OMstones

Art for the garden
Transform your garden into a tranquil place that embodies quiet calm and contemplation. OmStones™ will enhance any garden setting, large or small, and create a serene atmosphere that balances life with nature.
OMstones are made in Vancouver, B.C., Canada by Sculptor Ron Sawatsky and Graphic Designer/Artist Patti Smithson. OMstones are a product of Jera Design, which provides a full range of graphic marketing services and specialty stone sculpture work.
The stones are crafted from quarried rock and each one is inscribed with a unique symbol, thus creating its own individuality and meaning. All designs are handcut and carved into the rock. Each stone is original and has a special meaning. Because of the nature of stone, each one varies in shape, colour and size.
Most of the symbols are ancient designs derived from the World over. Building on the natural characteristics of quarried rock, each of the stones is unique and can be customized with a symbol of your choice.
The world is full of symbols, but we don't always recognize their meaning. We wanted to help bring back those ancient symbols that have been lost over time.
We want to create unique garden pieces that will withstand the elements and remain beautiful in all seasons. Because OMstones are made of natural materials such as basalt, they are durable and will last forever. Whether it's raining or sunny, light or dark, OMstones look changes with the seasons.
Our goal is to take the concept of life in balance with nature, and offer something that embodies quiet calm and contemplation as an antidote to our busy, hectic lives.

Archaeological Dig Shows Spokane Was Inhabited 8,000 Years Ago

Archaeologist says Spokane site of oldest community in Washington State

Late last month city officials celebrated the 125 anniversary of incorporation. As it turns out, that's barely a pimple on 8,000 years of human habitation at the confluence of the Spokane River and Latah Creek.
In terms of continuous human use and habitation verified by radiocarbon dating, recent discoveries have made Spokane the oldest city in the state, said Stanley C. Gough, archaeology director at Eastern Washington University in nearby Cheney.
"This documents for the first time people actually living here at this age," Gough said.
His findings at the 25-by-60-foot site are likely no surprise to Indian tribes in the area whose oral history regards the area as a salmon fishing and food processing site dating back to ancient times.
"We've known that all our lives," said Buzz Gutierrez, a Spokane Indian tribal member who was born and raised just upstream from the traditional encampment.
"It's great for me to know that somebody is going to admit that native peoples have been here for more than 3,000 years," he said. "We can say to the Europeans, 'We've been here longer than you thought."'
Gough, who led a five-month dig in the alluvial delta downstream from Spokane Falls, said his team found 60,000 artifacts, including spear tips known as Cascade points that were found in the oldest layers of human evidence at the site and were in use throughout the region 4,000 to 8,000 years ago.
Radioactive carbon dating showed three samples of charcoal four to seven feet below the surface were 8,000 years old, he said.
"Every excavation yields new things," said Gough. "This one was a particularly information-rich site."
The $430,000 dig, required under state antiquities law, was the result of a state order to install overflow tanks for combined sewer and stormwater lines for the city's south side. City wastewater chief Dale Arnold said the cost was far less expensive than to put the tank elsewhere.
The vast majority of the artifacts consisted of broken animal bone and rock chips, but there was also an arrow point made of obsidian, or volcanic glass, from eastern Oregon and an adz blade made of nephrite, a type of jade, from the Wenatchee area.
Also found was an oven hearth lined with river mussel shells, showing how food was cooked and eaten, said Sara Walker, another archaeologist on the dig.
The dig unearthed a technological progression, with arrow points about 1,000 years old closer to the surface and rocks fashioned into weights for fishing nets at a layer about 3,500 years old.
The weights indicate an effort to increase the fish catch for greater drying and storage, or possibly for use in trading, Gough said.
No evidence of winter shelters was found, and the presence of bones from mammals that hibernate during the winter, such as marmots, also indicated that humans were present only during warm-weather months.
Layers of sand between separating the samples showed that they came from different campsites over periods that could have been centuries, he added.
The artifacts survived through the real estate rule of location, location, location, Gough said. Instead of being wiped clean by floods, the typical fate of aboriginal riverside campsites, the old fire pits in Spokane were covered more gently by layers of sand from the two rivers.
Even so, no clothing or wood was found, only mineral, charcoal and bone.
"All of the baskets are gone," Gough said.

