FEATURED WORK

A stone that I am particularaly fond of is Australian opal. I love the "play of color" within the stone. Color in precious opal is caused by the regular array of silica spheres and voids diffracting white light, and breaking it up into the colors of the spectrum-not unlike the way we see color on a ruby-throated hummingbird.

Opal was formed during the Tertiary Period (1.8-70 million years ago). I purchase most of my opal direct from the miners working the Lightning Ridge, Yowah, Andamooka, and Korite fields of Queensland and New South Wales. I recently had the opportunity to purchase some unique opalized wood. This formed as silica-rich opal solution flowed into buried wood millions of years ago.

Of course opal isn't the only stone that I work with. I truly enjoy moonstone both faceted and cabochon cut and frequently use it as an accent stone. Moonstone has a property called adularescence, a billowing blue glow from within. American pearls from the Tennessee River with their lovely luster, unusual color and form which gives each pearl a unique character are another favorite. The list goes on...