I'm out of words today . . .

 Honest.  Do you ever just run out of words?

I'm busy getting ready for a show in Omaha next weekend and I'm cranking out the juicy stuff and loving every minute of it.  Reminds me that what I really love is cutting and polishing my own stones and hand-fabrication - metalwork - fire - hammers.

So here you go.  A little bit of lavender color chalcedony cut from a band of blue agate, translucent and glorious.  Set in sterling silver and accented with a little drop bead of sunset color carnelian.  For my money, nothing is more satisfying than taking a little bit of pretty stone and making it prettier.

The end.

Oh, for sale.

For a short time : Montana Agate . . .

Birds on a Wire

 Blessed with a handful of little slabs of Montana Agate this summer and I finally got the chance to sit down and polish a few and o.m.g.  Gorgeous stuff.  So gorgeous that it's hard to decide where to cut to maximize the beauty.

Love the minimalist designs in each slab - they really speak.  Above is 'Birds on a Wire' and below is 'Lightning Strike'.

Lightning Strike

Reaching

The little lozenge with a tube of Montana Agate swinging underneath is simply 'Reaching'.

These pieces are intended for a gallery show in late November but for a short time they will be on sale in my etsy shop beginning Sunday morning, 27 October and will be removed if not sold by 27 November.

I would love to see these little gems off to a good home where their beauty will be appreciated for the glowing goodness and worn each and every day.  They only get better with time.

I will be cutting and polishing more of the little slabs of Montana Agate but for now, I offer you these.

Loading up the shop . . .

It's an experiment.  I am sending out six gift certificates over six consecutive weekends in giveaway bags.  These bags are going out as prizes at a local racetrack and as a 'thank you' to fans and supporters and will, of course, contain more than just my gift certificates.  In fact, people will be encouraged to pass along what they don't intend to use and I'm hoping these certificates will eventually get into the right hands.  So today was spent taking new pictures and listing listing after listing on etsy.  Fingers crossed.  We'll see what happens next. 

January sunset . . .

Skinny gold orange sliver of the barely-set sun, darkening evening grey January sky, striped bands of layering clouds and jet contrails.

All at once in this banded agate.

I'm committed to getting back to what I love working on most of all : lapidary and setting the stones I cut and polish.  I have so many delicious cabs on my bench and I have spent the weeks leading up to Christmas working on the 'quick work'.  Not particularly satisfying for me but results oriented work.
With this new year : new work
Simple
Direct
Clean
Fresh
Oh, and my New Year's Resolution every year is to make contact with at least one old friend who has dropped off my radar screen.  This has been my Resolution every year for at least a decade and it has been so rewarding.
Completely doable.  
So if you've dropped off my radar, expect a call.

Dragonfly wings . . .

It was a revelation of sorts.  

My darling friend Rachel 'Two Dog Pond' dropped by last week to take a look at my torch and haul off my wrought iron outdoor bench and table (okay, you didn't really need that information) and she had on the most interesting and lovely necklace that I'd seen in a while.  She had found a dragonfly wing down by the pond (yes, there really is a pond) and sandwiched it between two pieces of glass, worked her magic by soldering it between the glass pieces and made a pendant.  My comment to her was that it looked so much like the Montana Agate that I've been working with that I begged her to let me copy it.  So here you have the first in a series of Dragonfly Wings.

My first pendant is not set with an open back - rather, it's been pierced with two cattails that are only visible from the front when held to the light.  Still, I like having hidden elements in my jewelry so that when one comments on the piece, it opens a conversation to show them the back and start a little info sharing about the jewelry.  Maybe it's just me - I can talk to anyone and don't always need an excuse.

I digress.  This is a nice, simple pendant and I'm absolutely itching to dig deeper into the pile of Montana Agate and recreate the Dragonfly Wings in stone.  Lovely.

Stinking Water Plume Agate . . .

Weird name

And a new leaf is turned - I'm finally getting my etsy shop back up and running.  I've ignored it for a long time and now that Summer is drawing down, I am bound and determined to get my new work listed.  

