All,
Realize this is a bit late…been kind of busy lately, but next
Saturday, 26 June 2004 I will be presenting a one day (1:00 to
5:00PM) workshop on black coral.
The workshop includes all supplies needed to create a piece of
unique jewelry using Florida’s black coral. Included is a coral
’tree’ adequate for practicing and making addition piece on your
own. The workshop provides on where and how to collect
black coral, smooth and polish it, form it into shapes such as
knots, loops and spirals and how to assemble it with sterling
findings. For further call the Boca Raton Museum Art
School at (561) 392-2503.
Cheers, Don.
Where simple elegance IS fine jewelry!
Donald C Dietz
The Charles Belle Studio
4923 NW 66th Ave
Lauderhill, FL 33319
@coralnut2 mobile: 954-684-3551
Black Coral Workshop?! Before I get all upset and preachy, please
tell me this class is somehow NOT teaching people to choose to
base their designs on a material that s further damages the
incredibly delicate, already endangered coral reefs? If you
aren’t picking up broken off pieces on the beach, then how are you
obtaining the coral? I know we are all guilty of using materials
that harm the earth to greater and lesser degrees; those who don’t
use gold because of dirty mining practices probably feel more
ethical than those who don’t use diamonds because of the myriad of
issues surrounding them ( I’m guilty of using both, I admit) . I
just came from a local bead/gem/jewelry show and was very
disheartened at the mounds of coral strands at booth after booth.
If coral is your main thing, well I’m sure there are other areas of
your life that you conduct far better than I do, but I would wish
that people, if they are compelling drawn to working coral would a t
the very least be extremely careful with the amount of coral they
use and the source of procurement. Most sources who sell "antique"
coral are lying about it, most sources who say the coral they are
selling is a "natural " color are lying about that. ( I was rather
appalled to overhear one dealer telling a potential buyer that his
strands of tanzanite beads were not heat treated…am I wrong to
think that this was a big, fat one?)
I'm sorry, I'm sorry to be busting the chops of an orchidian...and
I’m REALLY sorry upfront if this black coral is a wash-up find, but
I feel about coral the way I feel about elephant ivory…it’s a
gorgeous material, but only if it is truly old ivory and not used in
mass production…hard to prove and hard to show and not be
"promoting" it’s use in general. Sticky issues. Marianne