My My Terra Firma
If you are wont to worship the Ground + Sky + Sea
Enter the Earthly Jewel Story of my most favorite gem hunting activity–in honor of Mother Earth Day.
Every year that I find myself in Tucson, hunting for stones, I count my lucky stars. Who knew this would be my job? Among all the diamonds–and rubies, emeralds, grey spinels, montana sapphires, chrysoprase thru the gemstone rainbow–I experience an outsize joy in searching for the oddball gems. By that I mean the really rare and exceptionally cool Garden quartz. These tender little faves I have dubbed Terra Firma quartz.
How do I explain what makes them so rare- and captivating? For one, the gem quality, jewelry-ready material really is quite rare. These are diamonds-in-the-rough of the quartz world, by golly! So when I happen upon a really exceptional lot, its feels as if I’ve found something almost more beautiful than diamonds, at least from my painterly self’s opinion. These are the stones that look as if they’ve captured scenes of the Natural World… like they have caught clouds within them! They also depict red rock canyons, high desert mountain ranges, some even look like coral reefs in miniature. This last comparison is one of my favorites because it reveals truths about the high desert, that, once upon a time, this vast landscape was under water (see Petrified Forest for more on that brilliance). Suffice to say, each is a diorama of natural wonder to dive into and draw from. No two are alike and each one of ours are hand selected by yours truly, with love and admiration for Mother Earth.
Hit me if you want to talk custom Terra Firma! Always game :)
Below are some of the internal features and what minerals they are composed:
Green forms, like moss and forest, are made of green chlorite.
White chlorite inclusions resemble clouds and cream-colored lichen.
Red phantoms are hematite posing as coral and red rock bluffs.
Orange is similar to red, another variety of hematite in shades of desert and rust.
Maroon inclusions, also hematite, resemble teeny floral motifs…. OR this kind of indescribable lowlight color to the pinks and peaches of the earth in Northern New Mexico. I spy this hue just along the mountain ridges with dark green piñon and juniper dots. This is where I grew up-- and its beautiful all over, but this color is best seen from the air.
I started collecting these beauties for jewelry, of course, but once I got hooked, I couldn't stop there. The pieces I brought home each year got bigger and the ideas started flowing… the Terra Firma started to fit into other stories, other forms. As they are so wonderful for gazing, I started to use them for mediation. As they are so healing to touch, I started using them as worry stones. And as they are sooooooo uniquely beautiful, I started exalting them in my sculptural pieces. Setting them into silver and bronze, atop clay objects and into the golden pool of the bronze reflecting bowls they went.
Here I am again, teasing out details of THE OBJECTS. They are real, they are soon to come! Follow along on my specially allocated instagram. And hang tight, more on this vvvvvery soon. In the meantime, sneak peeks:
Much love. XxA