New Woods

AZ Promised

Tucson, Arizona 2/09/13, Both same day, 20 miles apart

 

 

Rock Shopping

 

H13

1/1/13

West 2012

Hinch Creek in the cloud shadow

Lichens, not an algae not a fungus

 Douglas Fir, ancient giant of the MT forest

Madison River, Beartrap Fire 2012

Madison River, Beartrap Fire 2012

Madison River, Beartrap Fire 2012

Privately Held Bison

Private, No Trespassing. West Pine Creek

Paradise Valley, East Mill Creek, Highland Trail #69: Hot, smoky and dry

All Montana, rock hunting etc...

Agates and Freaks, The Color of Summer

L: Widgiemooltha, Australian Gaspeite on White Glass and Myrtle R: South African Sugilite on White Glass and Myrtle

1. Australian Chrysoprase on Myrtle  2. Tanzanian Lavender Quartz on Myrtle  3. Tanzanian Amazonite on Sycamore    4. Tanzanian Quartzite and White Opal on Walnut  5. Hindu Kush Lapis on Walnut

L to R: Sunlight Creek Chacedony, Montana Moss Agate, Montana Moss Agate. All On Silver mounts.

L to R: Madagascarian Demantoid Garnet on Silver,  Idaho Elk Ivory on Silver, Brazilian Kyanite on Silver , Vietnamese Ruby on Silver, Sikote Alin Metorite, Eastern Siberia, 1947 on Silver

New pieces July 19 at Robin Richman. Please join us 4-7

Reflections Recap

Flanders Lake Gallatin Range Montana July 2009

Porcelainite and Crazy Lace Agate. The yellow wood is Osage Orange, the black is Hickory

Petrified Wood

The PETRIFIED WOOD is from Southwestern Montana. It was a living tree some 40 to 60 million years ago, frozen in time when the Yellowstone super volcano buried it alive. The cellular structure of the wood has been converted to quartz over the years by the silica rich waters seeping in and out. The source of the silica is the ash from the volcano.

Obsidian, Glass Butte

The OBSIDIAN is from Glass Butte, Eastern Oregon. It is produced when silica rich
lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with very little crystal growth. Obsidian
is mineral-like, but not a true mineral because as a glass it is not crystalline and its composition is too complex to comprise a single mineral. It is sometimes classified as a mineraloid, that is an amorphous substance lacking a systemic internal arrangement of atoms. This explains the wild variations in color seen in the slices above in addition to the fact that long ago this was a flowing liquid! Do you see an owl or a gremlin?

Porcelainite, Powder River County Montana

 The spot

The PORCELAINITE is from Powder River County, Southeastern Montana along the side of US
highway 212 in the road cut. It was formed when the coal seam lit on fire sometime in the last few million years and fired the clay layers above it therby creating a ceramic material via geosynthesis. At any given time there are many coal fires burning underground all over the planet. These pieces are all mounted on hickory.

Lapis, Green Quartzite and Rhyolite

The LAPIS is from Northeastern Afghanistan, Badakhshan
Province, Hindu Kush Region. The main component of lapis lazuli is lazurite, a feldspathoid silicate
mineral with the formula (Na,Ca)8(AlSiO4)6(S,SO4,Cl). Most lapis lazuli also contains calcite
(white), sodalite (blue), and pyrite (metallic yellow). It is one of the oldest mined stones on the earth, having been mined as far back as 5000 years ago.


The GREEN QUARTZITE is from South Africa.
It is is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone.
Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure
most often related to crushing by tectonic plates.

The RHYOLITE is from the Sweetwater Road Rhyolite
intrusion near Dillon, Montana. It is an igneous, volcanic rock of silica-rich composition.

The view at The Sweetwater Road Rhyolite spot.

Mexican Crazy Lace Agate

The MEXICAN CRAZY LACE AGATE is from the Crazy Lace Mine, Chihuahua Mexico.
It Is formed when cavities in Cretaceous age limestone (90 to 65 million years old) filled in with waters
containing silica and other minerals which are deposited over long periods of time. Variations in the
character of the solution or in the conditions of deposition may cause a corresponding variation in the
successive layers, so that bands of chalcedony often alternate with layers of crystalline quartz.

Reflections of You

At Robin Richman January 15, 2012 it's “Reflections of You,” a new collection consisting of book matched stone slices made into neck pieces, earrings and rings. The pieces allude to the Rorschach Tradition, started in 1921, in which Hermann Rorschach began using symmetrical ink blots for psychometric analysis. This became known as the Rorschach Inkblot Method. A psychologist can speculate on one's personality characteristics and emotional function according to what they see in the inkblots.

Fantastic faces, places and scenes are reflected in the shapes and internal structures of the stones from this collection.

Featured stones include Mexican Lace Agate, Eastern Montana Porcelainite, Oregon Obsidian and select cuts of 50 million year old petrified wood. The stone slabs are mounted on carved wooden substrates, and strung with silver chains, each being as unique as the person wearing it.

Old Friends, New Light

Beaver!