THE RARE BEAUTIES WE ALL PONDER
MANY BUT NOT ALL BEACH STONES ARE BORN OF THIS LAKE
Thomsonite, Isle Royale Greenstone (Chlorastrolite) and Agate are not the only gems I use. "The rare and unusual beauties we all ponder" is referring to the unidentifiable stones found on Lake Superior that can range from beautiful subtle specimens to near freakish oddities. The thing to remember is that not all of these stones are actually born of Lake Superior. They were brought here as glacial till or detritus left from the great glaciers passing over what is now Lake Superior’s surface, dropping what are now some of our treasures from hundreds of miles or more away! You will see these in my work and you will find them yourself, and I invite you to bring them in and talk about making them into something special for you!
Lake Superior holds so many mysteries, so many treasures. Here I will share some of them with you. We know of the Lake Superior Agate of course, the rare Thomsonite and the King of LSG (Lake Superior Gems) Chlorastrolite or Isle Royale Greenstone. These stones, unable to be mined. Only the Lake can gently give them up slowly over thousands of years. Water is the miner.
THIS! this is a crazy collection of some of my favorite Lake Superior Gemstones. Some in beginning stages of design with wax bezels around them for casting. 1. Salmon Steak Paradise Beach Agate 2. A crazy Lace Eye Agate beyond belief! 3. Well A crazy Eye Agate mimicking a piece of 6 dice! 4. A tiny Paradise Beach eye Agate in Basalt mothers stone matrix 5. a large high dome Shadow agate 6. I had to title this as “Gentle Wave holding Full Moon on Superior Beach” 7. Rare double eye lime green and red Thomsonite. they don’t make em like this anymore. From a Turn of the century (early 1900s) collection.8. unpolished natural surface Paradise beach eye agate. 9. Phenomenal green and pink Thomsonite. 10. Freeform partial polished and shaped eye agate 11. A amazing high dome Shadow Agate with a color reminiscent of Sunstone. 12. Just a bad-ass natural peel
All of these are available for commissioned works. You just don't see small jewelry sized agates and Thomsonite like these any more.