Tourmaline Mine

A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of joining some members of the Golden Gate GIA Alumni Association in visiting the Stewart Lithia Mine in Pala, CA (http://www.mmmgems.com/). Blue Sheppard is the owner of the mine, and thanks to his generosity and to the organizing of Starla Turner we were invited to come have a tour of the mine. Ordinarily Blue doesn't offer tours of the mine, instead inviting the public onto the property to sort through bucket-fulls of tailings (the gravel that's brought out of the mine) in the hopes of finding some tourmaline crystals.

Before we got to go into the mine or to hunt for tourmalines in the tailings, Blue treated us to a history of the Stewart Lithia Mine, making sure to include facts about Chinese miners looking for pink tourmaline in the late 1800s.

I wish I'd had a tape recorder with me while Blue was talking. I was absorbed with what he was saying, and as hard as I tried to remember it all...I didn't. Shoulda taken notes.

Because our group was so large, we were split into two smaller groups. One group would go into the mine while the other hunted through the tailings. My group was the first into the mine. I'm quite claustrophobic, so I was nervous to venture into the mountain. Going into thick rock in earthquake country seems like a questionable decision when paired with claustrophobia. I knew I would regret it if I let my fear take control, so I took some deep breaths and went in.

It was warm (72*), and a bit humid and stuffy with all the people. Blue led us through the first series of rooms, all while telling us more about mining culture and etiquette (don't shine your light into anyone's face).

We didn't get to see any gem-quality pink tourmalines in the mine (the purple is lepidolite, and the pink is tourmaline), but did get to see some of the empty pockets where they'd been found. When tourmalines are found in the mine they get them out of the mine as quick as they can for security reasons. Way too risky to have a treasure exposed to folks who don't understand the concept of not taking what's not theirs.

The tour was wonderful, and I got through without being too scared. Until the end. When we were at our deepest part of the mine tour Blue asked us to turn off our lights and be quiet for a few minutes so we could experience total silence and darkness. At first I thought it was kind of neat...absolutely no light could come in except what we provided by artificial means. My fondness for the situation lasted for about 5 seconds...maybe. Then I started to feel panicky. I'm not sure how long we kept our lights off. Could have been as little as two minutes or as long as four. I came very close to turning my flashlight back on and just having to apologize to everyone. Many, many, many deep breaths later Blue gave the call to light up, and we headed back out to the sunlight.

So glad I did it. Trip of a lifetime.

Spring!

Spring is here and it seems like the world is a different place. Our yard is in full bloom. There are roses exploding everywhere, the 10 ft. tall fuscia bush is dripping with blossoms, the lemons are ripe, and the orange blossoms are making everything smell good.

I've been inspired by all of the flowers and fresh air, and have been playing with a new design. They make me smile when I see them. It's like the blossoms around here popping out!

The yellow and green piece is made from serpentine, aragonite, quartz, and carnelian. The blue piece is made from angelite, moonstone and peridot.

Tucson Gem Show

In early February I went to Tucson, AZ for the world-famous gem show. It's a HUGE show. It's so big that I don't think there's any way that one person could possibly visit all of the vendors and see everything up for sale. Lots of the trade magazines recommend that anyone going to Tucson for the show buy things when you see them, because if you wait to compare prices too much you'll never find the one you want again.

I stayed with my friend, Chantel, who graciously offered me sleeping space in her studio apartment. I wanted to be sure to give her something special, so I made her a multi-strand amber and amethyst necklace.

Time went by in a warp while I looked through all the beautiful beads and loose stones. Everywhere was an explosion of color and brilliance. I found some great materials that I've been having a lot of fun working with. One of my favorite materials right now is kyanite. It's a beautiful deep blue with shocks of silver and white running through it. It's becoming more available through common material houses, but being in Tucson and being able to look at the strands in person means that I brought back some gorgeous stuff.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go up the California coast to stay in a little town called Gualala (pronounced Wa-la-la). I didn't make or research any jewelry up there, but I did get to stay in some beautiful surroundings. Always good for creativity, and lovely to share.

Restringing in the San Francisco Bay Area

The new year is coming, and lots of folks are gathering up their jewelry to get gussied up and back into good shape. That's where I come in.

I've only spread the word about my restringing services through word-of-mouth and the stores I've worked for, and I'm realizing that it's time to get the information out on the internet too. That's where I go to look for services, isn't that where other folks go too?

I'm located in the northern East Bay Area of California. I charge by the project, taking into consideration the size of the beads, complexity of the overall design, materials used, and whether I need to knot between each bead.

I'm experienced with all materials ranging from plastic to pearls, jasper to diamonds. I'm also completing my gemological studies with the Gemological Institute of America, and know what needs to be taken into consideration while stringing different materials.

I can be reached through email at cynbead@gmail.com

Everyone thinks I need a website...

Everyone thinks I need a website, and they're right. It's a lot of work, and takes a lot of time, so this is my mini-website while the big one comes to life.