Eureka!!!

My time in the Lapidary Shop in Shoup Park last night proved fruitful in a way I cannot even begin to describe:

I finally GOT it:

the feel of the cab in my hand on the wheel

I understood what the rocking was for

how the dome feels when it's getting to be just right...

it was magic

and

it yielded an orphan ring: what you see above is a piece of pristine Queensland Agate from Australia cut, ground and polished by ME!!!

Set in a garden of hammered granules and pierced tendrils, partnered by a piece of gorgeous blonde calcite, which I did not cab...

this, of course, is the ring top in its raw form with the stones just gently sitting in their cradles: the band has not been made yet because I am waiting for YOU to tell me it's yours:

first convo will be the owner, made in your size.

I'll edit here when the woman who owns this baby contacts me!

UPDATE: It has been snagged!! :)

xoxoxo

Secondly, this unreal piece of Sonora Sunrise was re-cabbed by me yesterday, having purchased it in Quartzite with a completely unfinished, scratchy top and chipped sides.

It is now utterly perfectly divine. Smooth.

Happy.

Lapidary is opening up a part of my soul I have longed to reconnect with: when I work on the wheel or on my flat lap I am again a 7 year old kid in Mrs. Mayer's art class; free, unbound and ready to get messy...

then it was paste

glue

and paper bits

now it is a soft layer of silt that covers my hands driving home

and a wet belly from where I got too excited to put on an apron.

To hug you right now would be the only way to show you my joy in its true form:

I am a kid again.

Hallelujah :)

xoxoxoxox,

Allison