Rapid River Magazine, october 2006

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R A P I D R I V E R A R T S The art of hand-cut stones by Beth Gossett There’s something new happening at blue. But that just sounds redundant as there is always something new happening at blue. Just in case you have been living elsewhere, we need to tell you about blue. Two women artists, Lynn Daniel and Susan West, in Biltmore Village are truly making jewelry by hand, one piece at a time in four colors of gold, platinum and sterling using only natural hand cut gemstones. The women have filled their gallery, blue, with something new every time you look. Last year, they gave FINEART Each ring is hand designed with incredible skill and craftsmanship. Asheville its first look at natural green diamonds and this year, Lynn and Susan have filled their showcases with all seven natural colors of sapphire. If you haven’t seen all seven, it will blow your mind to see the brilliance of yellow, orange, green, purple, white, pink, not to mention the most beautiful blue sapphires you will ever see in your lifetime. Sapphire is well known to be in the family of corundum along with ruby, made from aluminum oxide that has been crystallized into these beautiful stones by extreme heat and pressure in the depths of the earth. Small amounts of iron and chrome in different combinations are responsible for the different colors of sapphire and are found all over the world. October 2006 — Rapid River ArtS & CULTURE Magazine— Vol. 10, No. 2
R A P I D R I V E R A R T S The most rare and most valuable sapphire, besides Kashmir and cornflower blue, is known as padparadscha. Padparadscha means lotus flower and is a vibrant pinkish-orange color found mainly in Sri Lanka. Most of the reddish orange and bright orange sapphire comes from Tanzania and Australia. Almost all of the green sapphire has a blue cast to it and comes predominately from Australia. Australia and Brazil are responsible for most of the pink sapphire, which is a very vivid, almost startling pink color. Yellow sapphire has that same intensity in its finest form and is found along with white mainly in Australia and Madagascar. In general, the more clear and vivid the color of sapphire, the more valuable it is. FINEART Jewelry is the capturing of art in a small, yet detailed package. The two women are very picky about where their material comes from, making sure that not only is the mine producing bright and clear stones, but also they prefer mines that make a contribution to the community in which it is located. The other ingredient that makes for a beautiful stone is the cut. The cut can make good material lively and bright and therefore more attractive and by far more valuable. Anyone who has been to blue or owns a piece from blue, knows that Lynn and Susan’s stonecutter, who hand cuts every stone, is really an artist himself and makes every single stone a beautiful expression of the earth’s artwork. Blue sapphires range in color tremendously along with value. The most valuable shade of blue is a velvety blue from the original Kashmir mine, which was uncovered during an avalanche in 1880. It truly set the standard for beauty in sapphires. Along with Kashmir in value are the cornflower blue sapphires, which are found in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and ‘blue’ continued on pg. 26 Vol. 10, No. 2 — Rapid River ArtS & CULTURE Magazine— October 2006
Page 1 and 2: A L O P R E S E N T S N E W O P E R
Page 3 and 4: Vol. 10, No. 2 — Rapid River ArtS
Page 5 and 6: R A P I D R I V E R A R T S COVER S
Page 7: R A P I D R I V E R A R T S MOUNTAI
Page 11 and 12: R A P I D R I V E R A R T S The Cel
Page 13 and 14: R A P I D R I V E R A R T S LIVE OP
Page 15 and 16: R A P I D R I V E R A R T S & C U L
Page 21 and 22: R A P I D R I V E R A R T S By Beth
Page 39 and 40: Vol. 10, No. 2 — Rapid River ArtS

Rapid River Magazine, october 2006

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