Winter is Coming

 Slowly but steadily The Neck slips into winter. A few days ago we had our first "sundog". This is how it looked from our morning coffee spot.

But the views from the deck were a lot better.

And today we are in the middle of our first big winter storm. So now the scene of activity shifts to production. Recently I finished a project to produce some new guitar picks.

They turned out great with only a few "disasters" which are bound to happen when you take crazy lace and moss agate down to 2 mm.!

We've made a few statement pieces like this gorgeous rhodochrosite stone set in sterling silver and hung on a hand made sterling Viking Knit chain.

And we have at least one more show stopper in the works.

Some of you may know that I had a major operation in October and we had to close the shop early but things are looking pretty good and our plan is to be open as usual in the spring with exciting new items.

We still have a good selection of hand dyed yarn at a fabulous price so make plans to visit beautiful Digby Neck and stop by my rock shop- The Lap of Lapidary -and see our studio and gift shop. Everybody gets a free piece of Digby Neck!

Have a happy and healthy winter!

PS: I am about to reach 200,000 page views on this blog so thank you for all who enjoy it.

Back Cutting Rock

 This has been a weird summer. First it was cold and wet but since the beginning of July we have had virtually no rain and while most of Nova Scotia has been under a heat advisory, here on Digby Neck the temperature has rarely gone above 20 C.

On top of that, I've been dealing with a significant medical issue that is now mostly resolved. So I haven't been doing as much in the Lap of Lapidary but recently, the Lady With The Agate Eye came back with some interesting looking pieces so we fired up the Hi-Tech 10 inch and went to work.

This is a beautiful example of our local agate with pockets of Fortification Agate. It interests me enough that I will make a couple of cabochons from the two halves.

This is another beautiful example of our local agate showing amazing colour and patterning. This piece also is good enough to be cabbed.

This piece is unusual for our area. It almost looks like onyx. This one I will probably tumble to see how interesting it looks polished and then decide if I will cab it or not. 

In any event, thee Cab King cabbing machine will be fired up to work on these pieces plus I have to make more guitar picks to replace what has gone out the door recently.

If you are in the area, stop by, say hi and tour both my lapidary shop (The Lap of Lapidary) as well as the gift shop where we sell our family creations.

We're Open (Almost)!

 With the weather getting steadily better we are planning on opening on Monday, April 22.

This is shaping up to be a very special year. First off, we have a ton of new items, many featuring jewelry made from local stones shaped in my lapidary shop- The Lap of Lapidary.

Here's a pendant made from an amazing piece of local jasper, with a unique copper setting and a premium leather cord.

Another great pendant made from local agate with a sparkly quartz core.

We also have a whole new line of earrings featuring my own copper filigree design with premium beads and crystals. Here's how they look in real life.

We also ship so if you see anything you like or have a particular gift in mind, just let us know.

Soon the machines in the lapidary shop will be humming so if you have ever wondered how rock is cut and shaped and find yourself on Digby Neck, come on by.

And now for the really exciting part. Because we are getting up in years (way up!) we realize the shop can't keep going for ever. So if you visit, you will note that most items are discounted!

We look forward to seeing you if your travels take you to the unique part of Nova Scotia known simply as "The Neck"

Have a great summer!

Spring Comes To The Neck??

 There are few things less predictable and constant than our local weather. Case in point- a few days ago it was (for here) very cold, -9C. Then it warmed up and we had a beautiful sunny day with a high of +15C. Yesterday, the wind kicked up from the south and the temperature went from 0 to +12 as the winds increased, eventually topping out over 90 Kilometers per hour. From 2 AM last night to 6 this morning the temperature sank to +1. I know because the wind was howling and the rain was hitting the windows in sheets, making sleep impossible! Then it started to snow. And today this was my view over coffee.

Now the real beauty of this shot is where the sun is rising. In the dead of winter, it would be coming up where the telephone pole to the right is so we're making real progress!

Next thing you know, we will be putting the store sign up and be open for business so starting next week, I'll be full time at the jewelry bench making new (and hopefully interesting) pieces such as these.

