Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[hummingbirdstones]

The only one left besides LJ is Rock and Gems.  https://www.rockngem.com 

[hummingbirdstones]

Opal Mike here's a link to his posts:  http://lapidaryforum.net/group/index.php?action=profile;u=375;area=showposts;start=15

[vitzitziltecpatl]

Opal Mike - I just saw your comment about cutting stones other than opal. In a post you did as I was creating one simultaneously.

Robin and I both did it "backward" according to how most people do over here. We started with opal, because that what we liked best!

[southerly]

Hi Opal Mike,

Yeah Michael (Auscarver) has done a few opal carvings for the LR shows and done very well. Mostly carves in his local Tamworth jade and rhodonite. There is a small cadre of jade carvers here in Oz that surface from time to time.

Most Aussie lapidaries have dabbled in opal at some point, not seen many try to carve it though.

David

[hummingbirdstones]

Here is a (bad) picture of a Lambina that had vertical bars and Vince cut it into 4 stones about 10 years ago and a link to an equally bad video of the best one cut https://youtu.be/psMQJF7JHUc

[vitzitziltecpatl]

Yeah, that was funny. Robin said "You're going to do WHAT to my Lambina???. Oh no you're NOT!!!".

It was a cool piece of rough, but would've been a large striped cab with one nice color bar and a couple of lesser ones. Had thin translucent potch layers between the bars, so it was easy enough to slice up. Yielded a decent 7.4 ct stone.

That was the first video I ever tried. It sucked so bad I've never done another... .

[gemfeller]

Hi Opal Mike,

Yeah Michael (Auscarver) has done a few opal carvings for the LR shows and done very well. Mostly carves in his local Tamworth jade and rhodonite. There is a small cadre of jade carvers here in Oz that surface from time to time.

Most Aussie lapidaries have dabbled in opal at some point, not seen many try to carve it though.

David

David and All,

I had a somewhat lengthy correspondence with the late Christine Roussel, one of Lightning Ridge's (and Australia's) finest opal carvers.  She passed away a few years ago from cancer at a far too young age.

She sent me images of some of her carvings and, time allowing, I'll post a few of them soon.  Her work is inspiring and led me to attempting to do some carvings myself -- but I will NOT post images of my very amateurish work 

[ileney]

These are BEAUTIFUL stones. Thanks to all for posting these special treasures!

[gemfeller]

I promised to upload images of some of Christine Roussel's beautiful opal carvings.  Here are a few:

croussel.pc2.jpg (117.37 kB . 648x432 - viewed 290 times)

Christine Award.JPG (63.56 kB . 295x394 - viewed 282 times)

Christine 2.jpg (69.37 kB . 207x276 - viewed 293 times)

Christine 7.jpg (146.22 kB . 295x394 - viewed 285 times)

Christine's leaf dodgy colours email copy.JPG (55.94 kB . 235x394 - viewed 280 times)

DSCN00071 copy.JPG (64.9 kB . 237x394 - viewed 293 times)

Shell1b email copy.JPG (174.09 kB . 395x599 - viewed 292 times)

DSCN0131 copy.JPG (44.19 kB . 276x207 - viewed 292 times)

I hope this eye candy gets some creative juices flowing out there.  I miss seeing her new work after her passing from breast cancer at too-young an age.

[irockhound]

Wow those are amazing.  Some people just have gifts for making art in it's various forms.

[hummingbirdstones]

Quite right.  Christine had a definite gift but she also had the choicest rough to work with!

[gemfeller]

Quite right.  Christine had a definite gift but she also had the choicest rough to work with!

True dat.  But she also worked with lower grade jellies and less valuable opals.  I have images of some I didnt post, like this:

Christine 10.JPG (122.76 kB . 307x394 - viewed 263 times)
She also did some great Oregon sunstone carvings like this:

Sunstone 1.JPG (113.63 kB . 295x394 - viewed 266 times)

[Felicia]

Wonderful material, she makes even the "lesser" ones into art. Is the third from the top a composite or is the pattern variety natural. Good use of it either way.

[irockhound]

WoW, I really love that sunstone.  Amazing the talents people possess.  I was reading an old lapidary book and throughout the book it had carvings and all sorts of different types of lapidary and they were all the same woman, Olive Colhour.  I was blown away by how varied her talents were and sad I never got to meet her.  One page it showed these carvings of roses in pink Coral with Jade leaves and had Quartz water droplets on them and I forget the stalk material but all stone and they looked so life like.  It made me think I would be proud if I could carve a single leaf like that.

[gemfeller]

Wonderful material, she makes even the "lesser" ones into art. Is the third from the top a composite or is the pattern variety natural. Good use of it either way.

As I recall in discussing that with her, she artistically contrasted the precious opal with the black opal base.  I'd had that notion myself but when it came to execution, no cigar on my part.