The Queen Has Her "Studio Cats" Again

It has been, to say the least, an eventful summer. We have had house guests for about the last 2 months and one guest, daughter Lisa, brought a special gift!

Some of you may know that Lisa, the one who lives in the Bahamas and hand dyes our Seawall Fibres yarn, puts a lot of time in as a volunteer at The Humane Society of Grand Bahama. Part of that involves being a surrogate mom for newborn kittens and she recently took a bunch that were only 3 days old! Some don't survive but two "Potcats" (what they call cats down there) did.

Now Bahamians are interesting in that they love dogs and hate cats. So the chance of a cat being adopted down there is minimal and since the organization is terribly underfunded, many are, unfortunately, euthanized.

Lisa was determined that that was not going to happen to her two "boys" so she decided to bring them to the U.S. where they have a chance.

Enter Vickie, AKA "She Who MUST  Be Obeyed"- our artist in residence. It has been several years since Vickie had the inspiration of a studio cat so she said to bring them here.
And here they are:

They are brothers and Thor is the larger. Leif is the runt of the litter but we have already ascertained that both are excellent mousers. They appear to love their new digs and have agreed to work as Vickie's inspirational "muses" in exchange for food.

And not a minute too soon since Vickie is painting a large number of "sock blanks" for the upcoming Knit City Show in Vancouver next month.

This has been our best year ever for visitors and I can assure you that on average the weather from now to the end of September is really good and whale watching is at its best. So if you are looking for a late summer escape, come to "The Neck"!

The Summer of Fog

If I was asked to sum up this summer to date in one word, it would be FOG! It's a simple equation: hot air + cold water= FOG.

Ever since I was a boy growing up in Halifax, I've loved the fog. It seems to muffle noise and add an air of mystery and showcases scenery in a haunting soft lens. Vistas you see every day take on another dimension.

This morning, the Lady with the agate eye and her amethyst challenged daughter went for a walk on the beach across the street. Here are some of the pics they came back with. Enjoy!

The rundown pier across the street

The beach at low tide

Daughter trying to find amethyst

This will all be covered in 10 feet of water soon

Our house from the water edge at low tide.

This is an amethyst-free zone

Looks like solid agate in the background.

And here's the amethyst Lisa finally found:

Ok, so it was on my workbench but who's  quibbling?

By lunch time, the sun was shining and the skies were blue and that vast expanse of beach was totally covered in the waters of St.Mary's Bay.

The everchanging vista is just one of the reasons I love living here. You should really check it out!

The Agate Eye is Hereditary- Who Knew?

This is always a busy time here at The Artist's Mark- tons of tourists visiting the shop and lots of inventory to replace.

On top of that, we have to get our wood ready to burn in the wood stove this winter (we usually go through about 2 full cords. That's 256 cubic feet of wood and that is a lot of stacking!

So last week, our granddaughter and grandson came out from Dartmouth to help. Once the wood was stacked, they went out to walk the beach in rather dense fog.

They came back with this:

Who knew that they had both inherited Vickie's "Agate Eye"?  As you can see, I was so impressed that I cut them both and I took the end piece of Erik's and tossed it in the tumbler with a load I was doing. And while it's a little "sugary" it exhibits amazing patterning.

I have managed to get two nice slices to play with and will tumble the other end piece next week.

It feels good to know that the wood is in and "The Agate Eye" has been passed on to another generation!

My New Toy- The JoolTool

My daughter Lisa, who lives in the Bahamas, is visiting and brought me a new toy. She used to do a lot of work with precious metal clay but since she started hand dying yarn, she hasn't had the time so her loss is my gain. She has given me a JoolTool! Well, she hasn't actually given it to me. She says I can use it until I die, which, according to her, better be soon!

This tool does what my various wheels do- and more! And best of all I can use it in my office in the winter when I can't get to my shop! I can't wait to try it out and when I do, I'll post some photos.