Of course, that means I'll be sharing my Norwegian wife's studio so I'm buying us both shirts.

Hope to see you this summer!

One Door Shuts...And Another Opens

 Well, the scenery sure has changed. I now look out on several inches of snow with more to come today. Lapidary work requires a lot of water and right now that water is cold- VERY cold.

So now the scene shifts to fabrication and that takes place on my bench in my alloted space in "the real artist's" studio.

I have a problem that would be the envy of most- too much beautiful material! The real artist (AKA She with the agate eye) keeps finding me beautiful agates, jasper, amethyst, carnelian- you name it. I literally have enough good material to keep me going for decades but at 77 years old (and I mean OLD) I don't see decades in my future. So the first task has been to pare down the "stash" to a manageable amount.

As you can see this hasn't been an easy job. The small oval container just to the left of the blue bin contains well over 100 possible cabs to set. I'll probably get that down to about 20 that I'll start working on soon.

So if you ever want to buy some beautiful cabochons to make your own pieces, let me know.

What's New at The Artist's Mark?

 We are now well into fall and that means I get to start making pieces with all the beautiful stones I created through the summer. But first, I have to finish off the ones I left at the beginning of spring. here's a sample of a few.

 I even finished a few popular sea glass pendants. So a lot of the empty spaces in the shop have been filled.

The last job in the rock lab was to finish a few specimen pieces. Here's one- a gorgeous piece of local plume and fortification agate..

This one is pretty special since that sparkly quartz druzy pocket goes all the way through. So my plan is to mount this to a piece of driftwood with a tea candle right behind the druzy.I've tried it and it creates an amazing effect. Look for this in the shop next spring but I predict it won't last long.

The "Real Artist" is painting up a storm and threatening to make a few mixed media statement pieces with me so stay tuned!

One Door Closes and Another Opens

 The days are much shorter now and the water is too cold on these old arthritic hands. So the rock lab- The Lap of Lapidary- is shut down until spring. This week was spent finishing off a few stones and cleaning the machines. The Cab King got a total overhaul after a very busy summer and a heavy job was made much lighter by my OCD artist partner in crime. 

As some readers will remember, Vickie makes some very beautiful paint from the rock dust pigment that collects in the machines and being who and what she is, the machines get a meticulous cleaning to ensure it all ends up in her bucket! Here's her Cab King haul.

I find it interesting how the colour varies from different areas. The darker stuff on the left came from the dried sediments in the bottom of the wastewater collection bucket while the lighter material was collected from the pans underneath the wheels.

I also made a big decision to install a new set of wheels. The 8 inch Cab King comes with an extra set of the soft wheels and I had bought new hard ones. The old ones have plenty of life and I'll probably sell them but I figure at the age of 75, it's doubtful I'll outlive this new set. Anyway, it's a new life goal!! And now the Cab King looks better than it has since the day after I started using it.

 So as that door closes for the winter, the door to the jewelry bench opens.

I have several new techniques I want to try and tons of beautiful stones to finish- all under the critical eye of The Real Artist who occupies her Real Art Domain beside me. Our hatches are all battened down here and I hope that wherever you are, you're set to enjoy the winter!

Stay tuned to see what mischief we can get into!

Cheers.

Latest From The Lap of Lapidary

 While we have had more visitors recently, I've still had time to get out to the shop and do some cutting. Here are some recent efforts.

The first is a beautiful piece of our local moss (some call it plume) agate.

This one had some nice colour and patterning and the inside sure didn't disappoint!

It shows the typical gorgeous golden plumes and some beautiful blue/grey pockets of fortification agate.

The next one was a real surprise. Quite frankly, this one had me stumped on the surface.

It had some nice yellow colour that always suggests sagenite but not much in the way of patterning. But inside...

This one has everything including the kitchen sink. There is definitely sagenite but also fortification agate and deep chocolate areas of what I suspect to be haematite. If I can get this to polish, I'll get some amazing cabochons! And to that end, I've already cut some additional slices.

By the way, these rocks are both local from Digby Neck. Stay tuned!