Gorgeous stone

I also will be listing the stones I've cut and polished and generally just thinning the herd.  Why?  Well, I attended the auction for my friend, Roger Pabian, who passed away this Spring.  A world-class published author and authority on agates, Captain Agate's house was full to the brim with agates in all shapes and sizes, in slabs, rough and polished stones.  

Roger taught me lapidary and I believe that's why I'm so picky about my cabs and how they are finished.  One scratch and it's all the way back to the beginning wheels for me.

His auction showed me just how much a person can accumulate - and I mean that in a nice way - and how little a person can actually use on their own no matter their intent.  Now that I've polished and loved on these little stones, it's time for someone to create something of beauty with each one.  I'll never get to them all.

I'll look at them this way : I don't own any of these stones.  I'm only the caretaker and when I've enjoyed them and taken pride in their beauty, it will be time for them to move on to the next caretaker.  Just promise me that if you buy one, you'll send me pictures of your finished product.  And then you'll be the new caretaker.

Back to the bench . . .

I dusted the cobwebs off the Genie and the trim saw yesterday and became inspired all over again - reminded of how much fun it is to take a little nugget of red rock and coax a lovely little polished cabochon out of it.  It is indescribably rewarding to make a piece of jewelry that I have taken from rough rock through to the finished product, set it and admire it.  Better yet, have others admire it.

This time, my friend Lisa sent me two little nuggets of Lake Superior Agate that her niece had found on her visit to Lisa's home in Minnesota this summer.  She wanted them set as a keepsake to remind her of her trip.

I sliced, polished and set the first one completely in copper and I must say - I really like the way this bracelet turned out.  From beginning to end, completely handmade.  I made the bezel strip from 26ga sheet copper flashing and the raised edge from copper wire left from an electrical project in my drafting room and a length of copper wire chain.  A little carnelian dangles from the end where the hook holds it all together.

I am well pleased with myself.

Prudent Man Agate . . .

I'll admit it right now, this is going to be a hit and run.  

I wanted to quickly post this pic I just took of the lovely pendant I made yesterday (I've got to finish the laundry and you know the litany of other stuff that goes by the name of housework, doggone it).

However, here we have a sweet little piece of Prudent Man Agate - not the best piece of Prudent Man I've seen but I wanted to work with the material and this one has wonderful depth.  Now I'm on the lookout for a slab that I can cut and polish to my own specifications.  

Great stuff, yes?

Today's cache . . .

Bitter.  Sweet.  

Some of you remember my relating to you that my lapidary instructor and dear friend, Professor Roger Pabian passed away before Thanksgiving of last year.  As it is with serendipity in a bitter sweet way, the woman who spent 41 years going on rock hunting expeditions with him was the Lincoln Gem and Mineral Show this weekend and was selling some of Captain Agate's work (his wonderful nickname).  

I spent the better part of an hour there with my friend Jan and we combed and picked over dozens of Roger's beautiful cabs, mostly agates, and there we found the best and most beautiful bits and pieces of Captain Agate's passion.  He could coax wonderful scenes from an agate!

I just couldn't resist buying a whole handful of Roger's beautiful stones and I celebrated Captain Agate by taking one of the lovely little pieces of Montana Agate this morning and turning it into a pendant.

I think it's gorgeous.  I do love this little cab and the patterns in it are wonderful made even better with the sliver of burnt orange running through the top.  The three little carnelian beads make a perfect accent.

A little bit of Roger.

Buttermilk sky . . .

I bought a handful of tumbled Blue Lace Agate tumbled stones at the Farmer's Market last summer thinking they would surely be good for something, sitting prettily in a glass tumbler on the windowsill for several months. On a whim, I took one to the lapidary bench, flattened the back and rounded and smoothed and polished until I had the sweetest little bit of sky blue agate ever.  The dotty patterns emerged so perfectly!

This stone has the pale, faraway look of a Spring sky, dotted with high puffy clouds, what we call around here a buttermilk sky. I set it in sterling silver with soft lines, a cloudlike line surrounding the scalloped bezel and hung it with a softly rounded pinned bail so it swings gently hung around your neck.