We are having an amazing summer here at The Artist's Mark and I've been very busy replacing sold stock. So if your travels take you to Digby Neck Nova Scotia, come on by and choose your free tumbled agate or jasper because everyone should own "A Piece Of The Neck"!

Latest Jewelry Creations

We have had a lot of people in the shop recently but I've managed to make a few things to replace those pieces that have found a new home.

My daughter Lisa recently sent me some silver plate bezels and one was almost a perfect fit for a really nice piece of moss agate I had already finished. Since I felt it would work best with silver, it became the perfect marriage.

This piece is already spoken for but my other project is the first of a small series I intend to complete this summer. I live in a very unique place, a small strip of land in south west Nova Scotia called Digby Neck. It is formed from a ridge of basalt which has beautiful seams of agate, jasper, carnelian, amethyst- you name it. It is made up of three parts- Briar Island, Long Island and "the mainland" and, since shear faults in the basalt have created passage ways, you must take 2 ferries to get to the end.
 Some time ago, we found a small, irregular seam of fortification agate, surrounded by basalt on both sides. Seemed like the perfect metaphor for the area so I had to try to express it in a pendant and here's the result.

I used sterling silver wire to wrap it at the points where the ferries are located and the proportions are pretty accurate. Since the agate is fortification, up close it looks like a topographical map. I hung it on a black buna cord with sterling silver findings.

I'm pretty happy with this result so will start the next one which I intend to do horizontally so stay tuned for more pics! And if you want to see this one in person, along with a lot of other unique pieces, stop by the shop!

Cheers!

Back To The Grind

Things are slowly starting to return to what passes around here for "normal" in the wake of my geologist friend Ted's return to Australia. It's amazing but it takes someone visiting to get us to explore our immediate surroundings. For instance, we made our first visit to Delaps Cove. What a beautiful and interesting spot. Here's a shot of the senior citizens:

Yes, I know my pants are dirty. They get that way when you are hunting the elusive Bay of Fundy Agate.

But now my nose (actually finger tip) is pressed to the grindstone and I am also trying to cut some of the great stuff Vickie has brought home recently. Here is a really nice dense piece that took me for ever to cut, especially since I had to do it "free style" without a flat base.

I see some very small fractures but there is some beautiful patterning and colour. In addition, my daughter Lisa sent me a large stash of silver plate bezels and one of my finished stones fit perfectly. Ordinarily I work with local rock but when you get a chance to work with something this nice, you grab it!

This spectacular piece of Moss Agate is about an inch square and the wire in back is there to help remove the stone so it can be glued into the bezel so it will disappear by the end of the day. I also have some really nice bracelet bezels to work with and that might be my next project.

So the bare spots in the shop are gradually filling back up. It has been an amazing season to date and we expect it to continue through the fall. Come and see us in September, when our weather is at its absolute best.
Cheers!

Getting To Know The Neck

Often people come into the shop and ask about restaurants or interesting places to visit so I thought today I'd discuss a few.
First- a great place to eat!
Just a little further out the Neck, in Sandy Cove, is the Schoolhouse Cafe.

I had lunch there today and found what everyone else has- the food is fantastic! I had a fresh tomato and cheese pannini and my wife, who has Celiac Disease had the gluten free chowder as did our guest. Everything was wonderful and absolutely fresh.

The menu is short and simple and changes depending on what is fresh but if you go to their facebook page, you can see the menu for that day. Don't leave without trying a cinnamon bun!

They even have a large map of part of the neck which shows places of interest- including our shop!
Check their facebook page for hours and make the time for a meal. You won't regret it!

Now about interesting places and things to do.
Digby and Digby Neck, are fascinating places to visit. But how can a visitor know about all the interesting coves, beaches, walking trails etc.? And how can they know about the teeming life in a tidal pool?
Easy!
You contact Greg Turner (no relation I swear) at Gael Tours! Greg knows EVERYTHING about our area and can take you and your family on an adventure that will even get your teen off their phones!

Check out Greg and The Schoolhouse Cafe and get the most out of your Digby Vacation
And don't forget to visit us at The Artist's Mark!