Lapidary Art: Cabbing

The cabochon cut is a technique for cutting gemstones into an oval shape. Next, the stone is sanded and polished. Cabbing is the term rock hounds use for discussing this process. Sometimes, the artisan displays his mineral collection; agate is a good choice because it takes a bright shine when polished. Some of the stones are used for making handcrafted jewelry.

The prepared gemstones are called cabochons or cabs. Stones with these qualities are most frequently cut en cabochon: opalescent, asteriated, chatoyant, and iridescent. A cab's back is normally flat, but an artisan might hollow the back to make the stone lighter.

You can see beautiful cabs done by artisan Roger Crow at:   CabNFever 

Digital Gem Scale, Personal Lab Equipment, Weigh Carats

Pointillism Completes the Dots on Michael Jackson

AP reports that Maya Angelou urges the Fans of Michael Jackson to put their dot in a portrait in progress of this deceased pop star. David IIan is the painter actually connecting the dots, but each one represents a fan. The dots are free.

Pointillism is a painting method that utilizes dots of unmixed color to create a painting. Its most famous practitioners are Signet, Cross, and Seurat.

Go here to get your dot: Get Dot

Psychedelic Posters of 60's Revisited

The Toledo Museum of Art is presenting an exhibit of psychedelic poster art. These works were created to promote concerts in San Francisco. The exhibition runs from 06/11/10 until 09/12/10. The artist represented are Wes Wilson, David Singer, Bonnie MacLean, Alton Kelly, Stanley Mouse, Lee Conklin, and Victor Moscoso.

These artists were inspired by pop art, surrealism, and art nouveau. Some of the posters typify black light art. Some of the art speaks of the political issues of the day. If you like symbolic and mind bending art, you will enjoy this exhibit.

75 Silent Films Come Home to the United States

The New York times, Movie Blips, Twitterers and others are talking and reporting about the 75 lost silent movies that are coming from New Zealand to the U.S. According to The New York Times, the films picked to come back are culturally and historically important. That makes sense. This is happening in accordance with the patronage of the National Film Preservation foundation. The movies were discovered in a New Zealand film archive reports, Dave Kehr.


Kehr also reports that some of these movies indicate the important input of women to early films. The movies being shipped over include some directed by Mabel Normand, Al Christie, and John Ford. Comedies, dramas, and westerns are part of the bunch. This is a wonderful discovery and preservation of these films is vital to the history of the movies.