Randy Stromsoe’s Workbench
With scores of local artists participating, San Luis Obispo County Arts’ Open Studios Art Tour provides diverse opportunities for interaction and exploration: to see original art, to shop for a unique gift, to learn how functional artworks are crafted, to discover prestigious artists in your own backyard who are happy to talk shop while you are, literally, in their workshops.
If there’s one artist who represents all of these opportunities rolled into one, however, silversmith Randy Stromsoe might be a good bet. His studio on Old Creek Road in Templeton (#7 in the 2026 Open Studios catalog) will be open both weekends October 10-11 and 17-18 this year.
His studio is featuring a gallery “pop-up” where you can browse jewelry and tableware available for purchase in many price ranges. He’s also happy to explain how each item was made.
“We have the ability to mini-demonstrate a technique, show work in progress, and explain the process,” according to Stromsoe’s wife and business partner Lisa Stromsoe. The studio is one of many on the tour to offer artist demonstrations as well as access to the artist’s workshop.
Stromsoe is quick to point out that this kind of personal attention isn’t available to clients in a gallery or exhibition situation. “This is another wonderful aspect of the OSAT model,” she says.
Randy Stromsoe has been crafting one-of-a-kind pieces in sterling silver, pewter, copper, gold, and wood for more than five decades. While his craftsmanship has earned a place in the White House Collection of American Crafts, the Smithsonian Institution, and private collections around the world, his work for Open Studios offers some surprises—primarily jewelry (including new “bold” brooches), and some “hot-off-the-bench” sterling and ebony salad servers, among other new works.
“People need to know that each item is time-consuming,” Lisa Stromsoe says. “Once some pieces have sold or have been placed in museums or collections, they will not come around again. There are some treasures here that we have saved from previous collections, or they are a variant of a quite famous piece, but with its own unique story.”
The Stromsoes do worry about the future of the craft. “In the near future, very few people will have access to the tools and history of silversmithing in America,” Stromsoe says. In addition to creating fine metalwork, Stromsoe Studios offers small-group, in-person metalsmithing classes to students of all levels.
They have had the same goal for the more than 20 years they have participated in Open Studios. “We enjoy sharing our craft in its most traditional and pure form,” she says. “We work fairly under the radar in this county, as our main demographic focus has always been collectors, curators, scholars, juried or invitational exhibitions, and some intriguing commissions.
“That said,” Stronsoe continues, “We have had the pleasure of meeting many new clients that we most likely would not have met had it not been for the SLO County OSAT.”