Handmade Jewelry by a Local British Columbia Artist

I have been intrigued by rocks ever since I was a young boy growing up on the west side of Vancouver (Canada).  By the age of 5, I knew I was intrigued by rocks.  I would hunt up and down the alley behind our house looking for gold, emeralds, and rubies.  Any rock with some red in it was a possible ruby, any with green could be an emerald, and any with yellow might be gold.  

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I would pick up my find and run home to show my mother my latest finds. The response was always the same – “Carl you can’t find special rocks in the alley! “.  Nonetheless, I persisted. One day at the end of the lane I noticed an unusual pile of flat rocks.  Exploring further, I found a beautiful clear stone, flat on both sides and with lovely green lines inside it.  I knew I had found a special rock.  I now know this was a piece of moss agate and I also now know that the person who lived at the end of the lane was a lapidarist (he cut and polished gemstones) and I also now know that I had found his discard pile.   I still have that beautiful little piece of moss agate – it was, and is, the first stone in my rock collection.  I learned some valuable lessons that day:  I learned about the thrill of rockhounding, I learned about the thrill of making a great find while rockhounding, I learned about the beauty that is hidden in the inside of some rocks,  I learned about the possibility of cutting open a rock to reveal its inner beauty,  I learned that you can indeed find special rocks in the alley, and… I learned that your mother is not always right!  It was, indeed, my introduction to the wonderful world of lapidary. I was hooked!!! ​

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My lapidary story then moved to England where, when I was 9 years old, my family lived for one year while my father was on sabbatical at the London School of Economics.  My brother and I were enrolled in school in North London and our teacher gave us a lesson on fossils.  To my amazement, I learned that you could find fossils in England.   One fall day our family was picnicking on a beach to the south of London.  We arrived, set up our blanket and I announced to the family that I was going to find a fossil.  My father said “ Carl, there are no fossils here!”.  Not to be deterred, I set off in search of a fossil.  It was  a stony beach – no sand anywhere.  I remember it clearly: After about half an hour of searching , sitting on top of the other stones was a fossil – a lovely fossil that looked like a sea urchin.  I stuck it in my pocket and ran back as fast as I could to show off my find –stopping many times en route to check my pocket and make sure I had indeed found a fossil.  I had again realized several things;  fossils were indeed available to find  on the beach,  the thrill of making a great find is like no other feeling in the world… And I also learned that your father is not always right too. 

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Subsequently, upon return to Vancouver, I enrolled in the Dunbar Lapidary club where, at the age of 10, I attended regularly and learned to cut and polish cabochons,  I even set some of my stones in jewelry to give to my mother.   I was now truly addicted to the field of lapidary.   My searching for rocks and thinking about cutting and polishing them never left me but as life became more complicated with schooling, work, family, coaching soccer I did not do much lapidary for many years.   However, approximately 15 years ago my love affair with lapidary was rekindled.  I ended up joining the Maple Ridge lapidary club and under the tutelage of Walt Pinder, Gord Pinder, and Juris Pederson (among others) I began to really pursue the cutting and polishing of gemstones and silversmithing to set my stones in jewelry.  Lapidary has, for me, now become an addictive obsession.  I love to rockhound (hunt for rocks), cut and polish stones, and set them in jewelry – in fact I spend most of my spare time either cutting and setting stones or thinking about cutting and setting stones.  I make baroques (gemstones that are tumble polished), cabochons (gemstones that are hand cut with a domed top) and facet stones  (gemstones that are cut with flat faces). 

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I have only recently started to sell my creations. This website represents my work and will be updated regularly as I produce more items.  All stones are carved, cut, and polished by me.  All jewelry has been hand fabricated by me. Some of the stones that are on display have been found by me.  Thank you for exploring our website.   I hope you enjoy!

 

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out.  If you need more information about a specific item or would like to see more pictures please feel free to ask.  If you see something you like but the size is wrong (eg wrong ring size) then let us know and we might be able to make another just for you.  Custom requests will be considered too. 

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I also invite you to follow me on Instagram where I regularly showcase my new creations. You are welcome to comment and message me using the Instagram link at the bottom of the page (@red.shed.specialties).