Tucson 2016

I'm back and (mostly!) recovered from the annual Tucson Gem Show visit. And it was wild and wooly like it is every year. Though this year was maybe a little less crazier than normal. ;)

I traveled later in the show's duration than I normally due, because of a conflict during the first week of the show. And I didn't like that one bit. I felt like I'd missed out on a lot of things that I was looking for; several of my regular gem sellers didn't have much - "much" being a relative term, of course - for my discerning eye. Next year I'll be back on the opening weekend to grab all the lovely goodies I can manage. ;)

But I didn't come home empty, by any means. I've already shared several photos of my finds on Instagram and on Facebook, but I've got some more / better shots now that I'm home, and here you get to really see some of the marvelous things I found:

"More druzy" was definitely on my list. I'd started working with some last year, and small pendants like the one below were well received. I didn't find any more of the blue druzy, but I did get a lot of silvery (titanium) druzy.

I bought some bigger sizes - probably the most often-asked question of 2015 was, "Do you have any BIGGER druzy?" - and I think some of these will work quite well in my specialty neckpieces, like this one:

I'm enjoying creating these larger statement necklaces and druzy is a great way to get some sparke into the designs without using faceted gems. :)

And then I bought some REALLY big druzies. These will be interesting to design with and more of a challenge to set, but they are really, really grand gems and I can't wait to play with them.

And then there were *these* druzies. Love the effect of the druzy intermixing with the host rock! The top one almost looks like a crystallized lava flow, and the bottom one reminds me of going caving and seeing the stalactites / stalagmintes below the earth. What fun!

But it wasn't *all* crystal-y goodness this year. In fact, you might say I went the opposite direction on some of my purchases. These are lodolite quartz, sometimes known as "garden quartz" because of the lush plant-like inclusions) and they are cut to be very "in depth" to bring out the colorful inclusions within the stone with an almost 3-D effect. I'm slowly building a small collection of these, and was pleased to find some stunners at the gem show:

And of course I did manage to buy some blue / green gems. I have so many of these in lovely, rich color patterns. My soul adores bold colors! So even though I was not "supposed to" buy any more...I found just a few that I couldn't resist.

This is one of those that just HAD to come home with me. Azurite chrysocolla. which up close, looks like the waters on a Capri vacation (not that I've ever been, but it looks like what I *imagine* it would be...the sea, the spa, the cliffs....which may be even better than the reality). :)

And of course some labradorite. I LOVE labradorite. And I HATE buying it. Because you have to hold each one up and see where and how it flashes. Some labradorite is great from a horizontal perspective (like if you're looking down onto a ring or bracelet) and some is great from a vertical perspective. So a stone that can look marvelous for a pendant, will look gray and dead if you try to put it in a ring. It takes me a long time to pick out labradorite. But then I am exceptionally happy once they've been selected and are at home with me. :) The color is off in this shot on the teardrop at bottom right because of the angle, but I promise it's going to make a great pendant!

I also bought a few - just a few - rougher, non-cabochon items. I want to incorporate more texture into my work with the gems, and while I love the smooth cabochons, sometimes a little variation is good. These are aquamarine nuggets. Aquamarine happens to be one of the gems I think has a lot more personality in a rough cut than all smooth and polished.

Also a little "rough around the edges" - a couple of amethyst stalactites. These are from actual stalactites that form on cave ceilings. They're lovely and unusual. I took home just two. :)

And now, it's time to get working in the studio again. I'm off to Miami next week for my second art festival of the year, so it'll be down to the wire to get more designs made before I leave. Hope you enjoyed the eye candy today though! I'll share some more as time permits. :)

Unstoppable

I saw this on Facebook this week, and shared it:

because I know we all need reminders, now and then, of how the race goes not to the swift, but the steady. How the damn tortoise eventually, finally, plods up to the finish line and gets a...what? Round of applause? The satisfaction of accomplishment? Because sometimes there's no trophy, no cash prize, no adoring crowd. The win comes from within.

I had no idea how soon I personally would need the above quote.

Tonight, on the eve of my first art festival this year, I got some commentary about my jewelry designs that stopped me cold. You'd think it really wouldn't, anymore...after more than a decade in this business, my skin is pretty thick. But it's those damn shots from left field (or hell, behind you when you didn't even know it was coming) that will take you down.

But there's that *other* quote...

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall" - Confucious

Time to get up again. Tomorrow is a new day and...well, tomorrow is a new day. Game on.

Simple is Hard.

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” 

The drawing(s) are Picasso. The quote, Steve Jobs. Two giants among men, both with vast talents and vision. Both ultimately able to "do simple" so very, very well. 

I have been working, for some time, on a line of "simple" and yet "not dull" jewelry, that will give me a little relief from the constant designing of my one of a kind, un-simple creations. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE making the dramatic, statement-y designs. But they require a lot of time and energy. And there is only so much of either to go around...which is why I find myself straddling that line between fresh, uncomplicated, and yet not done to death. Because everything in design is a line, a dot, a circle.The basics have been with us for thousands of years, in archtiecture, jewelry, ceramics...look around you, and you'll see it too. It's not easy to be original. :) 

So. Hopefully the hard stony ground will yield its own rewards when the time comes...it usually does. But right now, I am reminded of another quote, from Mr Picasso:

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction".  

Oh yes...tear it down and build anew. I'm on it. :)