As I wrote in an earlier entry, for the centre of the Pentecost Star I wanted to place a piece of blue stone. I had met someone during the 100 mile ART Project in Cambridge who did nice work making gem stones (and in conversation, he stated he was willing help on this front) so what I decided I needed was a nice chunk of lapis lazuli.
And, I knew where to find it too … I grew up in a small neighbourhood with Doug and Jane Wambold, who had a local mineral and jewelry business called Lismark. I had seen him recently at a gem and mineral show in Paris, Ontario and I had also noticed the beautiful samples he had of lapis.
After making contact with Doug to see what was possible, he invited me up to his studio to see what we could find. The two hour drive was well worth the time! We went over half-a-dozen samples and in the end I found a perfect piece. The photo above is it. It is an absolutely beautiful example and is from Firgamu, Afghanistan.
With the current troubles in Afghanistan, there isn’t much new lapis coming out right now, so I’m especially happy to have such a good sample for my centrepeice.