In the end, this Bolo series is exactly how I always wanted to show up as an artist:
1.) Combine local and fairly-sourced materials to create work that withstands the whims of fashion. 2.) Collect stories and weave them into the work so they aren't soul-less bits of bauble-ry hiding in an old jewelry box.
But mostly...3.) Build some heirlooms your grandkids will hopefully fight over.
I hope you see the life of this collection as tribute to what it means to live a rich and endeavored one. To see the snowcapped peaks on two feet that took you there when your body was strong enough to get there on your own. To feel the coldness of spring runoff after the longest day in some hot sun. To enjoy your own story, as a living and breathing thing that is worth remembering maybe years, or even generations from now.
And from the bottom of my heart: I hope your life is, up until now, and forever in the future, a very bejeweled thing.
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Dryhead Agate and East Continental Pit Turquoise sourced from Montana, cut from dear friends hands, and set at this bench in my backyard. To say these pieces are special is a wild understatement:
Dryhead Agate is from the Pryor Moutains outside the Crow Reservation, south of Billings and on the Bighorn River Drainage. The mining claim has been closed for quite some time, and recently has started up some collection again. This material is rare, and the finest U.S. lace agate you'll ever come by. It's cut by Merlin Deshaw, my dear friend in Livingston, and is some of his prized pieces of 2025 off his lapidary wheel. You bet I bought as many as I could.
East Continental Pit Turquoise is from the 100-ish year old historic copper mining district of Butte, Montana and collected on private property near the pit. It is natural, not stabilized, and is very very rare. It has been cabbed by Sally Bleck @saldigsmt who is an inspiration in her own right, a female mining afficianado and new to the Lapidary Art scene. In a miners world of male counterparts, Her work is a reminder that women can do anything they want to do.
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Bolo tie #1 in a series of 5 for 2025 & so very One Of A Kind.
Measures 2.5" long & 1 7/8" at her widest on braided leather cord with handmade silver tips.