Lime Light

Joe Sheehan, Manlo Mana

NZ Greenstone, lightbulb, brass fitting, electric cord

Celebrating the magic of objects such as light bulbs, bic pens and cassette tapes as well as the actual beauty of greenstone, Sheehan's Auckland exhibition at Objectspace in 2005 was quite literally called Limelight. It took a contemporary look at the relevance and position of greenstone carving in today's world. Sheehan asks some hard questions. He asks why much contemporary greenstone carving looks like works held in museums and not like objects of this time. How can multiple cultural approaches to the use of greenstone co-exist and be respected? Seeking fresh responses to the making process, Sheehan plays with social and cultural contexts with his work, presenting greenstone objects that speak first about their object status and second about their materials. "I made a range of things pulled out of my daily life and froze them in time," he writes. "…This is more about the extraordinary manner in which these objects have been produced rather than the stone. "

Surprising Uses of Minerals

GEO-Currents: A Look at Recent Geological News

MINERAL CRYSTALS EXHIBIT an astonishing array of properties. Each mineral species is characterized by a unique set of physical properties related to its composition and crystal structure (see table for examples). Indeed, students of mineralogy often learn physical properties for their diagnostic uses--to identify unknown mineral specimens. Physical properties are really much more significant, however; it is these properties that suit a mineral to a specific purpose.
People have used certain minerals for thousands of years because of their physical properties. For instance, nephrite jade--which is tough, relatively hard, and attractive--has been used for untold centuries for making tools and fashioning decorative pieces. Magnetite, because of its magnetism, and cordierite, because of its dichroism, were used in ancient times for navigational purposes. In fact, minerals and their products have been so central to human society that the progression of civilization has been designated by such terms as the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and, informally, Silicon (Valley) Age.

Rocks & Minerals by Jane M. Matty

Anyone Know What This Is?

I have this tree/vine in my front yard......??

If you have any ideas of what it could be,

please take our poll or leave a comment.

Recent Burma News

Burma to Grant More Jade Mining Blocks to Local Businesses:

Burma will grant 319 mining blocks to local entrepreneurs, People’s Daily Online reported May 4. Each block measures one acre and will be leased for three years.

Te Za Begins Mining in Phakant: Burma tycoon Te Za has begun jade mining operations in Phakant, in the Kachin State of northern Burma, Burma News International preported May 1. The area was confiscated with the help of the Phakant-based military junta, displacing “over 30 households in each mine area.” The households received compensation.
Burma Forms First Gem Merchants Association: Burma's largest business organization and the Ministry of Mines are facilitating formation of the country’s first rough-gem merchants association, the Myanmar Gem Merchants’ Association, Rapaport reported April 15.

Burmese jadeite...at a price. Illumination by flashlight reveals exquisite translucency in this jadeite material at the March 2007 Myanma Gems Emporium. (Photos: Mark H. Smith, Thai Lanka Trading Ltd. Part.)

The Passion Flower

Other names:
Passiflora, apricot vine, grenadilla, maracuja, maracuya
Description:
Passion fruit is a perennial woody creeper which is indigenous to the tropical regions of America. Passion fruit is known for its beautiful white flowers with purple to pink crown blooms. The passion fruit leaves are hairless and lobbed. The two main commercial varieties are purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis L.), and yellow passion fruit (P. edulis f. flavicarpa). The purple passion is mainly cultivated in Africa and India and the yellow passion fruit in Peru, Brazil and Ecuador.

Parts used:
Leaves, flowers, stems and passion fruits.
Phytochemicals:
Passaflorine, Harmine, Harman, Harmol, Harmalin, Carotenoids, Vitexin, Isovitexin and Chrysin, Scopoletin, Carotenoids, Theobromine

Medicinal properties:
The juice but mainly the leaves of passion fruit contain the alkaloids, including Harman, which has blood pressure lowering, sedative and antispasmodic action. The passion fruit leaves are used in many countries as medicines. The flower of passion fruit has a mild sedative and can help to induce sleep. Passion flower has been used in the treatment of nervous and easily excited children, bronchial asthma, insomnia, nervous gastrointestinal disorders and menopausal problems. Passion flower is sometimes used as a mild hallucinogen. Researchers at the University of Florida have found that yellow passion fruit extracts can kill cancer cells in vitro. The phytochemicals which are responsible for this anti-cancer effect are carotenoids and polyphenols.
Other facts:
When Spanish explored South America they discovered that passion fruit was used in native folk medicine as a sedative. When the Spanish brought the passion fruit to Europe the leaves were used as a sleep-inducing medicine. The name 'Passion' was given by Catholic missionaries in South America. The corona threads of the passion flower were seen as a symbol of the crown of thorns, the five stamens for wounds, the five petals and five sepals as the ten apostles (excluding Judas and Peter) and the three stigmas for the nails on the cross.
Research Reviews:
Inhibition of neoplastic transformation of benzo(alpha)pyrene-treated BALB-c 3T3 murine cells by a phytochemical extract of passionfruit juice.

