A Lapidarist Comes to Visit

Last week we were introduced to a hobby/occupation I had never heard about. 

Lapidary

According to Wikipedia…

A lapidary (the word means “concerned with stones”) is an artist or artisan who forms stone, mineral, gemstones, and other suitably durable materials into decorative items such as engraved gems, including cameos, or cabochons, and faceted designs.

If I use the term lapidary or lapidarist incorrectly, please let me know.  I’m a little confused about what’s right.

Anyways, this old acquaintance of my husband’s family was here from Canada.  He’s in his 80’s but he drove himself down the west coast, teaching lapidary as he went.  We were able to spend a short time with him and found the art to be quite interesting.

This man, Mr. Bains, goes to third world countries about 1-2 times a year and teaches the people in those countries the skill of lapidary.  He helps them get set up with the proper equipment so that they are able to do everything once he leaves and the people are able to use their new skill to make an income for their families.  Isn’t that just wonderful?

 

Mr. Bains is passionate about his work as well as an expert and we all found the information he shared to be quite engrossing.

 

Is this not a lovely necklace???  You will not believe what it is made out of…

Paper clips & wrapping paper!  Looking at it close-up did not lessen the beauty of this necklace.

 

Mr. Bains teaches people how to make the necklace below by using common rocks they find on the side of the road.  They take the rocks and put them in a rock tumber to produce these beautiful stones which can be made into a gorgeous necklace.  He makes ear rings, belt buckles, music boxes, cameos – all kinds of things.  Anything to do with stones.

 

How do you know a geode rock when you see one?  It has a bumpy texture like an orange.

 

To see the beauty of the geode, soak the rock in water for a few days and then freeze it.  The water will have seeped into the cracks of the rock and when it freezes it will naturally break the rock apart.  (The water gets into any natural cracks of the stone.)  You will not need to hammer it apart and risk ruining the beauty of the geode.

 

Have any of you ever heard of the art of lapidary?