Why I LOVE Cutting rock- Part Two!

Today, I finally got to do a little rockhounding myself and while most of these are Vickie's, the last one is MINE (and it's worth the wait!).

Lets start with a really nice piece of jasper:

Actually, looking at it now, it looks like possibly carnelian- great colour and patterning. Vickie says she has dibs on the end piece but I'll get at least 4 more.

Now here's a really interesting little piece of amethyst that has been brecciated (broken) by quartz:

Don't know how this will be to work but it sure looks spectacular.

Then there's this little gem with plume and great fortification agate sections:

It looks awesome backlit:

And if you like red, you'll love this one. In person, the plumes are even nicer and I can't wait to polish it:

And now for the piece de resistance! The light was really flat and at first all I saw was the globular black hematite on the surface.

One end looked interesting- the other not so much so I decided to cut across to make the interesting end more manageable on the saw. I guess I chose a rather fortuitous spot:

So now this end looks interesting too and #1 daughter has already claimed a slab with the druzy (I think I'll get two). Back to the interesting end. In cross section it isn't much:

But oh boy, when I cut in the other direction- BAM!:

The fortification pockets are amazing and I can't wait to polish it. Don't know what will happen to the patterning as I cut slices but there is still fortification on the other face.
I may actually have to barricade myself in the rock house because it appears that several family members want a piece and they never get around to paying me!

So if you want to see some interesting jewelry made with spectacular local rock come on by! I'll be locked inside the rock shop.

Why I LOVE Cutting Rock

First off, apologies for not posting for a while. I have been busy on a few "projects" and we're putting in a new patio so life is a bit, shall we say, hectic!

But today, while I toiled away in the rock shop, Vickie went on a little "expedition" and came back with some beauties. They were so nice I decided, being the wonderful husband I am, to drop what I was doing and cut a few for her. Yeah, that's it- for HER (heh,heh).

I apologize in advance for the quality of the pics since I was outside, in high wind and sun and they were drying out but here's how they came off the saw:

I love the offset in the veining in the piece on the left. Here's another:

Interestingly, both upper and lower surfaces are green! Then of course, there was this beauty. First a view from the top.

Lots of nice fortification here and now the cross section:

And here are close ups:

And here's a gorgeous little piece that Vickie already has plans for:

Love that glassy dark area in the middle. Last, but not least, Vickie found a nice, large piece (about 1 foot by 6 inches) of "bling": (amethyst)

I'm really tempted to crack this open and see if there is any cavity behind the crystals but if I ruin it, I fear that Vickie might crack me open!

Visitor traffic is definitely picking up and I've sold so many of my bait bags filled with tumbled rocks that I've had to make more. Fortunately, I don't see myself running out of raw material anytime soon!

So now you know why I LOVE to cut rock and if you're in the neighbourhood, come on by and see some. It's even better in person!!

Lots of Great Stuff Happening!

New Hi-Tech blades have been installed on all 3 saws and have descended into some kind of cutting frenzy.
I will try to post more pics on the weekend but here's a little "teaser".
This is a rock that Vickie found and she wanted me to cut it. I didn't really want to because it didn't look too hot on the outside:

But here's how it came off the saw (this is why I LOVE cutting rock):

There are some really nice flames in this agate as well as pockets of fortification and the odd crystal druzy so this is going to be a lot of fun to polish up and shape into some cabochons for pendants.

I should be able to get about 4 pieces 4 cm x 3 cm and will try to post a pic of at least one finished piece.

The number of visitors is picking up and several pendants have gone to new homes this week (which is bad news for me since I have to make more and that seriously cuts into my "sit on the deck and drink a beer" time)!
Hope to see you soon.
Cheers!

Not Bad For a Monday

After 2 days of rain and fog, today, holiday Monday, is beautiful!

We were asked to produce a piece to be used as a prize and the buyer selected the stone but gave us total control of the setting so here's what we came up with.

It's Mexican Crazy Lace with a nice live edge in two spots and set with 100% hand made copper findings. In fact, Vickie just taught me how to make the pieces on the side, called balled head pins and those are two I made this morning.
Why yes, I AM proud of myself!
We finished it off with a really nice red leather cord that I just got in stock and it picks up the red in the stone perfectly!
Our objective at The Artist's Mark is to create interesting pieces that bear the mark of the artist(s) and that are also beautiful and we have many more like this in our shop. So come on by and check us out!
Cheers.

Closed today

Due to a family commitment, the store will be closed today, Friday but will be open the usual hours tomorrow and Sunday. On Monday, we will be open from 9 am.
Hope to see you soon!

The Art of Balance

What do you do when you are working with a stone that is "lopsided"- weighed more to one side? We did some tests and if we simply hung it (I wanted to tab set it on a copper back), it would hang on a slant.
So here's where it pays to be married to someone who is not only an artist, but a mathematician!
Vickie came up with this:

NO, this is not aboriginal art, but rather a backer plate design to balance the off- balance stone. Did I mention that Vickie is an abstract artist?
Here's the stone sitting on the copper backer plate:

I came up with the idea of creating a copper "tube" at the neck to hold the cord and now we simply had to distress the copper a bit and fold the tabs and the tube to produce the finished piece.

As you can see, it hangs absolutely vertically and this is how it looks from the back.

We added a beautiful, premium Greek leather cord (that picks up the stone's colour perfectly) and hand made copper clasps and after we distress the back copper a little more, it will be for sale in the shop for $85 Canadian.
I love solving these types of problems- especially when you have someone around to "do the math"!
The stone is set nice and solid and the colours and striking patterns are even more vivid in person.
It is interesting to note that this Mexican Crazy Lace just seems to go perfectly with copper and it was most likely collected near a copper deposit. In fact, it has a tiny area of oxidized native copper in it that creates a tiny bright green highlight.
Hope to see you soon!

P.S. I will be doing a blog post next week on our recent day trips to give you an idea of what you can do and see if you come to the Digby area so check back later!

First Pieces Using The New Machine

So I have been playing around with the new Hi-Tech slant lap, woorking on some straight faced specimens but finally decided to bite  the bullet and do a couple of cabs. I figures I might as well jump right into the deep end and use a couple of beautiful pieces of Mexican Crazy Lace and here's the result:

When I got it polished, I noticed that there is a little native copper in it.
There are a few scratches, due to the fact that the 180 grit wheel was a little rough because of being new but all in all I'm pretty pleased- especially by how well the shaping worked. This material also looks really nice back lit

So I'm going to have to set it in a way that light can shine through.
My second tumbler load will be finished tomorrow and there is some really nice stuff in there as well so I'll try to post a few pics.
Also, Vickie and I have been doing some day trips so next week I am going to do a post to show some of the things families can do when they visit the area.
Hope  to see you soon!
Cheers.