"Beads are artifacts of the minds big bang"

A fascinating piece on the history of bead making and human evolution. My favorite bit, "Beads are artifacts of the minds big bang. They are evidence of our creative and cultural beginning, recalling a time when bands of humans began interacting socially with one another" which led to "humans using technology in the service of social identity."

More Sonoran Sunrise

Ok folks, I really dived back into this material! Here are some cabs...

and here is a really amazing BIG cab,

Also, from the same piece of rough, came these really lovely centerpiece beads...

This one is my particular favorite.
The oranges aren't really quite as bright and vivid under normal light as they are in the images. I took the pics under 4 incandescent bulbs and the brick-red-orange cuprite really pops under those lights and I can't seem to just tone down those colors when I photograph this stuff.

All the above stones came from one distinct piece of rough. Here are two centerpiece beads I made in a nearly perfect match of double ended tapers, which I also call a "lingam" shape, after the aniconic representation of the God Shiva used in Hindu temples

That's all I have finished and photographed at the moment but there's lots more cabs and beads in process, some of which I'm going to leave matte finish, which I'll share with y'all shortly. The above items are in my eBay store and some are also in my Etsy store. Here's a pic of the whole batch of stuff I started on last week, all roughed out, some of which are seen finished above and the others of which are still in process....

Thanks for letting me share!

New Sonora Sunrise custom cut beads

Howdy Folks! Well it's been since April that I last updated you with Sonora Sunrise. I cut up every scrap of that really awesome 4 pound chunk I got in Tucson last February and sold every piece of it! I got some other Sonora Sunrise rough from an internet dealer and it's also lovely stuff, but the colors are more brick red and teal, as opposed to the brilliant turquoise and orange of the stuff I previously listed. The colors and contrasts are still really beautiful, just not quite as "shocking" as the high grade rough I got in Tucson. Of course I only paid a third the price for this quality of rough as I did for what I high graded. It's all beautiful stuff, nonetheless!

I photographed all of these under 4 incandescent light bulbs, so the colors do pop a little more than they would under more subdued lighting, but it really gives one an idea of the incredible color and contrast in this stone. Here's my favorite, a big SWOOSH shaped bead... and here are some smaller shapes made with pieces from the same chunk of rough...

From another piece of rough, I hand cut this "wonkyheart" shaped bead which measures 45x30mm and is 13mm thick with a 3mm drill hole. Low domed faces and a nice polish. Nice contrasted coloring, a little bit more of a red brick color than the pictures show, with a bright crimson vein of cuprite in the center vein, along with some green brochantite, and a reflective vien of a metallic hematite running through it as well!

ANd this color combo came from another different piece of small Sonora Sunrise rough. Such lovely diversity of color, contrast, and patterns in this stone...

Thanks for looking and letting me share. I'll be cutting more of this material soon!