Over hundreds of millions of years, chemical reactions and forces within the earth have combined elements to create a seemingly endless variety of gemstones.
Some, like labradorite, display a variety of rainbow-like colors depending on how the light hits them.
Others, like Montana moss agate, are milky white and translucent, revealing filaments of oxidized minerals that look like trapped pieces of moss.
Still others, like K2 granite, have an almost uniform pattern to them that is punctuated by surprising patches of bright blue color.
These stones — some of which can only be found in specific remote and difficult to reach areas — are mined all over the world. From the mines, they go into the hands of skilled lapidaries, who cut and polish rough stones into shapes that best show off the features within them.
I attend gem and mineral shows throughout the United States, looking for cabochons — polished gemstones that are not faceted — that call out to me though their colors, shine, rarity, or unique appearance. I purchase some cabochons from gemstone dealers and others directly from the lapidaries who shaped and polished them. I’ve even begun shaping and polishing my own cabochons, tapping into local supplies of petrified wood, obsidian, and other rough stones.
Then I settle into my work space with wire and my tools and turn the design I imagined into reality: a piece of the earth framed with sterling silver or copper into unique, wearable art.