Gems

I have a real love for gemstones! and recently I have felt very drawn to incorporating them into my textile work.  I have yet to decide exactly how to do this, but in the meantime I am getting a collection of beads together in readiness.  Above is a string of labradorite chips, a very popular stone due to the captivating but elusive colours found within it’s structure, definitely a favourite of mine! There is an otherworldliness about it that is entrancing.

This is clear quartz, pure, clean and evocative of winter due to its similarity to crushed ice.  These chips in particular have a beautiful sparkle to them.

This is fluorite and it can exhibit both purple and green within the same specimen.  This to me is a dream, as I love that colour scheme in all it’s possible variations.

I was so pleased to get my hands on these! They are pink tourmaline beads and the colours are a mixture of rose and (I think) champagne! – pink champagne! and as divine!

These are emeralds and there is something really beautiful about emeralds, rubies and sapphires in their more humble and less expensive form.  The photo does not capture the depth of green in the actual stones unfortunately, but in the flesh it is reminiscent of an evergreen forest in the darkness of winter.

All of these stones are different types of opal.  There are fire opals (the bright orange ones if you haven’t already guessed:)) Egyptian, Australian and pink.  Again, definitely one of my favourite gemstones! Another stone displaying shifting colour within itself.  When these qualities are present in a stone, I think that they seem to suggest other dimensions and realms.

Now all that remains is for me to find ways to use these treasures within textiles; a journey I look very much forward to beginning.

Lourdes x

Cuff in River Colours

The colours used in this cuff really remind me of a river.  It differs from the others in that the crochet used are medallions rather than irregular pieces of freeform crochet or bands of freeform crochet.

I think that this is one of my favourite colour schemes and it makes me want to do a project on mythical river creatures or water creatures like undines or mermaids – that’s one for later!