This lovely little pendant is just another of my developing series of work inspired by the Nebraska Prairie landscape. More to come and certainly more of the Blue Lace Agates. I have a windowsill full.

Copper Captured Agate . . .

Different but the same. A gorgeously sweet little cylinder of agate captured in a copper cap with a copper swinging bale.

Completely handmade by me from raw materials here on my bench, I took sheet copper and cut a strip to fit around the top of the cylinder bead. After making sure it was a good, tight fit, I soldered the seam and cut a bit of copper for the cap and soldered that on, too. I 'eyeballed' the bead holes and drilled two holes on either side of the cap through which the silver wire would be threaded and torch balled with the lightly hammered strip on either side to make a sweet swingy bale. Like a basket handle.

I thoroughly enjoy hand fabricating these pieces and there is nothing more fun than forging a piece from beginning to end with nothing but fire and force. Honestly, what could be more satisfying?

Sustained and soothed . . .

Early last week I lost a dear friend, Roger Pabian, a retired Professor of Paleontology at the University of Nebraska. We first met 12 years ago when I signed up for a jewelry workshop and was seated across the table from him. I was new to Lincoln but my husband was a life-long resident and a fairly high profile guy, having raced locally among other things. As we introduced ourselves, Roger piped up, "You wouldn't be the woman who married Ed Bowes, would you?" Well, yes I would be and he proceeded to regale me with racing stories from 'way before I arrived in Lincoln. From that point on, we were fast friends and saw each other every Saturday night at Eagle Raceway.

I knew that Roger, or Captain Agate as he came to be known, taught a lapidary class and he finally convinced me that I should attend. Saying, "Oh that's all I need, Roger - one MORE hobby", I took the class and was hooked. I now am proud to be able to cut and polish my own stones for my work and I will forever be grateful for Captain Agate's pushing me for excellence. How many times did he make me redo a stone I thought was finished? A gazillion but I learned from the best, I think.

Roger passed away in his sleep last week, far too early in his life as he had just turned 75. It came as a surprise to all of us and it will take a while to sink in. I worked at my bench for a few hours yesterday and could not take my mind off everything he taught me and I had to laugh that his writing was still on the 'spitter' of my lapidary machine telling me 'This Side Up'. That Roger . . .

After a long day at Roger's funeral and time spent with those who knew him, I came home to a box on the porch in front of my door. A box full of wonderful things from my friend, Lisa 'Lil Fish Studios'. In the box were two wood boxes which I collect, Minnesota wild rice, pancake mix, honey (oh my, wonderful honey!) and a little Lipton tea tin. Inside - a wood spool and a tiny agate.

Although Lisa had no way of knowing it when she sent it, that tiny agate will become one of my most cherished possessions. It arrived on the day we said goodbye to one of the world's leading authorities on agates and one of my dearest buddies. I'll miss you, Captain, but I'll be able to come into my library and pick up that little Lake Superior Agate and laugh a bit as I remember you, see your eyes crinkle and hear you chuckle as you tell story after story.

Thank you, Professor Pabian. Thank you Lisa. You have no idea what a treasure you sent me, my dear friend.

Lovely heart . . .

This is one gorgeous stone. A showstopper.

An incredibly colorful piece of Moctezuma Agate with beautiful bands of orange, pink, green and buff and is striking when pinned to my brown wool jacket. I bezel set in a large open heart shape, all sterling silver.

Snowbound Workshop . . .

Funny how two feet of snow can spur you into action but that's exactly what has happened since our first snowfall at Christmas. It seems that being housebound for several days and succumbing to the solitude and inability to get out and do I-don't-know-what gave birth to a growth spurt in my little studio.

I have two trunk shows in the next six weeks and building up my inventory has been as simple as just staying in and creating. I am replenishing the galleries and stocking up for the times to come when I'll be out in the Spring air, something I hope comes soon.

Earring-alicious

So I found these wonderful gemstone beads on limabeads.com - a little bit of Rainbow Soocho Jade and a little bit of Agate. I'm in an earring mode this week and I need to spend a little time hibernating in my studio. These two little guys were turned out yesterday.

Time to 'git bizzy for Spring' and these will certainly get me started in the right direction.

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 . . .