Boots beads

Boots Beads - from the ground up

I have always loved interesting rocks, and collecting stones. When I moved to Mason, Texas, my rock hounding and geology research grew exponentially. This spot is like no other in the world, special conditions in the earth's crust forced up giant mounds of ancient rocks, which would not normally be here for another few millions years, at least. The rocks in this area are some of the oldest rocks in the world, dated at about 1.4 billion years old. This delightful abnormality allows us to experience gemstones in our ground, in our riverbeds, and creeks. We see a lot of topaz ( colorless, yellow, red, and blue) quartz (clear, milky, smoky, strawberry, and rose), Fluorite ( mostly green), amethyst, pyrite, hematite, and black tourmaline. There are many other uniques granites, pegmatites, schists, and gneiss.

I go hunting often for anything that catches my eye, and it is always a great day to find some topaz or fluorite. Topaz is the state gem of Texas, and Mason county is the only place in north america you will find it in its dazzling blue color ( which comes from the natural irradiated ground). This beautiful stone is an 8 / 10 on the hardness scale, breaks off in perfect layers, and can look like broken glass if there are no imperfections. Many gemstone cutters and jewelers are always seeking Mason county topaz in specific, saying it is harder and can cut into facets much better.

I like to wrap my stones raw, just as I found them. The only thing I do before wrapping is clean them with a wet wire brush to remove dirt and caked on mud. If there are any sharp edges that might hurt, I can use a small file to soften it, thats it. I believe the billions of years in existence, and all the metamorphoses it has been through already, just to come to the surface and find someone, is such a beautiful story in itself, I wouldn't change it at all. The natural way a crystal breaks is part of its atomic geometric structure, and can be very beautiful in a natural, earthy way. The light will catch it, and the clarity will show, and the color will surprise you.

From the ground where I find them, to the person they were meant to be with, I love making Texas gemstones in to wearable earth art for people who were meant to find one of these amazing and powerful stones.