Monday, November 30, 2009

Artitudes Art Show and Sale

For the sixth straight year, our Lincoln-based artist group "Artitudes" is hosting an art show and sale and we've chosen a Lincoln-based charity as our partner group. Thanks to our wonderful artists, a portion of all sales will be donated drectly to The Foodbank of Lincoln BackPack Program. And an incredible group of artists we have this time - 35 of them!

If you're in the Lincoln/Omaha area, we'd love to see you there! The show will open for the First Friday Gallery Walk and will be at 8th and Q in The Haymarket at the former site of The Tool House. Dates are December 4-6, Friday 4:00-9:00, Saturday 10:00-5:00 and Sunday 11:00-4:00.

Stop in if you can - there is some incredible artwork for sale here and shopping local from your neighbors to support a local charity is a wonderful thing to do.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Custom Tiger Eye ring . . .

This piece of Tiger Eye was one of the last stones left when a friend's father purged his lapidary equipment and his rough material last summer. Sad to see things come to an end but Nancy wanted to take this one tumbled stone and turn it into something for her dad which is where I come in.

Truly a big ol' chunk of tumbled Tiger Eye, I flattened the back to create a cabochon and refined the edges so it would bezel-set. Since it was a pretty big stone to begin with, I wanted this to have a wide band with some echoes of the chatoyance in the stone's banding - hence, the layered ring shank. And I really like the way the band turned out.

I prefer a bit of oxidation and I tried that with this ring but it really cried out for high polish so there you go. Gotta listen sometimes and in spite of what my brain wants, this works better. Too, it will oxidize in the crevices over time so why rush it?

Monday, November 9, 2009

More chalcedony . . .

This time, daggers!

Here are some sweet stones that really lend themselves to this 'hinge thing' I've got going on. Such great movement in these little guys with the hinge, the swingy legs and all.

Off to The Lux Gallery . . .