This specimen is an example of bright yellow botryoidal mimetite crystals on brown limonite matrix. Yes, I don't know what any of that means either. But I do think it looks pretty unusual and cool. It was found in San Pedro Corralitos, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.
Maybe I should clarify by saying I love "minerals." Seriously. I may be geeky but I have always loved rocks. When I was about 8 my parents gave me a Rock Tumbler for Christmas (well, actually Santa gave it to me.) You put rocks in there and they come out shiny and smooth. We would go to Colorado for vacation when I was young, and we went to the mining towns where we would go "panning" for gold. As shown in the image here, you would get a pan, with small holes in the bottom, and put it in the shallow water where you would scoop up the sediment in the river bed. As you shake the pan, hopefully the lighter dirt falls through and leaves you with your tiny piece of gold - "fool's gold" - Pyrite. If I remember correctly, we would find a tiny piece or two. Then we would hit the souvenir shops of course, where we always took a geode home; whole or cut in half, to reveal the inside crystals. .JPG.jpeg)
So when I go to places like International Marble Collection (IMC), a supplier of marble and granite, I am in heaven. Of course I am looking for slabs for clients (currently a client is looking for a Quartzite for her kitchen, and there are several different looking kinds. Depends on where and which country it is mined from. It can vary a lot!). But I can get sidetracked very easily by the incredible patterns and stunning individuality in each slab.
Image a warehouse with rows and rows of natural rock slabs upheaved from the earth, each sliced perfectly even, and all on display. Imagine seeing natural elements from countries all over the world in one place! This piece above really caught my eye. In a dream world, I would make a bathroom, or any room really, with the walls lined in huge slabs like this. It is it's own artwork. This slab above is mined from India.
The marble shown above is called River Jade and is from Italy. To me it reminds me of Sand Art that you used to get as a kid (different coloured sand trapped between two pieces of glass, and as you turn it, it forms different designs each time).
This piece of granite was incredible to see as a huge slab. I wish I took a picture of the name of it and the country it is from, as I cannot recognize the country flag from here. It is somewhat similar to the Brazilian granite below, as there are iridescent shapes throughout.
This detailed image is from a granite Aquarama (it doesn't look like what we typically think of granite, does it?) and is mined from Brazil
For all you people out there who are like me and think that the Italians have the best taste and make everything lovely, God decided to make their natural resources lovely also. You know this already if you have been to that country, especially the coast of Italy, but look at the Onyx that they mine from there. Isn't this just incredible? I can only imagine a fabric made from this slab. The colours and the pattern of the lines, how they bleed into each other so subtly.... Okay, no one steal that idea. I want to make this into a fabric! Ha!
This is a slab from Brazil. I thought that the colour was interesting, but also the large circular shapes. It almost looks like sliced tree roots that have been pressed together and grown together for millions of years, then sliced like bread. Hmphhh....
For all you Francophiles, this marble called Breche de Vendome is mined in France. This has a soft baroque quality to it if you ask me. Almost like a watercolour painted from the colours of roses from a garden in Versailles....
But enough about me and my dribble. Let's see a woman who is in my opinion an artist with minerals. I came upon the website Matthew Studios quite by accident. I think I was looking for some lamps made with minerals. What I found was Katherine Wildt O'Brien who designs the most wonderful lamps shown on her site Matthew Studios. I thought it was interesting to read why she started with lamps:
"Naturally...When I was little, my mother was always coming home with different light fixtures and lamp shades. She would change them out around the house, like most women would change their earrings. I was always amazed, how that could transform a room. I was also transfixed by dimmers! I always thought they had magical powers…still do."
This style above is called the Robert, as an ode to a favorite 70's designer of O'Brien's. If that's not beautiful enough on it's own, look at the finials she puts to her lamps. This one comes with a matching amethyst on hand-rubbed brass base, shown below:
And if it's just finials you're searching for, she's got a whole page to show you of them:
Gosh I wish I had known about her 6 months ago. I have a client and dear friend Dona (whom I have mentioned earlier here , here, AND here). We were looking for some rock-crystal lamps for her formal living room, and we did find the perfect ones designed by Sandy Chapman, shown below.
Then we decided to change out the round shade that came with the lamp to a rectangular shaped shade, almost identical to the one featured on the Gypsum lamp by O'Brien called the Frank Albert, shown below.
When we changed the shade, the small finial that came with the lamp all of a sudden looked to small. Dona looked everywhere for some bigger rock crystal finials. They are not easy to find. She finally found some that worked (after receiving some that were the size of softballs!) and it looks great now. Ah, but if we had known about these!
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! If you buy the chopper, and the slicer, you will get this extra bottle of Oxy... I mean, wait! --There's more great stuff on her site! When I got to the page labeled "Materials" I got a little giddy. Yeah, that's slightly embarrassing. But I did. But she explains it better than I can.
"When I was a teenager I worked at a Gem-Stone Shop owned by an eccentric West Indian grandmother. She never wore shoes, and wore a hundred beaded necklaces all at once. I thought she was so chic! She taught me a lot about gemstones, and the mystical properties they possess. Today, I always carry a gem-stone in my purse for luck."
So you see, Matthew Studios' products are centered around her love of minerals. And that is why there is more to see than just lamps. She has sconces, finials, and this table above. Named the Gavin, this occasional table is made from Petrified Wood, and as she explains on her site, it is a type of fossil that takes over 100 years to harden and calcify in the earth.
This is a detailed image of the top of the Gavin table.
So how does O'Brien best sum up her personal style?
"Individuality. I adore a home that showcases unique elements of a person’s interest’s or personality. I love to mix flea-market vintage with modern. The combo keeps a room fresh and energized. Bringing in natural elements, like white hydrangeas, chunks of rock crystal and candles make my home feel cozy."
(I wonder if she had a Rock Tumbler when she was a kid too?!)
