Scenery Stone Jasper cab and large rough garnet beads by Gary WilsonPoppies and Sand Necklace and Earrings
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Another one of those, "How did you paint that on there?" stones! (Hint: I didn't.) There are too many scenic landscape jaspers to list here, many from our own Pacific Northwest, e.g., Owyhee, Deschutes, Bruneau, Blue Mountain, Willow Creek, Gary Green, Starry Night, Caressite, ... and of course the "King of Jaspers" Morrisonite. There are also very scenic jaspers which I assumed were from China, one I used years ago was called "Chinese Picture Rock" and something about this stone is vaguely reminiscent of that one. One can find "Chinese Picture Jasper" from China on line today. You might also find a photo of "Chinese Dendrite Jasper" (or "Dendritic") which actually comes from Malheur County, Oregon (go figure!). Hans Gamma and Lauritz A. Jensen show 3 photos of it in their highly recommended Picture Jaspers from the Northwest (link below).
I'm having trouble finding this "Scenery Stone Jasper" on line, but of course that's why I depend on Gary-- he always has the most amazing material, often before others have it, and sometimes from small deposits that nobody else ever winds up offering. So I saw this stone in Tucson and could not pass it up! All that was left was to figure out what beads might complement it nicely. I have a lot of "picture stone" beads, now called "picture jasper," but they didn't work at all. And it needed something extra as well. Sometimes there are smaller stones of the same material that can be used as accents, I didn't find any at the time. So I took the stone to my go-to stone matching bead maker, Karen Ovington and purchased a number of beads I thought might work with it, but wasn't satisfied that I'd really found the perfect match... until I looked through various project trays in my studio for "what should I make next?" And the focal bead you see above was in one of those project trays with a stone it wasn't particularly happy with. I put it with our Scenery Stone Jasper and really couldn't believe it!! I had the bead for several years before I bought the stone ... how did Karen match the bead to the stone perfectly without seeing it? Years before the stone was even cut? Clearly an example of a "match made in heaven" and I am so grateful!
Gary's two large raw garnets, Gail Crosman Moore's beautiful sea urchin, some rutilated quartz, lots more garnets, some fossil coral beads to brighten things up a bit, and here you are! I hope you'll order this set today, there will never be another.
