About James Binnion:
Jim's love of craft started in his grandmother's home. A furniture maker and weaver, Jim's grandmother inspired him to use his creative talents, which he's been doing for more than 30 years as a jeweler. Though he learned jewelry basics in high school, Jim has spent his entire adult life expanding his knowledge of jewelry making.
Jim was always drawn to the beauty and workmanship of Japanese craft. And once he saw mokume for the first time in the early 1980s, he knew he would make mokume; he even pioneered a technique for making electric kiln-fired mokume gane.
In 1991, Jim established James Binnion Metal Arts (JBMA), working exclusively in mokume. He has consulted with other mokume artists and metallurgists to develop his theoretical and practical knowledge of metallurgy.
Today, this metalsmith, engineer and periodic beer-maker continues to refine his lamination process and designs while also passing on the knowledge he's gained to the next generation of jewelers. The first piece of jewelry he made? "A lost-wax cast ring. "I was 15 or 16, and an adult actually commissioned me to make a ring with a pearl in it," he remembers. "That was pretty cool for a kid!"
Check out Jame’s website https://mokume-gane.com/