Becoming an Amateur Rock Jeweler

Over the past few months, I've been posting on my newly ignited passion for rock hounding, sculpting rocks and rock tumbling. SE Missouri is a great place to find beautiful rocks. I find most of my rocks in creeks 1 or 2 hours south of St. Louis. After tumbling them, I've handed them to many friends and acquaintances as mementos and for no reason at all. People love smooth polished rocks--I'm tempted to call it a human universal.

As I've created increasing numbers of tumbled rocks, I've learned that for a minimal cost, one can create necklaces and other jewelry with them. This is a photo of my first creation. I gave it to a dear friend who is moving away from St. Louis and it brought a big smile to her face. I'm late to this game--lots of people make jewelry. As with all handmade gifts, this is equal fun for giver and receiver.

Here are two other necklaces I just put together. Nature generates some awesome patterns. I couldn't see these patterns on the raw rock. Not until it was tumbled. Some beautiful rocks look ordinary when tumbled. Some ordinary rocks look beautiful when tumbled. You never know.

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Rocks turning into treasures

It's fun to watch common creek rocks (that I found around Farmington Missouri) tumble into these shapes and colors. These rocks are about 1-2" and they have been tumbled through 3 levels of grit over three weeks. They are now tumbling in polish grit for another week, where they will pick up a clearness and a shine. For this batch I gathered reds and patterns and these types of rocks are easily found in creeks around Farmington and Fredericktown, Missouri. These rocks didn't look much like this until tumbled, however. After I posted an earlier post on tumbled rocks, two friends caught the passion and bought rock tumblers of their own. For anyone else interested, I'm using a Thumler brand rock tumbler, Model B.

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Beautiful Scenes from Southeast Missouri

I've lived in St. Louis all my life, not realizing (until recently) the amazing vistas located within a two-hour drive from my home. I took these two photos today (on an iPhone 11, processed with Aurora HDR). Both of these scenes were taken in the Mark Twain National Forest, somewhat south of Fredericktown, Missouri. Top photo is of the St. Francis River.





This third photo shows a friend's Irish Wolfhound, "Owen," enjoying the sunset over the St. Francis River in the Mark Twain National Forest.

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First Batch of Tumbled Rocks Keeps Me Grounded

When I was a boy, I saw rock tumblers for sale in the Sears Catalogue, but I never had one and never knew anyone who had one. Well . . . decades later I do have a rock tumbler and I have recently learned that there are lots of beautiful rocks to be found only about an hour from St. Louis.



After a month of tumbling in my basement, this is what rocks from a Missouri creek look like (a creek near Farmington, Missouri). They shine even though they are perfectly dry. They are fun to hold and fun to look at. They were all so shy, modest about their beauty, while sitting in the creek. But now they are spreading their little peacock tails. Up close, some of them look like abstract works of art. To see many more images, click on the title to this post and then check out the gallery of photos.

Since I obtained my rock tumbler (a Thumler Model B), I've reached out and found dozens of other people who are passionate about finding and polishing rocks, as well as making jewelry and other objects of art out of them. These rock hounds are all over the place, and all you need to do to make them show up is to mention rocks.



For me, this has been a wonderful hobby, above and beyond the thrill of locating a beautiful rock in a creek or in seeing these polished specimens. I tend to think in the abstract throughout the day. I do it at the drop of a hat. These rocks, on the other hand, are real. I want to hold them and feel them and admire their beauty. This hobby has been an excellent counter-weight to my tendency to philosophize. It has, indeed, kept me "grounded."

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Getting to Know Missouri’s Geology and Beauty

I was driving all around SE Missouri today with a friend, a sculptor who knows a lot about Missouri geology. We were looking for (and finding) some awesome looking rocks. Recently, I've been learning that Missouri offers lots of interest to geologists and rock hounds.

Unfortunately, the sun started setting, as it tends to do too soon every day. That's when we came across this vista of Marble Creek in Arcadia, Missouri (Mark Twain National Forest). Apparently, I don't even know some of the most beautiful parts of my own state.



Now back to those rocks . . .  Here are photos of four of them.  Big and stunningly beautiful and bursting with quartz.  It really helps to go rock-hounding with someone who knows where to go and what to look for.



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