First week of June. 8 am, before work.
I make it up to the studio. Stand in front of the workbench, tea in hand. It’s a mess. Cleaning it up isn’t a procrastination, it’s a necessity. Should’ve take ‘before’ pics!
Now, though, Ready. Off to work.
My bench, cleared off and ready.
Rockin’ at the Seattle Gem and Mineral Show
From coffee at Ristretto in Mount Vernon to the ferry ride home, this was a stellar day.
Visualize a nondescript building filled with temporary tables, each crammed with individual collections of gems, rocks and minerals. Reminds you of being ten years old and visiting the rock shop at the beach, right? Well, it’s still just as fun.
First there’s the visual patter of thousands of gems and minerals. Colors, shapes, stories, special finds. Then, there are the geeky rock hounds! I use the term with respect and affection. Friendly, knowledgeble, and willing to share. That’s these folks.
Such a delight to wander from room to room, bargaining and discovering special finds. This was not a jewelry-based show, so what I brought home are unusual and quirky. Will I be able to make any of these into jewelry? We shall see!
Am loving Anacortes these days! Today I stopped in at The Bead Store.
You know how something suddenly catches your eye? Peering down into the case, I saw a string of green translucent briolettes. Prehnite, with rutilations.
See the dark lines in the stones? Those are the rutilations. I’m a sucker for these markings. So organic: so plant-like.
The romantic version is that they are cupid’s arrows, or sometimes Venus’ hair. I just like the way they look!
Then - bonus! - among the turquoise I noticed two strands of pure robin’s egg blue. I looked up at Margaret, who runs the shop. She nodded. “That’s Sleeping Beauty.”
Have you heard of this mine in Arizona? It gave a bright, distinctive turquoise. And since it’s now closed to mining, the value of this turquoise has risen dramatically.
I put the strands next to the prehnite - and knew I wanted to work with them. Energetically and visually, they’re glorious together. Call it muse, call it inspiration: it happened.
Yikes! Four weeks to prepare for our Chimera Gallery show that opens on July 8, 2017.
I will be showing with Maxine and Debbie of Island Fibers, so Maxine and I met to plan. We sat down across from each other. "I haven't started." she said. Relief! "I haven't either!"
We three need to get to work.
