WooHoo 3 finished, many new pics Japanese style sand garden

I think I like the last arrangement, but I don't know why.

Rich

I like this one best,,,

That is going to be beautiful when it's finished!
connrock

I do not have the first one finished but I have been working a lot of stones for the next batch. Some of these stones may get used for the custom knife holders but I have not decided which ones yet. All of these stones are jade except for one which I will start with. I have looked over the stones that the Japanese use and ALL of them are ugly black rough rock. I realize the raking of the sand is a meditative thing and the purpose of the garden but I have decided that a rock that is pleasing to the eye is a happy thing that will help the meditation part of the garden more than an ugly rock. I would rather have no rock over an ugly one. PLUS I am not one to do thing the traditional way or the "way it is supposed to be". Art is creating, not copying.

This stone is one of the very few stones that I have not cut. If I decide to use it for a sand garden it will be the most like what the Japanese use in their gardens The difference being the snow caps on the mountains. I believe this is black agate (I have found others) with the patina, or whatever it is called, from weathering in the sun for a thousand years just like all the other surface agates I have found.



The jade is from Washington, California and Wyoming. I only polished them on one or two sides and left some sides natural.
Wyoming













My favorite of them all. Black jade from California that is almost perfectly flat and level on the top. The spots in it are metal or mica ? This piece took an awesome polish for jade.



This is California jade also but it has some beautiful silver streaks in the pointy end and a clear inclusion of something.




This is the end off of a long tooth of Washington translucent jade that I cut up for Mel. I want to get a small dragon to put on top with a slot for a custom knife or maybe here. Won't know until it happens.


Another Washington jade from Frank on LapidaryForum.net. I was going to stand it up but the long flat side would not polish very good.



California jade from Pat.



I think this is from Frank on LapidaryForum.net but not sure.




This is a small piece of translucent jade with inclusions that I bought in Quartzsite. The seller told me that it came out of a rusted bucket that had Wyoming jade written on the outside but when I put a strong light to it it looks just like the Washington translucent jade that I got several years ago from Mel. It is polished on five sides but I do not know is I am going to save it for two rings or use it here. Another "when it happens" rock.




I managed to get two more bases cut out before the snow covered everything but I will have to cut all the side pieces inside.

Thanks for looking and any comments or opinions are welcome.
Jim

So beautiful! Love it!! (Those jades showing exterior as well as interior tell me I may be looking for the wrong thing when I hunt around here...) can't wait to see them finished and displayed. keep this thread going!
I think you are right, that you should do what gives you the most pleasure to view and to heck with conventionalities... If you look on American Suiseki pages and the like, you will see that people feel free
to improvise and do things that break with traditional practices. I think the expression of any art form is
better for new insights and new innovations. Go Jim! keep showing us what you do.

If you are talking about the first two round ones I don't know. They look like Ohio flint but your guess is as good as mine. Good chance it is awesomeite.

Talking about this just brought to mind the fact that I do find a similar type of rock that are much larger but have similar patterns. I can identify quartz but still have not figured out the difference between quartz and quartzite. When the larger pieces are broken they look similar to broken quartz but there is a difference.

Here is one that is a little bigger than a soft ball. Some like this one are pretty rocks but cut up they do not make good jewelry.

Jim

here is some tight quartzite as it looks broken. we call it sugar quartz. Most common material for arrowheads in GA/NC mountains. Where there is no flint/agate.
It is homogenous and seems like sugar fused together. Red yellow green white purple, mostly pastel in tone . River cobbles can be large and heavily stained yellows and reds.
Often in layers with mica sparkles in it. Tallahatta quartzite from Mississippi famous for it's purity and use for arrowheads. Have found knappings in the mountain lakes when
they are low water level left by natives that would make wicked cabs, but never could find their source rock. I think it can be found in Greybull if you saw about 4000 feet of
those mountains. Our mountains were like yours, except worn down. I guess we live on the igneous layer, like the anus of the mountain LOL.

a few quartzite's from a park in Atlanta. You would like this location, i went here for the first time in 30 years for several hours. It used to be rural. I had a hard time
collecting, young ladies kept coming down to the creek bank from the jogging trail above asking me my biz in the creek. I got lots of will power, thinking you would have melted.
This location has about as good quartzite as I have ever seen, gotta go back and spend time. These after 2 hours:

www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157639487638866

From images, tight quartzite. Adventurine seems to be quartzite.

Really like all of your jade, but agree with pghram about your black jade pieces! They are gorgeous!

wampidy, I purchased a grab bag of slabs from Graves Company and there were a couple of black nephrite slabs. One of the slabs had a label on it 'Jade Storm (?) MTN California and the other one has writing on it jade with magnetite,' so maybe your first polished black jade has magnetite in it?

Are you going to paint or stain the wooden base before you add the sand?

That long tooth of Washington translucent jade,will look awesome in your display..................

HAHAHA Batting eyes will get you almost anything from me. I wrote a note (would forget without it) and I will work on that suggestion. Might even make it a community thing.
Jim