The Rock Cutting Has Begun!

 Summer is here!

And it's finally warm enough for me to work in the shop with water. So the saw is humming and we've had some pretty awesome cuts so far. Here's a stone with a lot of copper oxide on the surface.

 And sure enough, the inside didn't disappoint.

You can even see a spot of native copper just to the left of the thumbnail. We also cut some very nice vein agate.

And some awesome plume /moss agate.

I just love the patterning and colour on this one so there is a really nice cabochon in its future.

Stay tuned with more cuts to come. And if you are in the neighbourhood, stop by and say hi and pick up your free tumbled rock. Take home a piece of "The Neck".

Winter Comes To The Neck

 Well, our first big snow storm has finally arrived and it's a doozy. Fortunately (for us) we are getting the least amount of snow in the province but at the other end (Cape Breton) they have drifts 10 feet high and the Halifax area has received over 2 feet! It is "Snowmageddon"!

Here's how things are looking in Cape Breton. (not my pic)

Needless to say there will be no beachcombing today. Fortunately, I have a ton of cabochons to work with.

Now the job is to choose about a dozen to make pieces for the shop. We will probably open sometime in early April and by then the store will be fully stocked.

Here's one of my favourites.

 

We are so fortunate to have such beautiful local gemstone quality agate, jasper, carnelian- you name it we've got it! Digby Neck is such a magical place.

Hope to see you next summer!

 

The Family Reunion

 A few weeks back we experienced a very rare occurance. Our daughter Lisa, who hand dyes our beautiful Seawall Fibres Yarn, was visiting from the Bahamas. Then our other daughter Sandra, who fashions a lot of our polymer clay pieces, came from Dartmouth. So for three days we had the "Original Fab Four" back together and even had our granddaughter here for a bit as a bonus! It was like going back decades- lots of recounting of family legends, cheating accusations during various games and, most important, lots of laughter!

Man I've missed that laughter.

Much time was spent in the studio and there was even some rockhounding at nearby Gulliver's Cove.

Gullivers is a beautiful spot on the Bay of Fundy and there is a public hiking trail right out to that point, with spectacular views.

Over the years we have found some nice pieces there- especially botryoidal and porcelain agate. You will notice that the pics only include Vickie and Sandra. There are two reasons for this. First, I still can't walk very well so somebody had to take the pics. Secondly, we found that in Norwegian, the name Lisa  actually means "She who cannot find silicates- especially amethyst"! I know... who would have ever thought that's how Lisa would translate but over the years we have found this to be jaw dropping in its accuracy. Lisa has been unable to locate amethyst pieces even after we have seeded the beach and told her where to look!!

Upon their return, all finds were brought to me for inspection and the usual haggling ensued as to what was suitable for cutting and what was destined for the "rock wall of shame".

So if you like rockhounding, come to Digby Neck. And if you think you've found something interesting, bring it by and I'll give you my professional opinion (limit one rock) and show you around my rock shop- The Lap of Lapidary!

Lots of Tourists

 As the weather finally improves and the smoke clears, more tourists are starting to appear and we've also seen people who come annually as they have summer homes here. I'm being kept busy making new pieces to replace sold items. Here's a real beauty combining a beautiful stone, unique hand fashioned copper setting and a show stopping Viking Knit Chain.

I have to say this is one of the most beautiful stones we have found on the neck. It positively glows!

Once again I have embarked on an ambitious project- finish 100 cabochons through the summer. Honestly, if I didn't have my Cab King with the trim saw attachment, I couldn't do it.

Believe it or not, one of the big problems I have is to be selective. Vickie has found me so much beautiful local rock! Here's a sampling.

This gorgeous piece has spectacular colour and patterning and will make a stunning pendant.

Another amazing piece with several different types of structure. It is photographed wet- hence the highlights.

This stunner has areas of moss agate on the bottom and a great pocket of fortification agate along with rich colour shifts. 

And last but by no means least, we have this show stopping combination of plume agate in an amethyst matrix. And these are just a few of this summer's haul. So if your travels take you to Nova Scotia. Make sure to come to the most interesting part- Digby Neck- and stop by to say hello and see the shop.

Cheers.

Milestone Reached!

 About 7 years ago, I started the blog to show people this beautiful part of Nova Scotia called Digby Neck and the art we produced here. As an old geezer, I didn't expect many would take the time to read it.

Boy, was I wrong!

This week, it blew through 90,000 (non bot) page views - a number I never thought possible. It has been read all over the world and I get such satisfaction when visitors come into the shop and say we decided to vacation here after reading your blog. Can I get to 100K? Only time will tell but it better happen soon because I ain't getting any younger!

