“ROCK” IT SCIENCE
a lapidary and glass blog for the casual (and not so casual) artist
8.4.17
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ROCKS
A LONG TIME COMING
It has been my intention to start a lapidary blog for quite a while. Several years, a career change, and one child later, I am ready to introduce lapidary to the world!
I include my daughter in the intro because it wasn’t until she was born that I really became (re)interested in rocks. Don’t get me wrong. I was super into it as a little kid. But growing up around in the industry and around the
machines made things a bit more uninteresting to me. Rocks became mundane.
In my angsty teenage mind lapidary was a hobby for the “mature” generation and I couldn’t imagine myself enjoying something as dull as rocks.
Then I was introduced to glass art. Glass can be coldworked in much the same way as stones but with quicker results because it’s softer! Who wouldn’t want to work something FASTER?! I’m not gonna lie, it was really the idea of glass art that was appealing. Did I do much work on glass myself? No. Not up to that point in my life… and that’s really a blog post for another time.
But back to rocks.
It is truly only life experience that has shown me how much value there is in art of “rock” science.
My girl walks around the yard/park/sidewalk and picks up all the rocks she can hold in her grubby little fingers. Then she hands them to me expectantly. “Hold these mom” she says with her eyes if not her words. Usually I acquiesce and she immediately searches for more.
Not to get too corny (I know – “Rock” It Science) but my daughter’s indiscriminate need to pick up all the rocks taught me a valuable life lesson.
She picks up the ugliest of rocks.
She loves them all equally.
This made me realize that with a little bit of water and maybe a tumble we could all see the beauty in these rocks. There is beauty in the most commonplace of items, if only we search for it. Rocks can be beautiful. It took my daughter’s innocence, a healthy dose of optimism, a little “maturity,” and a cheesy sense of humor to get me back into rocks.
And I’m never heading back!
Rocks ROCK!