Cultural Fusion
glass blowing, and electroforming,
and it was like, whew. I think I’ve got
it! Electroforming really helped to
combine metal and glass.”
Much had happened in her life by
the time that program was over, but
when she returned to Japan she was
once again adrift. Describing the
situation, she recounts, “So there I
was: divorced, back in my hometown
again, with my daughter, Nolia. My
sister’s husband had taken over the
working of the dairy farm and there
was no need for me there, not to
mention little opportunity to do art.
“What I wanted was to be do-
ing what I love, and wanting my
daughter to have a backyard, a dog,
a family... “ She sighs. Momoko ap-
plied for and got an extension to her
American green card, saved some
money and went back (yes, back) to
the States to try to make it as a full-
time artist.
“And then miraculous things
started to happen. I was living in
Portland at the time and I submit-
ted a project to [the crafts program]
Kickstarter. Why not? I was stunned
when it went the whole way and
brought in over $10,000 in 40 days.”
That windfall gave her the chance
to do something she’d wanted to do
for a long time.“I was able to get the materi-
als and time I needed to go back
to Japan to fi lm three step-by-
step instructional videos of Master
Kashima Kazuo’s nunome zogan
technique.” Thus, Momoko was able
to put her fi lm school training to use
by recording beautiful instructional
videos of Master Kashima creating
his masterpieces. “Then Rio Grande
jewelry suppliers in New Mexico saw
my project and put me on an email
shout-out to their massive client list,
which was a huge help.”Her Art
WWW.OKADAMOMOKO.COM Her Tools
MOMOKO OKADA’S JAPANESE
METALWORKING TOOLS
WWW.MOMOKOYA.COMHer Videos
SCHOOL NONUME
HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/
ONDEMAND/NUNOME1
KASHIMA NONUME
HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/
ONDEMAND/KASHIMANUNOME
KAGA ZOGAN
HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/
ONDEMAND/188711More Nunome
FORD HALLAM
HTTPS://WWW.FORD
HALLAM.COM/Metal Inlay
with Momoko
ESSENCE OF JAPAN,
PAGE 22Roots
Necklace
Rutilated quartz, silverAnd things kind of rocked after
that. For one thing, she met a guy
named Ryan, who soon thereafter
got a job in Tucson. “So it was like,
let’s start something new together.
And here I am, doing what I love,
with a great partner and my daugh-
ter, and we have a backyard, three
cats, a family!” And three online pay-
per-view instructional videos and a
website and a traditional Japanese
tools business, too!
So, yes, here she is indeed. Here be-
ing Japan. No, America. England? No,
wait — Illinois? No, Tucson. Defi nitely
Tucson. And we hope she stays.TERRI HAAG is a freelance writer based in Tuc-
son, Arizona. She has been a frequent contributor
to this magazine since the 1990s.Red Organism
Sculpture
Raised and chased copper, electroformed
metal and fused glass30 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST
26 Haag_CulturalFusion_mayjune20.indd 30 3/16/20 3:39 PM