So what have we been up to recently? Well, yesterday I made Vickie a new case for her phone. She couldn't work the power button with her old case so I tried to use the same design I use for my guitar pic pouches and it worked!

Happy wife, happy life!

We also had a visit from our friends who have a place down the Neck but now live in Maine. They share our passion for rocks and lapidary and brought a few things they had collected while here and I cut a couple for them on my Hi-Tech rock saw. There were some very pleasant surprises. This is why I love cutting rock!

This one has beautiful colour and patterning due to areas of plume and fortification agate. The closer you get, the better it looks!

Then there was this spectacular piece (found by the wife- see, I told you I'd give you credit!).

It was so good I cut it in two directions. The patterning is simply amazing and the limonite gives it such beautiful colour. 

So if you love rocks, come to Digby Neck! And stop by my rock shop- The Lap of Lapidary- and show me your treasures!

The Lap of Lapidary is Open

 The weather on Digby Neck has turned warm enough to turn on the outside water and that has allowed for the renewal of activities in my rock shop. The first order of business was to cut some of the finds made by "She With The Agate Eye". All these rocks were cut on my 10 inch Hi-Tech saw using their red sintered blade.

I want to say a word about the saw. I am loving it more with each cut! And having now used it for four years I can make some conclusions.

1. This saw is durable. I read comments on lapidary sights about the "cheap, flimsy build". I can assure you it is neither cheap or flimsy. Rather, it is tough and durable, easy to clean (more on that later), doesn't rust and the motor is great. For years I kept my 10 inch oil cooled saw with a new 1 H.P. motor for larger rocks but no longer. I'm selling my old friend, the Mercury 10 inch with it's nice motorized feed.

2. The red sintered blade is as good if not better than my previous go to MK-303, especially if you add a little water soluble lubricant. And I only cut material with hardness 6.5 or higher.

3. I love using water instead of oil. I cut by hand feed mostly and the water is cleaner, safer and the rocks are clean coming off the saw. As a bonus, my wife is an artist and she will actually clean my saw for me to get the sludge, with which she makes paint!(see earlier posts). She would never cut rocks on the oil saw but she enjoys cutting on the Hi-Tech.

4. Capacity. Any rock I could cut on the 10 inch oil saw I can cut on the Hi-Tech.

Now on to some examples. Here on Digby Neck, the agate, carnelian, amethyst, quartz and jasper are usually found as veins in the basalt. Here's a great example.

The vein contains agate, fortification agate and amethyst and since this particular vein actually looks like The Neck, I'll make pendants with a lot of the basalt intact. We have some spectacular plume agate and here's a good example.

I just love the pockets of fortification agate and it makes amazing jewelry. Here's another interesting example.

And last but by no means least, here's a specimen of my wife's favourite- sagenite.

Here on The Neck, we get some amazing colours in this rock- green, purple, yellow- along with amazing patterning and when it is solid, it makes awesome polished stones.

All the above stones are local and a small fraction of what can be found. So if you like rocks, stop by The Lap of Lapidary!

What's New At The Artist's Mark?

 Well folks, a very busy summer is finally winding down. First I want to thank all the nice people who stopped by and supported us (you know who you are!). We had time to do a bit of experimenting and here are two guitar picks Vickie made from polymer clay.

Thank you so much Jonathan for your detailed professional evaluation!

Vickie was also busy knitting socks from our gorgeous Seawall Fibres hand dyed yarn. Some were bought in-store but most (including these pairs) found their way to customers all over the place!

We also had some strange and exotic visitors. This white pelican, blown north by Hurricane Dorion, decided to spend a few hours in the marsh next to the shop.

But the next shots are even more rare. Our current exotic visitor is Ted, my geology friend from McGill, who made it all the way from Australia. But what makes these pictures rare is that he is actually working in the Lap of Lapidary alongside "The Lady With the Agate Eye". I know, good help is hard to find so you take what you can get. After a bit of rockhounding, we returned with treasure.

I was very proud of the two of them since they both used my Hi-Tech 10 inch saw to cut their finds and then finished them on the Hi-Tech 8 inch slant lap.

I know- they should have been wearing Hi-Tech aprons but they wanted to wear Cab King- especially since Vickie has customized hers to read "Cab Queen"!

We have pretty much finished up the lapidary work so as soon as the weather turns, we will begin fabricating new pieces to replace all those that went out the door!

As always, if your travels take you to Digby Neck, stop by and say hi and pick up your free piece of The Neck.

The King of Agates

 I am now well into my 8th decade of fascination with rocks- especially agates.

Why agates you say? Diamonds and other gems bore me but agates, with their infinite variety of inclusions, never do. I'm drawn not only to the colours but also the amazing patterns and often wonder under just what conditions they could possibly be formed.

