In The Studio

It is always exciting to see what new mineral specimens have come to the market and last month I found some exquisite stilbite specimens at the Denver Gem and Mineral Show. It was an OMG moment and I instantly knew that I wanted to create a new type of Pocket piece with the stilbite and some black and grey marble I had on hand.

Stilbite grows in cavities in volcanic rocks and so it is especially apropos that it is part of my Pocket Series. This stilbite comes from west-central India where it occurs in one of the largest volcanic provinces in the world: the Deccan Traps. Geologically it is fascinating because hundreds of thousands of square miles of basalt were extruded at the end of the Cretaceous which is another mystery surrounding the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Here I am creating a juxtaposition of the stilbite and banded marble. The contrast in color and texture are very tantalizing. There is a secret little pyrolusite nodule tucked into the mix that adds an earthy component and further echoes the pocket/cavity/vug theme. It should be finished in a couple of weeks and here are some progress pictures: laying out the specimens on the marble, laying them out on the paper pattern, outlining the crystals on the pattern, testing the layout on the marble, and the final pattern to be cut.

In The Gallery

One of the exciting outcomes of the Foothills Art Center exhibition is a new video just released about the artist talk I gave last month. In it I discuss my Geologic Time Spiral – the concepts behind it and its construction process. The link to the video is below.

Many thanks to my videographer Bob Taylor!

On The Web

Did you notice our new look? We’ve been working hard the last several weeks updating the website. Now you can flip through the galleries quickly and easily, all with a clean new interface. Please take a look at www.stonequiltdesign.com and let us know what you think!