Cool Little Inukshuk

Too cool not to post....the best little Inukshuk we've seen so far this year!



Soaking up the sun.....in Surrey British Columbia, Canada.

Inukshuk (singular), meaning "likeness of a person" in Inuktitut (the Inuit language) is a stone figure made by the Inuit. The plural is inuksuit. The Inuit make inuksuit in different forms and for different purposes: to show directions to travellers, to warn of impending danger, to mark a place of respect, or to act as helpers in the hunting of caribou. Similar stone figures were made all over the world in ancient times, but the Arctic is one of the few places where they still stand. An inukshuk can be small or large, a single rock, several rocks balanced on each other, round boulders or flat. Inuit tradition forbids the destruction of inuksuit.

No Ordinary Stone

"It is of warm liquid and moist aspect like benevolence; it is solid, strong and firm like politeness; when struck, it gives out a pure, far-reaching sound, vibrating long but stopping like music; like truth it gives out a bright rainbow; it shows a pure spirit among the hills and streams; and in the whole world there is no one that does not value it."

- Confucius speaks about jade.

"Jade is no ordinary stone. Not even an ordinary 'precious' stone. It has a 'certain something' that made a Chinese emporer offer fifteen cities for a jade carving he could hold in one hand; that made Montezuma smile when he heard that Cortez was interested only in gold, since Montezuma's most precious possession was jade. That caused men of civilizations oceans and centuries apart to believe it to be the 'stone of imortality.' That made some men forbid it to their wives, and other men to speak through it to their gods, and still others spend years carving a single object from it.

For there is magic about jade that seems to elude man's definition, that sets it apart from all other stones. A mystery that lies beyond man's appreciation of it's rarity or the skillful carving of it's surface; that entices and comes closest to revealing itself when man handles 'the stone of Heaven.' A special, hidden beauty that causes men, when they speak of jade, to speak in the language of myth and legend. Ordinary words are limited; the special quality within the jade is not."

Richard Gump - Jade: Stone of Heaven

Rhodanite

Found amongst our Jade, Rhodanite is an absolutly beautiful mineral occuring crystallised and in rose-red masses. Rhodonite is typically pink to red or orange and even black. It's beautiful pink color often has black manganese oxide veins running through it, giving it a distinct appearance. For this reason it is carved into beads, cabochons, and ornamental objects.



RHODONITE (Manganese Iron Magnesium Calcium Silicate)

Your Imagination Is Welcome....

We have been mulling over a few new ideas for our Nephrite Jade....

Many of our stones will be sold in the raw form to carvers, contractors and lapidaries, but we thought it would be a great idea to see what the public is looking for. Right now we have started projects such as stained glass and Tiffany lamp pieces.

We are wondering what you think........

Jade clocks made in different shapes and colours,
Jade satchels to carry while gardening,
Jade hotplates and cutting boards,
Jade bed warmers (for our northern friends),
Jade sundials,
Jade guitars,
Jade soap.....

These are just a few of the ideas we have come up with. Your feedback and/or ideas would be appreciated. With your input we will have a better idea of what our customers are interested in.

Story Of The Thai Buddha

In September 2005, the project of the Phra Sihing 2 began with a 4000 mile ocean voyage for the 5200 lb. boulder. After eight months of carving, the stone became a beautiful Thai Buddha. It was purchased by Wat Ou Sai Kham, a 400 year old temple in Chiang Mai Thailand. There were four Thai Buddhas carved by the temple. Three using Jade from Myanmar, and one (ours) made of Canadian Nephrite.
On November 5th 2006, a sacred ceremony was held and Buddha relics (cremated remains) from their current Buddha were inserted into the crowns of all four statues. On December 4-5th 2006, a ceremony was held to bless all four Buddhas. This spectacle was one of the most amazing things you would ever see. Between the candles, white ribbons, chanting monks, children playing instruments and the public's excitement, it made us extremely proud to be apart of this event.

Paul



Before, During, After