Recently I had a visit from a man who has the same fascination- on steroids!

Pat McMahan lives in Arizona but his agate obsession has taken him all over the world. In the process he has amassed a Smithsonian worthy collection- the second largest in the world!

A few years back, his quest for new varieties brought him to Nova Scotia and to my shop, "The Lap of Lapidary" on Digby Neck and he has now visited on several occasions. Pat is particularly interested in plume agate and sagenite and we are honoured that he has left with several of Vickie's finds.

This year's visit was special. Because of Covid he had not been here for a few years and I was able to acquire a copy of his book.

To say that Pat, over the course of years and with the help of his sons, has written and published a book is like saying Rembrandt "just" painted a picture! His book is titled simply "Agates" and apart from being breathtakingly beautiful(and I don't use that term lightly) it is a stunning treasure, loaded with gorgeous colour photos of agate varieties from all over the world along with unique, valuable information.

"Agates" is a true labour of love as Pat and his sons prepared all the specimens, did all the curating and all the photography themselves.

So if you like agates, you owe it to yourself to visit Pat's website at www.agateswithinclusions.com. If you are a lapidary, you will drool at Pat's shop and collection of equipment. And if you are true lover of agates and want to go on a worldwide trek to discover beautiful varieties, indulge yourself and get your own copy of this most beautiful treasure!

Pat in his shop

The Great Cabochon Project is Complete!

 Well, it's been a hectic couple of months but the cab project is almost over- just a few days after I turned 75! And yes, I'll admit I got a little (well maybe a LOT) carried away.

My original goal was to produce 100 quality cabochons from my existing rocks and slabs. The first step was to choose the shape and I let the rock determine that as much as possible. In a few cases I kept a raw edge if it enhanced the look. Then I had to cut out the shapes using my trim saw attachment for the Cab King and it worked amazingly well.

Here I want to say a word about Cab King. I'll tell you flat out that I would not have tried this venture with my old equipment but it was possible because the Cab King is faster, much quieter and far more comfortable to use. Some say the wheels don't last but mine are great and after two years including this batch, they have plenty of life left. Also, the watering system is wonderful. One last bonus- I don't know if they recommend this but I mounted the saw in place of the fine grit wheels and was able to switch back and forth between cutting and shaping. Just have to have some protection from the turning saw blade.

So yes, I got carried away and ended up with closer to 200 stones, which is way too much for my jewelry needs for the upcoming winter but the lady with the agate eye just keeps bringing me so much beautiful rock- agate, jasper, amethyst, sparkling druzys, petrified wood- and virtually all of this batch is local from the Bay of Fundy.

There is some amazing patterning.

But some of these are just awesome when you see them with a light behind them! Here's the same batch backlit.

So my plan now is to take out any that have flaws (sometimes cracks appear towards the end) and polish some of the best pieces to 50,000 grit if I think they will look better (they are at about 14,000 now). Sometimes a surface that is too glassy can detract from the visual effect of the patterning.

Then I will post pics of smaller groups on IG and Facebook and possibly here as well and offer them for sale individually, either as loose stones or made into jewelry on site.

It has been an awesome learning experience and now I can cut some more slabs!

Covid restrictions have eased in Nova Scotia and we are getting some visitors from the rest of Canada so if your plans are taking you to this area come on by and say hi and see what we are working on.

Cheers!

Shop Update and Opening

Hi all. We have been given permission to open and our province has decided to let some travelers cross the NS border so on the off chance we might encounter a tourist, we're open!

Right now, most of the action is centered on my shop- The Lap of Lapidary- where I am getting around to cutting some of the finds brought to me by "She With The Agate Eye". And I have to say there is some pretty cool stuff!

The last one is a real mystery. I don't know if the outer "shell" is a weathering effect or not but it's all silicate. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!

So now I am defining shapes and using the trim saw attachment on the Cab King.

There will be some beautiful cabochons if I can get it done without any disasters. I'll keep you posted.

And if you are in the neighbourhood, drop by. My "free tumbled rock" box is overflowing!

Cheers!

Latest From the Lap of Lapidary

I really miss all the tourists but must confess we are enjoying the slower pace of life this summer. The lady with the agate eye has been up to her old tricks and brought some beauties home with her yesterday, including these two:

Today I fired up the 10 inch Hi-Tech saw and this is what they looked like on the inside. First, the one with all the amethyst druzys:

and here is the second one:

I have to admit, they didn't disappoint. Both the colour and patterning are amazing. And while I was at it, I cut a few more of yesterday's treasures. Here's how they look, outside and inside:

Right now we're hard at work getting our expanded web presence set up for the fall. Look for great things coming from the  Seawall Emporium. I'll keep you posted.