition & Sale at Pajaro Valley Arts Gallery

Our next all member exhibition will begin this summer at the Pajaro Valley Arts center gallery in Watsonville California.

All artists are welcome, if you aren’t yet a member of the Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild, you are welcome to join from wherever you are in the world.

The theme of the upcoming exhibition is “Reflections” and we are encouraging artists to create 3 new narrative works based on the theme of “Reflections”. More details about the theme, dates for show registration, and more are to come in March 2021.

As part of the exhibition, the Pajaro Valley Arts center gallery will also sell member’s art in their gift shop area. In our previous gallery exhibit and sale, many members had successful gift shop sales.

We are excited to announce that Pajaro Valley Arts will be hosting the exhibition in person and virtually. Visit the PVArts.org Virtual Tours page to see an example

All members are encouraged to participate. Continue reading for more details.

The Guild had a successful exhibit at the PVA in 2017, and PVA has invited us back. We will accept up to three pieces per artist, and sculpture is encouraged. The theme of the exhibit, “Reflections”, can be used as a stepping off place for your work and can be interpreted as you see fit.

Exhibit entry fee to MBMAG is $35. You must be a current member of MBMAG to enter, but you may join at any time from anywhere.

Membership in PVA is optional, but encouraged. See: pvarts.org/ For items that sell in the “gift shop” area of the gallery, PVA will take 30% if you are a member of PVA or 45% if you are a PVA non-member.

Plus: The gift area was very successful last time. Show participants may put up to 5 pieces. Work should have a value of $100.00 or less. As items are sold you may replace them.

We are looking for volunteers to work on this exhibit. Please let Toni Danzig, tonidan@comcast.net, know if you are interested in helping. Your participation is appreciated. These are the current project team leaders for the exhibition:

Entry form, photo and IT Support – Pat Evans & Toni Danzig
Education Displays – Pat Evans
Exhibit Installation – Toni Danzig
Recruitment of sponsors – project leader needed.
Gift area organization – Marylou Forrest & Jim Turner
Marketing & Music – Margie Moran and Ron Baldwin
Moving of cases and vitrines – Courtney Scruggs

Benefits of being an MBMAG member

MBMAG members listen to a visiting artist lecture

The Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild (MBMAG) is a diverse guild comprised of artists, collectors, professional art educators, practitioners, gallerists, advocates, and new enthusiasts of metalsmithing. We welcome all people at all levels of experience and appreciation for making art in metal. We are based in the picturesque Monterey Bay area of California and our members live in many diverse locations. Everyone is welcome to join from wherever you live.

Benefits Include:

Early notification of exhibitions, lectures, events and workshops hosted by MBMAG

Guest artist and member lectures are free for members!

Discounts on workshops and events hosted by MBMAG

Invites to participate in the guild’s all-member, juried, and curated exhibits at local galleries and museums

We help promote our members’ art on Instagram and Facebook; tag us when you post

Members private email list for free postings of tools for sale or giveaway

Networking and socializing opportunities

Member design challenges

Free access to the full video library of online jewelry photography and social media how-to sessions

A photo of your art in the Member Gallery on the mbmag.org website

Advertise for free your upcoming metal arts related workshops, events, open-studio, or sale on mbmag.org