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

Infrequent Display of Maria Callas's Items

Maria Callas was the foremost opera singer to perform in the 20th century. A showing of her jewelry, costumes, and photographs will be displayed until April 23, 2010 at the Italian Cultural Institute/IIC in Los Angeles, CA. The Biography channel will present a showing of a documentary of this great artist.

The objects displayed include books, letters, and stage wardrobe. Many of the items were collected by Bruno Tosi;he is the President of the Associazione Maria Callas. The photographs are shown courtesy of the Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy.

Maria Callas 100 Best Classics

Favourite Callas
Maria Callas: A Musical Biography (Amadeus)
Maria Callas: The Woman behind the Legend

Fantastic Handmade Jewelry

If you like gorgeous handmade jewelry, you'll be delighted with Margaret Crow's creations. To see her wonderful display of imaginative jewelry go to:
dragonfly-eyes. The site is attractive and easy to navigate.

She makes lovely hummingbirds, necklaces, ear rings, bracelets, pendants, and rings. Her creations are made in various styles. Take a peek, you'll enjoy looking at her works of art in jewelry.

Mobile Museum of Art

In 2002 the Mobile Museum of Art was enlarged to 95,000 sq. feet. and become the biggest art museum on the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Tampa. It sits in lovely Langan Park. There are more than 8000 permanent works in the museum, which entail over two hundred years of culture in their expression. It also presents traveling exhibits and regional works.

This fall three traveling exhibits are gracing the Mobile Museum of Art: Jun Kaneko's ceramic sculptures, Francisco Goya: Los Caprichos, and GlassWear: Glass in Contemporary Jewelry.