'and these stones, give them a voice and what a tale they'd tell'
Picture jasper
From my desk I gazed at this view, rain or shine. In this jasper I see the beach again, orange sand and boulders at one end, a slate sea and stormy red clouds. I cut it like this to take advantage of the image created by the seams of hematite and the vivid colours of the jasper.
I collect interesting stones, not just sparkly gemstones but rocks, boulders, pebbles, real stones.
Recently on a campervanning trip around New Zealand, I just couldn't resist the draw of the mica speckled stones and ringed glacial riverbed rocks. Towards the end of the trip the stones were crashing so hazardously around the van on the winding roads that I had to deposit some along the way.
Imbued with a silent history, I feel these stones offer a glimpse of the awesome mountain range they once made up, a sense of travelling the long passage through time and gigantic geological changes to this moment, plucked from the icy water resting smoothly in my palm... yes, what a tale they'd tell.
Wingala Lapidary Club
Tucked away in the old loos on the edge of a park, amazing work
takes place here. I initially joined to use their jewellery making tools but it wasn't long before I put the silver to one side and took advantage of the wonderful knowledge and equipment at my disposal to discover and cut all sorts of fascinating stone.
Diamond coated grinding wheels with running water to cut the stones
Sanding and polishing wheels for finishing
This club is a treasure trove- fossils, stones, specimens everywhere you look.
Some of the older members have been searching out and cutting stone for decades and tell great tales of camping trips to Lightning Ridge fossicking the dusty land for opal, scouring the sapphire fields near Emerald. It's amazing what else they find too- fossils, opalised shells, thunder eggs, petrified wood...
Marie, who runs the club, casually gave me this piece of unakite. Not particularly remarkable but probably the oldest stone I've ever seen- 2,000,000,000 years old!
Some stones to cut including chrysoprase, sodalite and sandstone streaked with iron oxide bands.
The clear mineral is ulexite which is that crystal you used to get on old TV sets, used for its ability to 'transmit' images.
I call this lightning stone- a slice of drama
Fluorite
Even holding a rough piece of this mineral up to the sunlight shows a remarkable play of violet, green and yellow.
A heart between a rock and a hard place
It's always exciting cutting into a new rock, dirty grey or brown, rough and ugly on the outside but it could reveal all sorts of pictures and colour on the inside. I cut some small cabochons from this stone but these two slices placed together are so pictorial and unique I can't bear to cut them up.
Love the drama of this black and white quartz- veined stone.
Polishes up well to bring out the contrast of the colours.
My favourite cut piece- a mini landscape dusted with gold mica. Would make a fantastic brooch.
Petrified heather
A shame to cut this up, I now have some great coasters at home!
Pieces I've cut next to some of the raw stones.
Includes: jasper, mookaite, chrysoprase, amethyst, ironstone,
amazonite, malachite, rhodonite.
Lapidary is so fascinating that when I get started it is hard not to include hundreds of pictures. I'll keep some for later... topaz, garnet, opal, lapis lazuli and how I've set them in jewellery coming up!